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The late Cde Cyril Enock Ndebele,

Auxilia Katongomara: Bulawayo Bureau

THE former Speaker of Parliament, Cde Cyril Enock Ndebele, who died last Friday, is expected to be buried today at his Denver Farm in Umguza. The 83-year-old veteran politician died in Harare after being airlifted by the Ministry of Defence from Bulawayo’s Mater Dei Hospital where he had been admitted for an undisclosed ailment.A former Speaker between 1995 and 2000, Cde Ndebele is understood to have been hospitalised at the Roman Catholic Church-run hospital last Tuesday, but had to be airlifted when his condition deteriorated.

The Minister of Small, Medium and Cooperative Development Sithembiso Nyoni, a relative to the former Speaker, said Cde Ndebele would be buried at his farm today.

“We will begin with a funeral service at Selbourne Park Seventh Day Adventist church at 8am before proceeding to his farm where he will be laid to rest,” said Cde Nyoni.

Cde Ndebele was accorded a state-assisted funeral and the Government has given his family $10 000. At the time of his death, Cde Ndebele was the chairperson of the National Peace and Reconciliation Commission following his appointment in February this year.

Cde Ndebele joined the African National Congress in South Africa in 1960 as a student at the University of Natal. He earned a law degree from Queens University, Belfast, in Northern Ireland in 1970.

He became zapu chairperson in 1970 after returning to then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He was a member of the legal team of the Patriotic Front in the Geneva, Malta and Lancaster House conferences, leading to the country’s Independence in 1980.

After Independence, he was a councillor in Bulawayo and after the Unity Accord was signed in 1987, Cde Ndebele became an MP in 1990. As a lawmaker, he was the chairperson of the Privileges Committee and the Parliamentary Legal Committee.

After he became the Speaker of Parliament in 1995, he created the Parliamentary Reform Committee, paving way for far reaching changes to the Legislative Assembly.

He is survived by his wife, children and several grandchildren