ZANU PF Spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo Has Died

ZANU PF Politburo member and Secretary for Information, Simon Khaya Moyo has died.

The former Information Minister and ambassador died on Sunday afternoon aged 76.

Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Dr. Obert Mpofu confirmed the death. He said Cde Khaya Moyo died this afternoon at Mater Dei Hospital in Bulawayo where he was admitted.

Said Mpofu:

"Yes, I can confirm that he has passed on. I have just received the information. He died about 30 minutes ago. Get in touch with Dr (David) Parirenyatwa he also got that message while I was talking to him. He is in Bulawayo, he could be the appropriate person to talk to"

Cause of death

Khaya Moyo, according to a close family member, succumbed to an undisclosed long-term illness.

Simon Khaya brief biography

He was born on the 1st of October 1945. He was enrolled at Fletcher Secondary School up to 1965. Moyo was married to Sibonokhuhle and the couple divorced in 2013 with Moyo accusing his wife of infidelity. They have two sons Khanyisa and Mandlenkosi. He then married a Bulawayo businesswoman Margaret Mhambi in 2013.

Political History

Khaya-Moyo joined the nationalist movement in 1968 as a member of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU)

He received military training in Russia and Cuba and he attended the Malt, Geneva and Lancaster Conference which resulted in the Lancaster House Agreement together with Joshua Nkomo.

After 1980, he became an assistant secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and in 1983, he was appointed to be an undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice. In 1989, he was elected to be a member of the ZANU PF's Central Committee.

In March 1990, he became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bulilima Mangwe South constituency. Two years later, he became the Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce. In September 1994, he was appointed to be the Deputy Secretary for Administration in ZANU PF. Between July 1997 and July 2000, Khaya-Moyo was the Deputy Secretary for Legal Affairs in ZANU PF.

In 2007 he was appointed Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa, a post he held until 2011.

He was in 2013 tipped to assume the role of the second Vice-President after the death of John Nkomo in that year. Phelekezela Mphoko however was later appointed Vice President in December 2014.

Role in 2017 Coup

On 6 November 2017, Khaya Moyo announced the dismissal of then Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa from his post as well as from Zanu-PF. Moyo famously said that Mnangagwa had displayed "traits of disloyalty".

2 weeks later, on 21 November, immediately after Mugabe's forced resignation in a coup led by then military General Chiwenga, Khaya Moyo announced Mnangagwa's return saying "Mnangagwa... will come back in the next 24 hours or so and he will be the one who will be sworn in to be (interim) president for 90 days," 

Health

In September 2021, Obert Mpofu announced that Dr Mike Bimha had been appointed acting Secretary for Information and Publicity with immediate effect in Moyo's absence.