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Masvingo is one of the strongholds of Zanu-PF.  

They call it the “one-party province” as Zanu-PF consistently performs well in elections. In the 2013 elections for instance, the revolutionary party won all the 26 parliamentary seats by wide margins. This has been the case in previous elections.

This dominance of the ruling party in the province has, in part, been made possible by the mass mobilisation capability of leaders like Cde Shuvai Mahofa, one of the most recognisable and hard-working figures in the province and the nation at large. Indeed Mai Mahofa, as many called her, was a loyal, fervent servant of her party.

It is therefore most saddening that she died on Monday morning aged 76.

There is no denying that the ruling party is poorer without one of its longest-serving cadres.  Born in Chivi, Masvingo, in 1941 she trained as a nurse between 1958 and 1960.

The veteran started her political career when she became a member of the National Democratic Party in 1960. When that party was banned, she joined Zapu. She served as a Zapu member for some time and later switched to Zanu.

During the liberation struggle, Cde Mahofa was a prominent war collaborator in Gutu, working closely with the local leadership of that time, among them the late Dr Simon Mazorodze.

From 1980 to 1984 Cde Mahofa was councillor for Ward 20. She was the first woman council chairperson for Gutu District. The following year she was elected Gutu South Member of Parliament and occupied the seat for 23 years. She also served as the first Zanu-PF Women’s league provincial leader for Masvingo in the 1980s.

She was appointed Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs in 1987 until 1992 when President Mugabe appointed her Political Affairs Deputy Minister. She worked in that office up to 1997.

From 1998 to 2007 Cde Mahofa was Deputy Minister of Gender and Youth Development. In 2013 she was elected Senator before her appointment as Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister in February 2015, a post she held until Monday. At the time of her death, she was also a Zanu-PF Politburo member and Secretary for Security in the Women’s League.

Cde Mahofa was a woman of strong political credentials who was involved from the founding liberation parties until Monday, a career of 57 years.

With such a resume, it was no surprise that President Mugabe yesterday conferred national heroine status on her.

“His Excellency and First Secretary of Zanu-PF Cde Mugabe has conferred a national heroine status on the late Cde Shuvai Ben Mahofa who died on 14 August, 2017, at Makurira Memorial Hospital in Masvingo. This decision came after the Politburo met this late (yesterday) afternoon and deliberated on the request by the Masvingo provincial leadership. The Politburo was unanimous that the work done by Sen Mahofa before independence and after independence merited that she be buried at the national shrine,” said Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo.

Cde Mahofa will be remembered for her approachability, humility, diligence and patriotism. She was not ostentatious as some of her political profile are wont to be.  Because she was approachable and humble, Cde Mahofa was someone who felt most at home when she was among ordinary people.  It is because of these qualities that made her a grassroots person, an asset in the party’s mass mobilisation machinery.

Those who interacted with her will know that Cde Mahofa was fearless and forthright as well. She could not have been a collaborator if she was chicken-hearted.

President Mugabe considered all these qualities when he appointed Cde Mahofa to serve in the many capacities she did in the party and Government over the past 37 years.

“We are sorry we heard early this morning from Cde (Happyton) Bonyongwe (CIO Director-General) that Mai Mahofa died all of sudden,” the President said in his Heroes’ Day address on Monday.

“She was a member of the Politburo from Masvingo. At the last meeting of the Politburo, as I always do, I asked her how do you feel now. She said, ‘ah, no, I am okay.’ The news is astonishing, as astonishing as it is sorrowful.”

Cde Mahofa deserves the honour that the President bestowed on her yesterday, that of national heroine. She probably becomes the first national heroine to die on Heroes’ Day.

We say Rest in Peace daughter of the soil.  You taught us to be unassuming, patriotic, approachable and consistent in serving our country.