Chief Mafu passed on today in Filabusi. The people of Filabusi, the People of Godhlwayo , Matebeland and indeed the whole country are in deep mourning.

The MDC Alliance mourns with Chief Mafu s family and the totality of the people of the Mafu Chieftainship, the Chiefs Council and the traditional leadership fraternity. We are the poorer with the departure of our esteemed doyen of traditional leadership and preservation of our culture of Ubuntu.

We take comfort in the knowledge that he served the people well both for the upliftment of their livelihoods, cultivating and sustaining harmony, peace and tolerance in his area of jurisdiction. We can’t expect more from our traditional leaders , the very stores of our value of Unbuntu.

As we mourn the passing of Chief Chief Mafu, we cherish his quest to push for development of SMART Villages whose building blocks are SMART homes. These are sustainable and Modernising homes and viallges. Chief Mafu insisted on homes with improved housing, sanitation facilities, accessible water sources and special and protected areas for grazing of livestock. Indeed he fought tirelessly for conservation of wetlands in his area . He also stood firm for responsible mining of gold in his area. Indeed he offered all round leadership in his area.

Accordingly, we ask government to support chiefs of Chief Mafu’ s ilk if we want to intensively develop the rural areas in the areas of housing, sanitation, natural resource conservation and so that these rural areas can contribute meaningfully to the development of the country.

We implore other traditional leaders to take a leaf from Chief Mafu’s rule book to avoid partisanship in running their chieftainships and to refuse to be drawn into party politics and to serve all equitably

The people of Filabusi and the MDC Alliance say Rest In Peace Chief Mafu. Rest in Peace Godlwayo omnyama, umahlabayitwale.

Sesel Zvidzai
Secretary for Local Government and Rural Development