President mourns veteran nationalist
PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday mourned veteran politician and national hero Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, saying the veteran leader never betrayed the liberation struggle despite the persecution administered to him by the Smith Regime.
Cde Ndlovu succumbed to prostate cancer on Monday morning in Bulawayo. He was 86.
He will be buried at the National Heroes’ Acre on Saturday.
In his condolence message, President Mugabe said Cde Ndlovu had served Zimbabwe dependably.
Mlilo, Town Clerk Mr Christopher Dube and other senior council officials visited Cde Ndlovu’s home to pay their condolences to the family of the city’s first black mayor.
The Bulawayo United Residents’ Association (Bura) yesterday described Cde Ndlovu, the founding chairman of the association in 1962 as an “astute true leader who had the interests of the people at heart.”
Cde Ndlovu, who was the national chairman of PF-Zapu at the time of the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987, was the first black mayor of Bulawayo, assuming the post in 1981 and serving two terms.
He was the only surviving member from the PF-Zapu side involved in initial talks towards uniting PF-Zapu and Zanu.
Cde Ndlovu was born in Gwatemba, Filabusi, on
“I learnt with a deep sense of shock and sorrow of the death yesterday (Monday) of Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu in Bulawayo,” he said.
“While he has not been well for quite some time, we prayed all along for his speedy recovery. Sadly, this did not come to pass and our revered veteran nationalist and freedom fighter has been taken away from us and gone forever. His untimely death is a terrible loss to his family, his party Zanu-PF and the nation, which he served so diligently and faithfully his entire life.”
President Mugabe said he knew Cde Ndlovu during the early days of the liberation struggle.
“He belongs to that early crop of African nationalists who pioneered the resistance to white colonialism and fought for black majority rule,” he said.
October 22, 1930, and was educated at Zezani Secondary School in Beitbridge where he did Standard One and Two.
He went back to Gwatemba to finish Standard Three before proceeding to Wanezi Mission for Standard Six and later proceeded to Umzingwane Government School where he trained in leather work.
After attaining a certificate in leather work, Cde Ndlovu taught at Zezani School and Matopo Mission in 1950 and 1953 respectively before proceeding to Empandeni Mission.
His last teaching job was at Jairos Jiri Training Centre in Bulawayo from 1956 to 1965 before joining politics.
His life changed because he was continuously detained after the infamous Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Ian Douglas Smith.
“Like many of his colleagues in the struggle for our independence, he too endured long stints in jail and detentions at the evil hands of the Smith regime.
“In spite of all that persecution, he never prevaricated or betrayed the liberation struggle. He was a true revolutionary cadre and remained so after independence to the very end of his life.”
The President added: “He shall be sadly missed by all of us who had the privilege of working closely with him and many others whose lives he touched in so many different ways.
“On behalf of the party Zanu-PF, Government, my family and on my own behalf, I wish to express my sincere condolences to the Ndlovu family, especially his wife Sithokozile and the children on their saddest loss.”
Cde Ndlovu came to Bulawayo in 1956 and this is the time when the influence of the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress (SRANC) was beginning to be felt.
He met other luminaries like the late Cde Joshua Nkomo. The SRANC was strongly campaigning against the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
The Smith regime became more brutal and many detention centres were set up at Khami, Gonakudzingwa, Marondera and other areas.
Soon after the banning of the SRANC, the National Democratic Party was formed and Cde Ndlovu was not in the leadership structures.
He became active when the NDP was banned in 1960 and succeeded by the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (Zapu) in 1961.
He was co-opted into the structures of Zapu and the party had one district in Bulawayo which he represented as a committee member.
After the banning of Zapu around 1962, the People’s Caretaker Council was formed to lead the struggle. Cde Ndlovu was very influential in the formation of the Bulawayo United Residents Association in 1962 and he was the first chairman deputised by the late Cde Sydney Malunga with Cde John Nkomo as secretary.
Cde Ndlovu remained very active after the liberation struggle, although he was not very actively involved in central Government.
He became the first black councillor for Luveve in 1981, the same year he was elected Bulawayo mayor for a two-year term.
As a councillor and mayor, Cde Ndlovu will be remembered by the people of Bulawayo for calling for sitting tenants to buy the houses they had been renting for over 40 years.
Working with the first local Government Minister, the late Cde Eddison Zvobgo, Cde Ndlovu influenced the purchase of homes.
People who had been renting homes in Mzilikazi and Makokoba since the early 1940s were given the houses on the basis that they had already paid off the money through rentals.
Council under Cde Ndlovu took advantage of the schemes that were introduced by Cde Zvobgo while many other city councils resisted them.
Under the scheme, some houses were built in Emakhandeni, Entumbane and Nkulumane and people called them the “Zvobgo houses”.
In 1985 he contested for the Insiza Parliamentary Constituency, a seat he held until June 2000 when he lost to the MDC.
He was representing one of the biggest constituencies in the country, covering Fort Rixon, Filabusi and parts of Esigodini and Gwanda.
During his term as Member of Parliament for three terms and later as Senator for the same constituency, Cde Ndlovu did a lot for the area.
When he took over in 1985, it was immediately after independence and Ian Smith’s Government had done nearly nothing to improve the lives of Zimbabweans in the constituency.
He lobbied the Government to build clinics, schools, roads and dams and to rehabilitate some irrigation schemes.
Cde Ndlovu is survived by wife Sithokozile and two children.
Mourners are gathered at number 5649 Luveve 4 suburb. — @AuxiliaK