Zanu-PF central committee member dies

ZANU PF central committee member and Mashonaland Central provincial council member Martin Mavhangira has died.

He was 68.

Mavhangira, who was an arch-rival to the province's G40 kingpins Saviour Kasukuwere and his brother Dickson Mafios, died at his home in Bindura on Friday after battling prostate cancer for a long time.

He was accorded a provincial hero status and buried at the Provincial Heroes Acre in Bindura yesterday.

Party provincial chairperson Kazembe Kazembe confirmed the death.

"It is a huge loss to the province. He was a workhorse in the party who worked tirelessly for the party. As a province, we want to thank his Excellency the President (Emmerson Mnangagwa) for according him the liberation war hero status," Kazembe said.

"He was a provincial political commissar for the party for almost two decades. He was a principled man and a hard talker, who called a spade a spade. If he saw things getting out of hand, he would say it straightaway, without fear or favour."

Former Mashonaland Central Provincial Affairs minister Martin Dinha described the late Mavhangira as a fighter.

"He was a fighter and we fought the G40 cabal together. We were known for our stance and it is on record that we publicly denounced Saviour Kasukuwere and Mafios and their G40 elements, leading to our persecution, suspension and expulsion from the party during [former President Robert] Mugabe's era," Dinha said.

"We were only saved from further retribution and persecution by the timely ouster of the G40-captured regime in November 2017. He [Mavhangira] was a member of the central committee and a long-serving party activist and liberation war collaborator, hence a war veteran. I say go well comrade, namesake and friend."

Mavhangira is survived by his wife Tsitsi, six children and eight grandchildren.