Story by Grace Sibanda
War veteran and former Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) Deputy Chief of Training, Cde Jack Mpofu, who died on Saturday, has been described a leader and man who was loved by all.
He was 82.
Leaving behind a legacy of resilience and strength Cde Jack Mpofu succumbed to a suspected asthma attack on Saturday evening at his Cowdray Park home in Bulawayo.
“He recently started having fits and after a visit to the doctor they said he has asthma. He was on the verge of getting better when he just kept quiet in bed on Saturday. We have been hard hit as a family,” said family spokesperson, Witness Dube.
“He was a great leader, I wasn’t there during the war but I heard he never missed a target. He was an inspiration to many. We will miss the unifier of our family and the comrades,” noted brother to the late, Mr Stanley Ndebele.
Fellow war veteran, Cde MacKay Mpofu says he will remember the late as a leader and man who was loved by all, “We worked together during the war and for us young boys we really enjoyed watching him lead us, he led with so much grace and ease and all that he knew he taught us all. His loss is a thorn in our lives.”
Born Makhethi Ndebele in the Tshitshi area of Plumtree in 1942, Cde Jack Mpofu joined the liberation struggle in 1967 when crossed the border to Zambia.
During the war, he rose through the ZIPRA command ranks to become the military wing’s Deputy Chief of Training.
