Chronicle Editor
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE late National Hero and former member of the ZPRA High Command, Cde Makhethi Ndebele, whose liberation war name was Cde Jack Mpofu will be buried tomorrow at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.
President Mnangagwa will preside over the burial.
In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage invited the country’s citizens to attend the burial of the late military supremo in their numbers.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage wishes to inform the nation that following the conferment of National Hero status, the late ZPRA High Command Member, Cde Makhethi Ndebele will buried on Monday 5 August 2024, at the National Shrine.
“His Excellency, the President Cde Dr ED Mnangagwa will preside over this event,” reads part of the statement.
Yesterday the body of the National Hero was taken to his house at 14929 Cowdray Park, in Bulawayo where it lay in state.
According to the programme, Cde Ndebele’s body will today be taken to his homestead in Mzila Village, Mangwe District in Matabeleland South Province where friends and relatives will able to pay their last respects to the indefatigable Son of the Soil.
A church service in honour of Cd Ndebele will be held at Mzila Village at 10 am after which the body will then be taken back to Cowdray Park in Bulawayo.
At 3 pm, the body will be airlifted to Charles Gumbo Barracks in Harare where it will lie in state ahead of burial tomorrow.
Burial proceedings will commence tomorrow and members of the public are invited to come and give a huge send-off to the dedicated Son of the Soil. Mourners are expected to be seated by 7 am.
Close relatives and family friends expressed their gratitude to President Mnangagwa for conferring the late Cde Ndebele with the National Hero status saying it will remain a long-lasting legacy for generations to come.
Speaking to Sunday News, her daughter, Ms Susan Ndebele described her father as a very candid individual who loved telling the truth regardless of how one would feel about it. She said he was also a people’s person.
“I am very grateful for the National Hero status that has been conferred on my father. We did not know whether he was going to get it but we all knew that he sacrificed his life in fighting for this country. His exploits in the liberation war were well known. He has left a huge void in our hearts and set a big challenge of nationalism for us.
“He was a person who liked to speak the truth. Even if it would hurt you, he preferred telling you the truth. He was a person who loved people and always wanted to offer help. He did not like seeing people suffering as he would assist wherever he could,” said Ms Ndebele.
A family representative, Colonel (Rtd) Bukhosi Hadebe said they were happy as a family with the status that was conferred on their relative, which is a testimony of the works he did for the country.
“The President actually saw him deserving as a man who fought for this country. He sacrificed his life for the country at an early age. As a family, we are happy that one of our own is now going to lie at the national shrine, which becomes a historical feat for generations to come,” said Col (Rtd) Hadebe.
Cde Ndebele was born on June 6,1942, under Chief Tshitshi’s area in Mangwe District in Matabeleland South Province. He did his education at Tshitshi Primary School up to Standard Three before going to Embakwe Mission where he continued from Standard Four up to Standard Six.
He worked for the then Government as a pegger before crossing to South Africa. Cde Ndebele was part of the first 200 guerrilla fighters to join the armed struggle after Zapu and Zanu successfully lobbied the Organisation of African Unity to train its members in preparation for the armed struggle in 1967.
He did his training at Morogoro, Tanzania, under the command of Cde Albert Nxele, with Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Russia, Cde Ambrose Mutinhiri, as the chief of staff.
Cde Mpofu was present when ZPRA Commander, Gen Alfred Nikita Mangena was killed in a landmine explosion following an ambush by Rhodesian forces near Kabanga Mission in Zambia on June 28, 1978. —@nyeve14.
Londile Moyo
Online Reporter