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Joseph Madzimure/ Trust Freddy, Harare Bureau

THE late National Hero, Brigadier-General Charles Kaneta, who died on Saturday last week after collapsing at his farm in Nyanga, will be buried this Saturday.

He died at the age of 64.

Minister of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Kazembe Kazembe confirmed the burial arrangements.

“The late national hero will be buried on Saturday this week. We expect people to come in their numbers to bid farewell and pay their last respects,” said Minister Kazembe.

 

He urged those who will attend the burial to adhere to World Health Organisation (WHO) Covid-19 protocols.

“We are not yet out of the woods. People should adhere to WHO Covid-19 protocols,” Minister Kazembe said.

Brig-Gen Kaneta was the Director-General Logistics at the Zimbabwe Defence Forces Headquarters.

He collapsed at his farm on Saturday and was rushed to Hauna District Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

After visiting the bereaved family yesterday, Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Philip Valerio Sibanda, described the late national hero as a very patriotic soldier.

“He was a very patriotic officer and courageous in whatever he did. He was a smooth talker but nobody mistook that smoothness for inability. He was soft spoken no matter how much you harassed him. He was a good soldier and officer. God knows each one of us because he is our creator. I am urging family members of the late national hero to accept it because each one of us has a date. It hurts but our time shall come,” said Gen Sibanda.

Brig Gen Kaneta’s son, Tendai, said the late national hero was a loving father.

“He was as soft as wool, but of course as a military man he wanted his children to be disciplined,’’ he said.

Sister to Brig-Gen Kaneta, Senny, said the late national hero was a family man.

Family spokesperson and brother to the late national hero, Retired Colonel Patrick Kaneta, hailed President Mnangagwa and the Zanu-PF leadership for according his brother national hero status.

“I would like to thank President Mnangagwa for according my brother national hero status. It is something that is worth celebrating because he worked for his nation for us to be liberated. He also worked tirelessly after Independence to develop our country.

“We are grateful as a family for according our brother hero status,” he said.

Brig-Gen Kaneta’s Chimurenga name was Santana Tongai. He joined the liberation struggle in 1975 in Mozambique at a young age.

He was a graduate of the Nanjing Military Academy in China, as well as a beneficiary of specialised military training in Syria.

He was a tough and brilliant military instructor through whose hands passed many cadres, including senior party officials such as the late national hero Cde Herbert Ushewokunze, the late Cde Crispen Mandizvidza and Dr Sydney Sekeramayi.

Following his attestation in 1981 into the integrated Zimbabwe National Army, Brig-Gen Kaneta had an illustrious military career, rising through the ranks to become a Brigadier General. 

Today a funeral parade will be held at 1 Commando Barracks and tomorrow the body of the national hero will be flown to his rural home in Hauna, Mutasa District.

On Friday the body will lie in state at 1 Commando. 

Brig-Kaneta is survived by his wife Nancy, three children, two girls and a son.

Mourners are gathered at Number 7 Married Quarters, Cranborne West, Harare.