Tsholotsho MP succumbs to Covid-19

Victoria Falls Reporter

TSHOLOTSHO South legislator and Zanu PF Central Committee member Cde Zenzo Sibanda has died of Covid-19 complications.

Cde Sibanda who was also Zanu PF Matabeleland North Secretary for Transport and Welfare, died at United Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) early yesterday.

He reportedly tested Covid-19 positive last week and was admitted to UBH.

Matabeleland North Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Richard Moyo said Cde Sibanda’s death was a loss to the province.

“I received a call early in the morning informing me about his death. He was on oxygen support for three days and this is a big loss to the province and party.

“We have told the family to prepare paperwork while as a party, we have also written a request for him to be declared a liberation hero,” he said.

Cde Sibanda was elected Zanu PF district youth chairman for Tsholotsho in 1996 and was secretary for Production and Labour between 1998 and 2000. Between 2001 and 2005, he worked as ward development officer for Ward 17 in Tsholotsho in the Ministry of Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation.

Cde Sibanda was elected an executive member for the Zanu PF Youth League in Matabeleland North in 2003 before being elevated to Secretary for Administration.

He was Zanu PF candidate for Tsholotsho South in the 2008 harmonised election which was won by the MDC, but he won the election in 2013 and retained the seat in the 2018 elections. In 2012, Cde Sibanda was elected Matabeleland North Provincial Secretary for Transport and Welfare, a position he held until the time of his death. He was elected into the Central Committee in 2014.

Cde Sibanda is survived by a wife and 10 children.