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The Zimbabwean opposition stalwart and father of South African music entrepreneur Oscar “Oskido ‘Mdlongwa, Esaph Mdlongwa, 73, has died.
Mdlongwa was a founding member of the country’s largest opposition, the MDC, established in 1999 and led by the late Morgan Tsvangirai to challenge Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF.
He had been admitted to a private hospital, Mata Dei in Bulawayo, for almost a week. Family sources told TimesLIVE that he had endured a long battle with diabetes, but had been admitted as a suspected Covid-19 patient.
MDC Alliance Vice President Welshman Ncube said Mdlongwa was originally a trade unionist who went into politics and became a father figure to many currently in opposition leadership positions.
“He was firm, principled, compassionate, kind and trusting… He dedicated his entire life to the struggles of the working class, the poor and the oppressed. The giant of a man, Esaph Mdlongwa, the consummate nationalist and political unionist who was a mentor and father figure to those of us whom he took under his protective wing, leaves this world when the country he loved so much is in a great struggle. ,” he said.
The MDC Alliance in a statement said: “He was the first organizing secretary of the party and is a former deputy from Pumula-Luveve in Bulawayo. We are deeply saddened by this news and express our condolences to his family. “
At the time of his death, Mdlongwa had retired from active politics choosing to lead the leaders behind the scenes.
In his youth, like many young men in South Africa, Mdlongwa went to South Africa and worked in the mines. There he met Oskido’s mother, the late Emily Molefi. Upon his return to Zimbabwe, he worked for the national railway company, which was a hotbed for the birth of the largest opposition movement in Zimbabwe.
TimesLIVE
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