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Mashudu Netsianda Senior Reporter
FORMER Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) president and the country’s first black medical engineer, Nhlanhla Masuku, has died.He was 61.

Family spokesperson Vimba Masuku said his brother died on Wednesday morning at a private hospital in Avondale, Harare following a short illness. His body will be flown to Bulawayo today before it is taken to his rural home at Jabulani Line in Ntabazinduna for burial tomorrow morning.

“As a family, we have been saddened by the death of our brother who was indeed a great pillar and an inspiration to us. Words alone can’t express how deeply pained we are as a family,” said Vimba.

He said Masuku was a very humble man who interacted with everyone and leaves behind a great legacy that will forever be cherished. “We shall remember him for his incisive mind, his values of ubuntu, an inspiring enterprising spirit and a sense of patriotism to his country Zimbabwe,” said Vimba.

Born on February 14, 1955 in Bulawayo, Masuku attended Mambo Primary School in Gweru between 1964 and 1970 before enrolling at Goromonzi High for his secondary education.

He was expelled from Goromonzi High for his participation in political activism during the liberation struggle and left for the United Kingdom to purse his studies.

He later enrolled at Edinburgh Napier University in 1979 where he attained a degree in electrical and electronic engineering before becoming a member of the Engineering Council in the UK.

Between 1979 and 1980 he worked as an ultrasound test engineer at the Nuclear Enterprises in Edinburgh, Scotland before joining the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals as equipment engineer in 1981.

He rose through the ranks to chief medical equipment officer in the Ministry of Health and Child Care until he left government in 1990 to join USK International as managing director. He worked for various organisations both within and outside the country.

He was a former chairman of the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ); former vice-chairman of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) and secretary of the Association of Zimbabwe Consultants. Masuku once sat on the boards of the Posts and Telecommunications Corporations (PTC), Grain Marketing Board (GMB), Belvedere Technical Teachers’ College and Industrial Development Corporation boards among other organisations.

Masuku is survived by his wife, Caroline and two daughters, Gugulethu and Ntombizodwa.