Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
COMMISSIONER in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commission, decorated soldier, former top prison officer and freedom fighter Brigadier General (Rtd) Milton Bekithemba Siziba has died.
He was 71.
His son Milton Junior Siziba said his father died on Tuesday after experiencing shortness of breath.
“I would like to confirm with a heavy heart that my father departed from this world on Tuesday 1 August at around 6pm. He just experienced shortness of breath and peacefully died. He passed on at home. He had been running his errands the whole day and later on he called in someone to help him with his medication but the situation deteriorated instantly,” he said.
He said his father had served the ZNA and ZPS at various senior positions before he was subsequently appointed a Commissioner under the Zimbabwe Defence Services Commission particularly at the Prisons and Correctional Services Commission.
“Brig Gen (Rtd) Siziba was integrated into the army after independence where he retired in 1999. He was later appointed as the Deputy Commissioner General of the then Zimbabwe Prisons Service and retired in 2006. He was subsequently appointed as a commissioner,” he said.
Sunday News visited his residence on Thursday morning where mourners are gathered at Number 3 Waterloo Cresent, Northvale in Bulawayo.
Mourners who include Officer Commanding ZPCS Bulawayo Province Commissioner Mkhulunyelwa Ngwenya and liberation stalwart Colonel (Rtd) Ngwenya visited the family to pay their condolences.
In an interview Col (Rtd) Ngwenya described the late as man of integrity.
“I knew Siziba as one of our Cdes when I was in the High Command of the ZIPRA forces. We then worked together in the Zimbabwe National Army before he was attached to the ZPS. In short, he was a man of integrity. In the High Command, we could not physically know each and every Cde, however I got to know him more after independence,” said Colonel (Rtd) Ngwenya.
Former colleague in the army Brig Gen (Rtd) Levi Mayihlome said the late Siziba was one of the first ex-ZIPRA battalion commanders.
“He was one of the first ex-ZPRA Battalion Commanders in the ZNA. He was Commanding Officer 1:2 Infantry Battalion that was based in Hwange,” he said. @nyeve14
Online Reporter