BULAWAYO – Legendary music producer Oscar ‘Oskido’ Mdlongwa on Thursday revealed that his father died from Covid-19.
Esaph Mdlongwa, one of the founding leaders of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, died at Bulawayo’s Mater Dei Hospital on Wednesday at the age of 73.
“It’s with great sadness to let you know that I have lost my old man due to Covid-19,” Oskido wrote on Facebook.
The Kalawa Jazmee founder described his father as “a great man who inspired me to understand the value of life.”
“So long Mdala, rest well. I will see you again in the next lifetime. You’ve showed us a way, shone the light and paved the way for us. Akwehlanga lungehlanga,” he added.
Welcome Mlilo, the medical director for Bulawayo province, told ZimLive on Wednesday evening that Bulawayo had recorded a new Covid-19 death, bringing the national death toll to 230 from 8,036 infections.
Mdlongwa was the MDC’s founding organising secretary general. In recent years, he had taken a back seat from politics, although he made a surprise appearance at a campaign rally for MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa in Bulawayo in 2018.
Tributes have been paid to the former trade unionist, led by his political comrades.
MDC vice president Welshman Ncube described Mdlongwa as “firm, principled, compassionate, kind and trusting almost to a fault.”
“It’s so so sad he departs at a time of great strife and suffering in our motherland having dedicated his entire life to the struggles of the working class, the poor and downtrodden,” Ncube said.
Priscilla Misihairabwi, an MDC MP, described Mdlongwa as a “mobiliser par excellence, and a thoroughly good man with no evil bone in his body.”
