By Political Reporter- One of the country’s most celebrated journalists, Simba Rushwaya, has died.

Rushwaya succumbed to colon cancer at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals Tuesday at the age of 49.

Announcing Rushwaya’s sad demise, the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) said the journalism industry was shocked.

“A professional and respectful individual, Rushwaya worked across various media houses in Zimbabwe, mostly as a sports journalist,” reads the statement.

His distinguished career also saw him being chosen as secretary-general of the Sports Writers’ Association of Zimbabwe (2000-2003).

Rushwaya started his professional journey as a junior sports reporter for the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ) in the year 2000, rising through the ranks to become deputy sports editor in March 2003.

In September 2004, he joined the then-Zimbabwe Mirror Group as deputy sports editor. He was later promoted to sports editor in December 2005 until March 2007.

ZUJ said Rushwaya then moved to Alpha Media Holdings (AMH) where he joined the Newsday newspaper as a senior sports reporter and rose through the ranks to become AMH’sAMH’s group sports editor in 2014.

After AMH the veteran journalist had stints at Flame News from February to April 2015, and Gauteng Guardian (2016-2017) as news editor in both cases.

In June 2019, Rushwaya rejoined the ANZ as the deputy news editor for the Daily News. At the time of his death, Rushwaya had just joined The Manica Post as a senior sports reporter.