ZANU PF Matabeleland South province has requested national
hero status for the late distinguished educationist and former National
University of Science and Technology (Nust) vice-chancellor Phineas Makhurane.
The academic died aged 79 on Saturday at Mater Dei Hospital
in Bulawayo. He was diabetic. “All I can
say is that we have submitted our recommendation to the politburo for the
national hero status and honour on Makhurane,” Zanu PF Matabeleland South
provincial chairperson Rabelani Choeni told NewsDay.
“We now await the politburo decision. We are confident that
the request will be granted,” he added. A senior Zanu PF official disclosed
that the party was confident the decision-making body would confer the
educationist with the national hero status.
“It is a fact that Makhurane made significant contributions
to the education sector, to Nust, specifically, as an institution. He was a
respected academic and we are confident he will be laid to rest at the national
shrine,” he said.
Records show that Makhurane is one of the first Africans to
study physics and mathematics at the then University of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
now University of Zimbabwe. Makhurane was also appointed to serve on the
Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council as board chairperson.
He was the first black Zimbabwean to acquire a PhD in the
sciences. He is survived by his wife,
four children — three sons and a daughter — and six grandchildren. Newsday
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