BULAWAYO – Dumiso Dabengwa’s window, Zodwa, got a double serving of tragedy inside a month: the loss of her mother and her husband, ZimLive has learnt.
Zodwa, known to friends and family as MaKhumalo, was in India by her husband’s side as he battled liver disease when she got news that her mother, Janet Khumalo nee Ndiweni, had died on April 24 last month.
“She could not attend her mother burial on April 29 because her husband really needed her, the disease was overwhelming him. MaKhumalo has had the worst possible 30 days imaginable,” a family friend said.
On Saturday, MaKhumalo says farewell to Dabengwa, the ZAPU leader, who succumbed on May 23 as they returned home. Thousands of people are expected at the burial in Ntabazinduna, but when all have gone back to their homes – MaKhumalo will retreat to mourn two of the most important people in her life.
“She has a large family, they will rally round to support her but only she will bear the pain, only she feels the enormity of it,” the family friend said, declining to be named as he was not cleared to speak to the media.
Mthulisi Hanana, the director of the Dumiso Dabengwa Foundation confirmed that MaKhumalo’s mother had died in her absence, describing the loss of her husband weeks later as a “tough time for everyone.”
A memorial service was held for Dabengwa at White City Stadium on Friday. In attendance were ZIPRA veterans, among them Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander General Phillip Valerio Sibanda, one of the men he commanded as guerillas fought a bush war to liberate Zimbabwe from white colonial rule in the 1970s.
MaKhumalo was given an opportunity to thank the hundreds of people in attendance. She did the ZAPU slogan “Ziiii” when she was handed the microphone, showing strength in a very difficult time.
