The Sunday Mail
Bulawayo Bureau
THE ZANU PF Bulawayo province will formally request conferment of national hero status on Special Adviser to the President and former Senator and Bulawayo Mayor Cde Joshua Teke Malinga, who died on Friday evening.
Cde Malinga, a ZANU PF Politburo member, succumbed to prostate cancer at his home in Richmond suburb, Bulawayo.
He was 79.
In a statement last night, Vice President Kembo Mohadi said: “I am deeply touched by the sad news of the passing on of Cde Malinga. May the family accept my deepest sympathy following this untimely death.
“My heart goes out to you at this difficult time. Cde Malinga was the Presidential Adviser and Politburo member responsible for the physically challenged people and he was so passionate about his responsibility.”
Speaking to our Bulawayo Bureau yesterday, the ruling party’s provincial Secretary for Information, Cde Archibold Chiponda, said a letter requesting national hero status for Cde Malinga will be sent to the party national headquarters in Harare today.
“We are done with the drafting of the letter. It is ready and I am sure it will be sent tomorrow (today). We were delayed by some administrative issues as some of our administrative staff members were out of town, it being a weekend,” he said.
Cde Chiponda said the province was confident that Cde Malinga will be bestowed with the honour, given the sterling work he did for the country and the party.
Last night, senior party members had converged on Cde Malinga’s home in Richmond to console the family.
Politburo member Senator Molly Mpofu said Cde Malinga was a deserving candidate for national hero status on account of his service to the party and Zimbabwe.
His son Mr Mpehlabayo Joshua Malinga said his father was a loving man, who supported his children financially and emotionally.
“As the 10 children, we were very close to our father, we shared jokes, operated together, and politically we were colleagues. I must say he was a loving father. He did something that any other ordinary father would not do for his children even at our mature ages. He accomplished quite a lot in business, politically, academically and even amongst the disability community,” said Mr Malinga.
Cde Malinga was born on April 20, 1944 and was affected by polio at the age of two.
He moved to Bulawayo at the age of 12 years after one of his brothers suggested that he be enrolled at the Jairos Jiri Centre in Nguboyenja, Bulawayo.
His brother later came through with the now late national hero, Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, who was a member of the family, and they took Cde Malinga to Jairos Jiri, where he first trained as a cobbler.
At the age of 14, Cde Malinga was identified as a very intelligent child who spoke good English. He then enrolled for his primary education, which he completed under the stipulated period. He later went to Mpopoma High School, where he passed with flying colours and proceeded to Bulawayo Polytechnic to study accounting. He worked at the Jairos Jiri Centre and rose through the ranks to reach top management positions before he was awarded a scholarship to study in the United Kingdom.
After completing his studies, he came back and joined the Government income tax department.
Cde Malinga was later elected Ward 2 councillor in the early 1990s and became Bulawayo Mayor in 1993 up to 1996, serving two terms.
He is survived by his wife, 10 children and several grandchildren. Mourners are gathered at number one Brooke Road, Richmond.
