Former Minister of labour in the 1990s and diplomat Florence Chitauro has died after reportedly suffering a stroke, My Gokwe has learnt.
Chitauro died on Monday night after collapsing at her Borrowdale home, according to her nephew Bright Matonga who declined to comment further.
“She suffered a severe stroke. She was alone in the house and we had to break the window to get inside,” a relative said.
Chitauro was rushed to a hospital where she was resuscitated a few times before her death was confirmed, the relative added.
Chitauro, who once served as Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Australia, was the wife of former defence secretary and first vice chancellor of Bindura University of Science Education, the late James Chitauro.
Chitauro had four children with her late husband and at one time lived in the United Kingdom with some of her children. She returned home quietly a few years ago.
Chitauro was labour minister when the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions – for which she was once vice president – called crippling strikes known as stay-aways lorein the 1990s which some say eventually led to the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
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