Disability champion Joshua Malinga dies

Zim Now Writer

Joshua Teke Malinga, the former executive mayor of Bulawayo and special adviser to the president on disability issues died on Friday night aged 79, his family announced.

The Zanu PF politburo member, who championed the rights of the disabled, died at his Richmond home in Bulawayo surrounded by family on Friday night, his son Mpehlabayo said.

“He was diagnosed with prostrate cancer four years ago and we thought it had gone into remission after treatment, but it came back aggressively and he hasn’t been too well for some time,” he said.

Malinga served two terms as executive mayor of Bulawayo in the 1990s.

Born in Filabusi on April 20, 1944, Malinga was dealt a blow at a young age when he lost the ability to walk following a polio attack.

The late former MP Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu, a relative, took the young Joshua to Jairos Jiri Centre for the disabled in Bulawayo. It was here where Malinga attended school and would later learn a craft as a cobbler.

He joined ZAPU and took up political activism against the racist minority rulers in the then Southern Rhodesia, triggered by their treatment of black people.

Malinga’s advocacy for disabled people and outspoken comments over the marginalisation of Matabeleland elevated him to national prominence, and he was given a seat in the Zanu PF politburo for many years.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa later appointed him his presidential adviser on disability issues.

His son Mpehlabayo said his father was “an inspiration.”

“From the handicap at a young age, my father made the best of life from a situation where many would have given up. Us his 10 children would count ourselves lucky to achieve half the things he achieved, having had to fight through discrimination to become the important voice he went on to become, especially against all forms of injustice,” Malinga said.

Bulawayo’s incoming mayor and former minister David Coltart said: “Although in the last two decades we’ve been on opposite sides of the political divide, he became a good friend in the 1980s and 90s and have remained so since. I admired his courage under affliction.”

Malinga was “a very courageous man who spoke from his heart and with the courage of his conviction,” said former Zesa Holdings CEO Josh Chifamba.

“With him what you saw is what you got. I enjoyed his candour when he insisted that people from Matabeleland should occupy top jobs in the region. It was a genuine call from a patriot who detested tribalism. A lot of people misunderstood him, but he was simply standing for equity,” Chifamba wrote on X.

Saviour Kasukuwere, who sat with Malinga in the Zanu PF politburo for many years, tweeted: “He was a man so full of humour and wisdom. He stood for the disabled community with conviction. Go well brave leader.”

“Malinga’s name was synonymous with a real champion for disadvantaged within societies. He exhibited all abilities and capabilities in every role he played within society. Sad that he’s no more, but truly, he has left abundant positive and lasting contributions to Zimbabwe,” Ben Bvepfepfe said in an X tribute.