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Herald Reporter
A church service for journalist and Manica Post senior reporter, Simba Rushwaya, who died at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals on Tuesday, was held in the capital yesterday ahead of burial in Birchenough Bridge today.
Rushwaya (49) died after battling colon cancer. Scores of fellow journalists attended the service to pay tribute to the veteran scribe who had a distinguished career, particularly in sports reporting. Journalists, politicians and some football team owners praised Rushwaya for the acquitting himself well as a member of the Fourth Estate.
After the service, Rushwaya’s body was taken to his home in Damofalls Phase 4 for a brief ceremony before it was taken to Birchenough Bridge where it lay in state overnight at the family home ahead of burial today.
Manica Post editor Cletus Mushanawani expressed shock at Rushwaya’s untimely death.
“We have lost a veteran journalist who contributed a lot in the three months that we were with him,” he said.
“He was an inspiration to younger journalists and he had introduced a sports column called Eastern Sports Echoes, which was already attracting a lot of readers.
“We are still at a loss for words to describe his sudden departure. We want to convey our deepest condolences to the Rushwaya family and we will greatly miss our colleague.”
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) conveyed “deepest condolences to the Rushwaya family, media community and the country at large, following the death of one of the country’s top journalists, Simba Rushwaya”.
“A professional and respectful individual, Rushwaya worked across various media houses in Zimbabwe, mostly as a sports journalist. His distinguished career also saw him being voted Secretary-General of the Sports Writers’ Association of Zimbabwe (2000-2003).
“ZUJ hopes that the Rushwaya family, friends, relatives and the media community are comforted and strengthened during this difficult period. May his dear soul rest in peace.”
Rushwaya started his professional journey as a junior sports reporter for the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) in 2000, rising through the ranks to become deputy sports editor in March 2003.
In September 2004, he joined the then Zimbabwe Mirror Group as deputy sports editor.
He was later promoted to sports editor in December 2005 until March 2007.
Rushwaya then moved to Alpha Media Holdings (AMH), where he joined NewsDay as a senior sports reporter.
He again rose through the ranks to become AMH’s group sports editor in 2014.
After AMH, he had stints at Flame News from February to April 2015 and Gauteng Guardian (2016-2017), as news editor in both cases.
In June 2019, Rushwaya rejoined the ANZ as the deputy news editor for the Daily News, before joining The Manica Post three months ago.
He is survived by his son, Tinotenda.
Online Reporter