Gibson Sibanda, the MDC-M Vice President and former leader of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), died in Bulawayo on Monday aged 66.
The humble, softly spoken Sibanda lost a long battle with cancer at the city's Mater Dei hospital. MDC-M deputy secretary-general Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga disclosed that Sibanda had been in and out of hospital in the last year for treatment for the disease.
After his long career as a massive figure in the trade union movement, Sibanda became one of the founding leaders of the MDC when it was a launched in 1999 at Rufaro stadium in Harare. But he and a group of other officials split from the mainstream MDC party in 2005, following serious rifts and ideological differences with Morgan Tsvangirai.
The two leaders, despite representing two rival political parties, remained close with Tsvangirai often inviting Sibanda for lunches at his Munhumutapa offices in the capital.
Tsvangirai's party described Sibanda as a pillar of the struggle for real change, 'having spent over 40 years in the trenches fighting for democracy in the country of his birth.'
'He was the spirit behind the MDC in its formative years, having spent sleepless nights together with President Morgan Tsvangirai and other democrats in laying the founding stone of this great edifice we now call the MDC. He dies with undoubted paternity rights to our sordid struggle for a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning,' the MDC-T said in statement.
Many people described Sibanda as an 'iconic figure' who will be missed across the political spectrum.' At the time of his death Sibanda was Minister of National Healing in the inclusive government.
His MDC-M party said they were deeply saddened by his untimely death and that they would miss his' invaluable contribution to the country's political and economic development.'
As a labour leader in the colonial era before independence in 1980, Sibanda was arrested several times for his political activism.
A widower, Sibanda is survived by six children. His Wife, Zodwa died of cancer in 2003. Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Senegal, Trudy Stevenson, said in her condolence message that what made Sibanda special was his ability to make 'strangers feel welcome.'
'As I got to know him better over the years, that quality of his, making strangers feel welcome and part of the group, was one of the things that made him stand head and shoulders above others. He was quietly spoken; slow to respond, as he was always careful to weigh his words so as not to offend - but he was a fiery public speaker and the crowds always loved to hear him speak,' Stevenson said.
His party is expected to make funeral arrangements once his children arrive in Bulawayo from their overseas bases.
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Any meaning of hero -- either a dictionary meaning or a political interpretation would fit Sibanda. There is no debate at all.
Any meaning of hero -- either a dictionary meaning or a political interpretation would fit Sibanda. There is no debate at all.
This may be a good time for Zanu PF to come out and tell the country that the tax payer has been funding what is essentially a misnamed Zanu PF honorary club and burial society.
Papa_Nyods;
My friend, a hero is characterized by his/her persistence and consistence - from start to finish and in Zimbabwe this has everything to do with the struggle that started with Chimurenga One up until today. Anything to the contrary is nowhere near heroism. Clearly, from this article it can be proved that the late Sibanda was not a hero of Zimbabwe's independence and empowerment. The fact that he was a founder member of the sellout MDC party immediately disqualifies him as a national hero.
If you say an imperialist hero, YES I will agree with you, but not of our struggle against imperialism, against the continued dispossession of the black people of Zimbabwe and against Total Independence and 100% Empowerment. Anyone who does not understand this is not a hero of the struggle we are waging right now - in short he/she is a sellout or a traitor.
We all know the origins of MDC - how it was nurtured, who created it and who funded and still funds it today. What is Westminster Foundation and what does it stand for? Are its ideals, principles and interests the same as those of the people and revolutionaries in Zimbabwe? The Westminster Foundation, the CIA and MI6 are western imperialist tools used to subjugate black people not only in Zimbabwe but the world over.
Revolutionaries, from Mbuya Nehanda Nyakasikana to Robert Mugabe, are for Total Independence and 100% Empowerment while on the other hand sellouts, that included Sibanda, were and are still for the protection of western imperialist interests.
Making Sibanda a hero of Zimbabwe's struggle and burying him at the national shrine is like taking Satan's angels and putting them, in heaven, together with God's angels - the two are like darkness and light; they are like oil and water - they will NEVER mix. The only time that two rail lines, running parallel to each other, will EVER meet or cross is when the train has derailed.
Where in this world has labour spoke the same language as industry or employers? I know of none. But in Zimbabwe during the period Sibanda was President of the ZCTU, labour and industry were partners in looting and making people suffer - crippling boycotts, strikes and sit-ins. They agreed on everything and were always on the same side opposing government. How then can such a person be considered a hero? Hero re kumagaba yes!!!
Anyone who calls for the murder of his people, through whatever means, and that includes sanctions, is NOT and can and SHALL NEVER BE A HERO in Zimbabwe. Sibanda and Tsvangirai, in their bid to effect regime change in Zimbabwe, for their masters, called for the imposition of debilitating, illegal, ruinous, racist, cruel, barbaric, satanic, murderous, devilish, evil, crippling, profoundly extensive and inhuman sanctions that have killed, are killing and will continue to our people for an unforeseeable future.
Tankuya, I strongly disagree with your backward looking on who deserves to be a hero. Gibson Sibanda contributed to the struggle of independence a great deal and he influenced your hero Mugabe. Sibanda deserves to be declared a national hero!! Just because he parted company with Zanu-pf does not make him a non-hero.
Unfortunately the word "hero" is now only reserved for Zanu-pf, even those who were flat out murderers! What a shame to call all Zanu-pf people heroes? Tankuya do yo honestly think everybody who is Zanu-pf is hero material? I doubt. My mother and father helped a lot of Zimbabweans and were wonderful parents and I consider them heroes.
Zimbabweans need to chill out and consider people like Sibanda as their heroes. It is these day to day people like Sibanda, who makes us a kind people and caring society.
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