HUNDREDS of people yesterday thronged the Sunninghill home of the late former Cabinet minister and Zanu PF politburo member, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, for a befitting and emotional send-off ceremony before his body was flown to Harare for burial today.
BY MAKHOSI SIBANDA
Ndlovu, who was 78, died on Tuesday morning. He will be buried at the National Heroes’ Acre in Harare after he was declared a national hero.
Speakers at a church service in Sunninghill said Ndlovu’s death was a sad loss to the nation.
Mpopoma-Pelandaba MP Joseph Tshuma described Ndlovu as a humble man and a mentor to many.
“Mpopoma-Pelandaba constituency always had a special place in his heart. He worked very hard in our constituency and even when people rejected him, he did not lose heart,” Tshuma said.
He narrated how Ndlovu played a part in his [Tshuma] academic advancement, saying “he pushed me hard and I am now a graduate”. Academic Stanley Hadebe said Ndlovu revolutionarised the education sector in the newly-independent Zimbabwe “and his contributions shall forever be remembered”.
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Veteran journalist Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu added: “He was very passionate in education and played a critical role in this field even post-independence.”
Zapu leader Dumiso Dabengwa, Macro-Economic minister Obert Mpofu, former Matabeleland South governor Angelina Masuku and others were some of the notable figures who attended the send-off ceremony.
Meanwhile, Zanu PF Bulawayo secretary for administration Nacisio Makhulumo said the party had organised 10 buses to ferry mourners from Bulawayo to Harare for today’s burial.
A veteran of the liberation struggle, Ndlovu was a senior member of the late former Vice-President Joshua Nkomo’s PF-Zapu before the 1987 Unity Accord and had since independence held several party and ministerial positions.
In April 1995, Ndlovu was appointed Higher and Tertiary Education deputy minister until April 2000.
He was appointed Information and Publicity minister in 2007.
In April 2014, he lost Zanu PF central committee elections in Bulawayo.
He is survived by his wife, three children — a son and two daughters — and seven grandchildren.
