Source: Haritatos dies | The Herald
Herald Reporter
Zanu PF Central Committee member and former Muzvezve Member of Parliament, Cde Peter Haritatos has died.He was 77.
Popularly known as “Baba George” in Kadoma for his conversance in Shona language, Cde Haritatos was a successful business man in and around the mining town.
He was father to Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement Deputy Minister, Vangelis Haritatos.
Cde Haritatos succumbed to Covid-19-related complications at a local hospital in Harare on Saturday.
Breaking the news on his Twitter handle, Deputy Minister Haritatos expressed shock on the passing on of his father.
“Why God. Only you know. Dad, you were my everything. You were loved by so many. You were my pillar. You were my hero. Rest in Eternal Peace. Life will never be the same. Please pray for my mom as she battles this evil virus,” said Vangelis who is travelling back home from abroad.
Commenting on the death, Zanu-PF Politbro member and former chairperson for Mashonaland West province, Cde Ziyambi Ziyambi said the province had lost a dedicated cadre.
“He was a Central Committee member, a revolutionary cadre fought for oppression. He was the first white man to be disowned by his own. He was denied a place to enrol at Jameson High School for his secondary education and had to attend Rimuka High. We worked well with him in the party and would carry out any party duty as assigned,” said Cde Ziyambi who is also Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
Cde Haritatos would be remembered for addressing rallies and gatherings in Shona despite being of a Greek origin.
He became Muzvezve MP from 2013 to 2018 before he decided not to seek re-election.
Cde Haritatos was born in Greece and relocated to Zimbabwe in the 1950s, at a time European immigrants faced discrimination from the white Rhodesian settlers.
His father was a master baker who settled in Kadoma, where his son now runs bakery and confectionery business.
Cde Haritatos spoke fluent Shona which resulted in him get a nickname – “Baba George.”
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