ZIMBABWE Open University (ZOU) director of Bulawayo region, Meshack Jongilanga Matshazi, has died.
BENSON DUBE OWN CORRESPONDENT He was 78.
Matshazi died on Friday at Edith Nursing Home, Bulawayo.
The academic had been battling illness for a while.
In December he suffered a stroke while he was in Johannesburg, South Africa, and he recovered.
He was again admitted at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo and doctors recommended that he be sent to a nursing home for physiotherapy, where he died.
During liberation struggle, Matshazi received a scholarship from Zapu which saw him going to many countries, which included the then Czechoslovakia and Britain.
He worked in Zambia until independence, when he joined the University of Zimbabwe.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
In 1991, he went to Fort Hare University in South Africa, where he worked as a lecturer until 2012.
Matshazi was the vice-chancellor of Bindura University of Science Education when it was set up.
Zapu president Dumiso Dabengwa said Matshazi was one of the people who were sponsored by the party to learn during the armed struggle.
“Matshazi got a scholarship during the struggle that saw him going to Czechoslovakia and Britain,” he said.
“He was in the council of elders in Zapu and was a chairperson of the party’s think-tank, an advisory committee of the party.”
Matshazi’s son, Thulani, said they expected his father to be laid to rest on Friday, when his children overseas return to the country.
Matshazi is survived by his wife, Patricia, and five children.
Mourners are gathered at number 78 Brentwood Road in Riverside, Bulawayo.
