Zanu PF declare Patel a national hero

The Zanu-PF Politburo met in Harare yesterday and unanimously declared businessman and nationalist Kantibhai Gordanbhai Patel a national hero. His remains will be interred at the National Heroes Acre in August next year during National Heroes’ Day commemorations.

Patel (83) died last Saturday in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he had been receiving treatment. Zanu-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo yesterday said the Politburo reached the decision after taking stock of his contributions during and after the liberation struggle.

“Cde Patel has been declared a national hero. The decision was unanimous. Everyone spoke highly of his contributions. He did quite a lot for the country and that is why he has been declared a national hero,” he said.

Gumbo said the Politburo noted that Patel played a crucial role in financing conferences held by nationalists during the liberation struggle. Zanu-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa announced the hero status to the family.

Patel’s body was cremated at Pioneer Cemetery in the afternoon before a huge crowd of members of the Indian community and Zanu-PF members. The mourners included Politburo members Sydney Sekeramayi, Gumbo, Tendai Savanhu, Charles Tawengwa, Harare provincial chairman Amos Midzi and Central Committee members Noah Mangondo and Joseph Macheka.

Some of the ashes will be buried at the cemetery, others will be taken to his home to be shared between the family and Government, while the remainder will be taken to India to be thrown in the Ganges River.

“He was a very strong member of our party. He did everything with us in the party. We have considered his history when he left his mother country to work with us from the NDP days to the present.

“We have come here to do two things, to pay our condolences and to announce the Politburo decision. The Politburo sat this afternoon and declared Patel a national hero,” said Mutasa. Patel’s son Yogesh thanked Zanu-PF for according his father national hero status.

“As a family we thank you for bestowing our father with this honour which is a great honour for any Zimbabwean. We are speechless,” he said. The funeral started at his Ridgeview house with a family prayer held in accordance to Hindu culture. Family members dressed in white sat around the coffin as the prayers were recited.

Once the prayers were done, the casket was taken outside for body viewing with members of the Zanu-PF Women’s League and party choirs allowed to sing and dance as per Patel’s wish. The body was then taken to the cemetery where again prayers were recited and a second body viewing ceremony for those that were not at home was conducted.

The body was then removed from the coffin and put on the pyer and sprinkled with ghee, a vegetable based liquid. Hindu rituals were conducted before a fire was lit and the body put into the crematorium. Professor Hasu Patel said it was the first time he had witnessed a cross cultural funeral.

“This says a lot on how Patel wanted to be remembered. The family has lost an umbrella while the party has lost a dedicated and hardworking Comrade,” he said. Patel fell and broke a hipbone and sustained a fractured skull at his Ridgeview home in Harare on August 25. He was taken to the Avenues Clinic and was later transferred to South Africa.

Commenting on other issues, Gumbo said the Politburo did not discuss revelations by whistleblower website Wikileaks. Wikileaks unearthed stunning revelations on how some Zanu-PF officials have been selling-out and volunteering classified information about President Mugabe to the Americans in a bid to cause regime change from within the party. The Herald