Ugqozilwezimbongi

MR CAEDMON Wova Fuyane was born on 4 April 1931 in Kezi, the youngest in a family of six. He passed away on 22 August at the full age of 85.

Mr Fuyane devoted all his life to the Matabeleland region. He started out his profession as a teacher in 1958 at 26 years of age. He taught at Ncema Primary school, Longfield School and Matshetshe Primary School among some of the schools. A stalwart in the Education sector, he later became the headmaster at Nonkwane, and Doyana schools. After relocating to the City of Bulawayo after independence, Mr Fuyane taught at various schools including Mahlabezulu and Sizinda in Tshabalala. It was not long before he was promoted to District Education Officer and worked to improve school standards and performance in the Plumtree region. He retired from the education sector at 65. But before that, he had finally fulfilled his lifelong dream of gaining a degree when he studied and attained a Bachelor of Education at 64 years of age. But even after his retirement, he remained a teacher at heart, always ready to share his wisdom, always bringing people together, and always working hard at something, the qualities which had made him one of the best.

He enjoyed reading and writing and especially using his gift with words. He wrote several poems and prose, both in English and Ndebele. Some of his poems continue to be used in the Ndebele school curricula. One of the most famous poems under the collection Ugqozi lweZimbongi was a poem he wrote about his late wife Miriam Khumalo and described her beauty and as a “drop of snow”, as she was nicknamed.

Mr Fuyane was a keen musician, a singer and composer. He composed songs, some of which he taught and instructed to school choirs during his time in education, winning several singing competitions. He was very much involved in the local choir song competitions to find the new Zimbabwean national anthem in 1994. His love for music extended to