Chronicle Editor
THE body of the late national hero and special interest groups champion, Cde Joshua Malinga, arrived at his Richmond home in Bulawayo late yesterday ahead of a send-off funeral service today at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre before being flown to Harare for burial at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow.
Cde Malinga succumbed to prostate cancer at 79, and has been described as a fearless champion for people with disabilities. At the time of his death, he was a Special Advisor on disability issues to President Mnangagwa, a position that he held with distinction.
President Mnangagwa said Cde Malinga, who was also a Zanu-PF Politburo member and former Bulawayo mayor, was instrumental in shaping public policy and national development on disability issues.
Yesterday, hundreds of mourners gathered at the Malinga residence in the Richmond suburb to mourn the humble cadre who became a symbol of hope and triumph for the less privileged in the face of adversity.
Those who interacted with him have said the national hero status is befitting for a man who proved that disability is only but a condition as it does not define his destiny. Scores of Zanu-PF supporters also thronged the Malinga home and accompanied the hearse with their leader’s body.
Cde Malinga’s brother, Mr Shadreck Malinga, said bringing his body to lie in state at his home was in line with Ndebele cultural beliefs.
“We are just following our culture in bringing his body to lie in state today. In our traditional culture when the man of the house dies, his body has to pass through his home and lie in state, thereafter, it is taken to its final place,” said Mr Malinga.
His son Mr Mpehlabayo Malinga said a send-off funeral service will start at 8:30AM at the Bulawayo Amphitheatre.
“We had requested that his send-off funeral service be held at the Large City Hall but in our engagement with the council they said only the Amphitheatre will be available tomorrow for the send-off service,” he said.
“So, we are now going to hold the funeral service at Amphitheatre starting at 8:30AM. Soon after that, we will escort the body to the airport (Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport) while buses will start leaving for Harare.”
Mr Malinga said the burial service will be held in Harare at the National Heroes Acre tomorrow.
At the family’s residence were senior Zanu-PF officials including Politburo members, service chiefs, and Government officials. Bulawayo Provincial
Affairs and Devolution Minister Judith Ncube was among the mourners as well as Roman Catholic Church members who presided over the devotional service.
Following Cde Malinga’s death, President Mnangagwa has praised the outspoken hero for defending the interests of special interest groups.
Cde Malinga served as Bulawayo’s Mayor and is credited for being a selfless leader who contributed to the city’s development.
While he was kept at home while in his rural home in Filabusi, Cde Malinga moved to Jairos Jiri Centre in Bulawayo when he was 12 and that is where he turned the world upside down and broke the ceiling where it was never believed that someone with disabilities could achieve.
He became the first black student with a disability to graduate at Bulawayo Polytechnic College but thereafter came face to face with the racist Rhodesian system, which did not absorb him.
Cde Malinga was then employed at the Jairos Jiri Association where he rose to become its boss.
The association exposed him to nationalist politics while travelling across the globe to tackle disability issues. Cde Malinga rose politically to become a
Central Committee and Politburo member in the ruling Zanu-PF.
The Jairos Jiri Association has said Cde Malinga will always be remembered for his great humility, honesty, openness, and above all his extraordinary fortitude to stand firm for what he believed to be right and paramount for the advancement of the disability and developmental agenda.
Politicians across the political divide have also described him as a sober-minded politician who was development-centric.–@nqotshili
Online Reporter