26 Facts About Callistus Ndlovu

Callistus Dingiswayo Ndlovu was a Zimbabwean academic, diplomat, and politician.

Callistus Ndlovu joined the Zimbabwe African People's Union in 1963 as a teacher in Matabeleland, and went on to serve as its representative to the United Nations and North America in the 1970s.

Callistus Ndlovu died in 2019 in South Africa, where he was being treated for cancer.

Callistus Dingiswayo Ndlovu was born on 9 February 1936 in Plumtree, a town near the western border of what was then Southern Rhodesia.

Callistus Ndlovu grew up in a Kalanga family of four.

Callistus Ndlovu attended Empandeni High School, a Catholic mission school in Plumtree, where he earned his junior certificate and began training as a teacher.

Callistus Ndlovu then taught Mafakela Primary School in Bulawayo in 1962.

In 1963, Callistus Ndlovu entered Pius XII Catholic University College in Basutoland, where he graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts in economics, history, and Zulu.

Callistus Ndlovu went on to earn a Master of Arts in history from New York University in 1969, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in history from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1973.

In 1960, Callistus Ndlovu joined the National Democratic Party, an African nationalist party founded by Joshua Nkomo.

Callistus Ndlovu received an award for distinguished teaching in 1973, and was granted Freedom of the City by Minneapolis in 1973.

Callistus Ndlovu attended the 1976 Geneva Conference and the 1979 Lancaster House Conference as a political advisor to the Patriotic Front delegations.

Callistus Ndlovu returned to Zimbabwe at independence in 1980, and worked as a director at Carbin Finance and as a group industrial relations manager with Union Carbide.

Callistus Ndlovu's appointment strained the already difficult relations between Nkomo and Ndlovu, who in previous instances had opposed Nkomo at party councils, and who had chaired a parliamentary committee enquiring into Nkomo's and ZAPU's companies.

At a party meeting in Bulawayo on 8 May 1982, Callistus Ndlovu defended his decision to join Mugabe's cabinet and accused ZAPU leadership of employing a double standard for refusing to support his appointment, as the party had approved the appointment of three other ZAPU ministers in the past.

On 3 January 1984, Mugabe reshuffled his cabinet, and Callistus Ndlovu was appointed to replace Maurice Nyagumbo as Minister of Mines.

On 14 April 1984, Callistus Ndlovu announced his resignation from ZAPU.

That year, Callistus Ndlovu became ZANU's provincial chairman for Bulawayo, an office he held until 1987.

Callistus Ndlovu was then appointed to represent Matabeleland North Province in the Senate, where he served until 1990.

On 15 July 1985, following the election, Mugabe announced a new cabinet in which Callistus Ndlovu was named Minister of Industry and Technology.

Callistus Ndlovu worked for the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration and Management for several years and spent much of his time farming.

Callistus Ndlovu was a member of the commission that drafted a proposed new Zimbabwean constitution, which was defeated by voters in the 2000 constitutional referendum.

Callistus Ndlovu was chairman of the board of directors of the cellular network operator Net*One and headed the founding task force of Gwanda State University, a new government university established in Matabeleland South Province in 2012.

Callistus Ndlovu died on 13 February 2019 at Netcare Pinehaven Hospital in Krugersdorp, South Africa, where he had been undergoing chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Callistus Ndlovu's body was then flown to Harare, and was buried at the National Heroes' Acre the next day.

Callistus Ndlovu is survived by his wife Angeline and seven children.