PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has accorded a State-assisted funeral for the late National Peace and Reconciliation Commission chairperson, retired Justice Selo Masole Nare, who died Saturday.
Nare (81) died in Johannesburg where he was receiving specialist treatment for an undisclosed ailment.
The now deceased was integral in the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC), which was tasked with calming temperatures during successive disputed elections, and later healing in the aftermath of the emotive Gukurahundi massacre that claimed an estimated 20 000 lives.
Mnangagwa said he was saddened by the passing of Nare, who was a dedicated and diligent civil servant.
"I received with deep sorrow and sadness news of the passing on in South Africa last Saturday of Retired Justice Selo Masole Nare, former Chairperson of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission (NPRC) and Labour Court Judge.
"Retired Justice Nare stood out as a figure whose commitment to our nation in the fields of law and education will forever be remembered," said Mnangagwa in a statement.
"A dedicated and diligent civil servant and judicial officer, Rtd Justice Nare started his career in education, serving as a primary school teacher in Midlands and Matabeleland South provinces. He would later join the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) as a court interpreter, steadily rising to become a magistrate and, eventually, a Labour Court judge.
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"In 2018, I appointed Justice Nare Chairperson of the NPRC, burdening him with the delicate task of promoting peace and reconciliation in the country, while also co-convening the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD), which brought together most political parties and leaders who had participated in the 2018 harmonised general elections.
"He served our nation with characteristic diligence and maturity, always giving his utmost until his retirement last year. He will be fondly missed by our nation.
"On behalf of the party, Zanu PF, government, my family, and on my behalf, I wish to express my deepest, heartfelt condolences to the Nare family, especially to Mrs Nare and the children on this their saddest loss. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace," Mnangagwa eulogised.
In 2006, Justice Nare was appointed president of the Labour Court stationed at Bulawayo and worked there until his retirement in 2013.
The versatile multi-lingual jurist served as the chair of the 2014 Lupane State University staff disciplinary committee and as an elder in the Church of Christ Congregation of Bulawayo.
