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Thubelihle Mabhena Chronicle Reporter
LIBERATION war heroine, Cde Kesiwe Ndebele, 64, who died in Bulawayo, was laid to rest at the Provincial Heroes Acre in Nkulumane yesterday. Ndebele was the Zanu-PF Women’s League chairperson for Tshabalala extension ward for 10 years and a member of the Zimbabwe Ex-Political Prisoners, Detainees and Restrictees Association (ZEPPDRA).

She died at Mpilo Central Hospital on April 16 after succumbing to throat cancer.

Relatives, friends and colleagues thronged the provincial heroes shrine to pay their last respects.

Family Spokesperson, Ephrone Ndebele, described her sister as a strong-willed woman who cared for the needy.

“We’re saddened by the death of my sister. She was the kind of person who would put the needs of other people first,” she said.

Ndebele said her sister was dedicated in serving the country and its people.

The heroine’s daughter, Promise Mentshisi, described her mother as a woman who had a passion for the prosperity of Zimbabwe and its people.

“She was a woman who was ready to listen to the grievances of the people. My mother gave to the needy and even adopted orphans in our community,” said Mentshisi.

Ndebele was born on August 27, 1950 in Matobo District in Matabeleland South province.

She did her primary education at Seula School in the same area between 1958 and 1964. Ndebele joined Zapu in 1969 and in the following year, she was appointed as the youth chairlady of the party.

She was arrested by the Rhodesian white minority government in 1979 and released after independence in 1980.

Ndebele is survived by four children and seven grandchildren.