Published by the government of Zimbabwe
10 July 2009
Harare — Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa said on Wednesday that Cde Ndlovu was conferred with national hero status following wide consultations among the party's supreme decision-making body, the Politburo.
Details of the burial arrangements are expected today. Zanu-PF national chairman Cde John Nkomo told mourners at Cde Ndlovu's Lockview home in Bulawayo yesterday that the national hero would join other fallen heroes at the national shrine.
Cde Ndlovu's body lay in state at his house in Bulawayo last night and is expected to be flown to Harare today for burial tomorrow. Cde Nkomo said a service would be held at Bulawayo's Large City Hall at 10am today before mourners travel to the capital. He paid tribute to Cde Ndlovu for his selfless service to liberate Zimbabwe from the British colonial bondage.
"Ndlovu gave himself to the liberation of the country. He played an important role in the liberation of Zimbabwe and we must not forget such heroes," said Cde Nkomo. He said Cde Ndlovu deserved to be declared a national hero considering his unwavering stance on the protection of the country's sovereignty.
Cde Ndlovu's brother-in-law, Mr Dennis Ncube, said the family was at a loss of words following the veteran nationalist's death. "Ndlovu was a father, grandfather, friend and, above all, a liberator. He was fending for a lot of people before and after the liberation struggle," he said.
Mr Ncube thanked Zanu-PF and the Government for declaring Cde Ndlovu a national hero, saying the nationalist worked tirelessly for the development of the country. Born in 1932 in Mberengwa, Cde Ndlovu did his primary and secondary education at Masase and Dadaya missions respectively. On leaving school, he worked for Lobels as a clerk, the Ministry of Public Construction and the then Rhodesian Railways.
His political life dates back to 1960, when he joined the National Democratic Party where he became the chairman of the Iminyela branch of the youth wing. He was among the first groups to be recruited for military training and was involved in underground sabotage operations carried out by youths against the settler regime then and was detained by the Special Branch several times but refused to divulge any information pertaining to their activities.
In September 1963, together with former Home Affairs Minister Dumiso Dabengwa, he left for Zambia, then Northern Rhodesia, to join the armed struggle. In 1964 Cde Ndlovu led a group comprising Cde Robson Manyika, Cde Ambrose Mutinhiri, Cde Albert Nxele and Cde Report Mphoko to the former Soviet Union. At the end of their training they met other groups in Zambia, one trained in China consisting of Cde John Maluzo Ndlovu and the other from North Korea with David Mongwa Moyo also known as "Sharpshoot", Nyampingidza.
The following year the Zapu executive led by the late Cde James Chikerema ordered the formation of an army to wage the liberation war, and Cde Ndlovu was appointed commander. Later the same year, Cde Ndlovu ordered two simultaneous deployments of Zipra cadres into Rhodesia for combat operations.
In 1967, Umkhonto we Sizwe the military wing of the African National Congress of South Africa seeking to restrategise, approached Zipra, a development that led to the August 1967 deployment of joint Zipra-Umkhonto we Sizwe forces for the first time.
After independence, he was co-opted as a Member of Parliament for Matabeleland South. At the height of political disturbances in 1982, he left for Zambia and subsequently sought refuge in Norway where he lived until the Unity Accord of 1987. On his return, he was elected into the new Zanu-PF Central Committee where he served briefly before retiring from politics due to ill health.
He survived by wife Sithabiso, three daughters Miriam, Mazonde and Pamela and two sons Sibangilizwe and Dumiso, 14 grandchildren and 14 greatgrandchildren.
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