Tsvangirai dies at 65

Morgan Tsvangirai, the veteran Zimbabwean opposition leader who fought Robert Mugabe's regime for many years, died on Wednesday after battling against cancer, a party official said.

"He died this evening. The family communicated this to me," MDC acting president Elias Mudzuri told Reuters.

Tsvangirai was suffering from colon cancer and had previously been treated at a Johannesburg hospital.

MDC-T acting president Elias Mudzuri confirmed the death through his Twitter account.

""As you are aware that our MDC T President, Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has not been feeling well for some time, it is sad for me to announce that we have lost our icon and fighter for democracy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the party and the nation at this hour.," the Acting MDC-T President Mudzuri said on Twitter.

Tsvangirai's death was confirmed to AFP by another senior party member. He was 65.

As you are aware that our MDC T President, Dr Morgan Richard Tsvangirai has not been feeling well for some time, it is sad for me to announce that we have lost our icon and fighter for democracy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, the party and the nation at this hour.

— Elias Mudzuri (@EngMudzuri) February 14, 2018

Tsvangirai had a tumultuous and era- defining career in Zimbabwean politics.

He went from being a supporter of President Robert Mugabe, o becoming his most high- profile opponent .

Tsvangirai was born in 1952 in the village of Buhera, about 200-kilometres south of the capital Harare.

As a young man, he worked in the mines, rising from plant operator to plant supervisor. He joined Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party at the time ofZimbabwe's independence in 1980.

He rose quickly through party ranks, making a name for himself as a trade union organiser. In 1989 he became secretary- general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

Tsvangirai was a key figure in organising one ofZimbabwe's historic strikes, opposing tax increase in the 1990s, when the economy declined, resulting in a plunge in workers' living standards.

This marked the beginning of his career as a major opposition player. With union backing, he established the Movement for Democratic Change in September 1999.

He was arrested in 2000 on charges of plotting to kill Mugabe. The casewas later thrown out of court.

As a presidential candidate, Tsvangirai lost the2002 election to Mugabe, amid widespread claims of vote manipulation.

In  2007, he made global headlines when he was again detained and badly beaten in police custody. In the2008 elections, he again stood against Mugabe . His MDC beat Mugabe in the first round of voting. But Tsvangirai refused to take part in further rounds, citing widespread intimidation.

In early 2009, Tsvangirai announced he would join a coalition government as prime minister with Mugabe.

He left the position in 2013 after elections that Mugabe won.

He was active in opposition politics until his death.

Tsvangirai had been facing calls to pass on the leadership of MDC-T with the calls growing louder when the party suffered defeat in the 2013 polls. Since then the party has been out-of-sorts and now with his death, the fights are expected to escalate over who will be in charge.
 
In recent days, both Mudzuri and Nelson Chamisa have claimed to hold the leadership in an acting capacity while Thokozani Khupe remains the only elected vice president and natural successor.