that year. Death On 14 August 1962, information reached ZAPU from contacts in the British South Africa Police that Edgar Whitehead was planning security crackdowns on known party affiliates. Nkomo subsequently phoned Parirenyatwa at his Salisbury home that evening, ordering an immediate conference in Bulawayo to plan contingencies for those spared the police net. A car was dispatched to take the vice president four hundred kilometres to Matabeleland. Initially, there were four occupants, of whom two reportedly left the car in Gwelo (or Gweru) when it was clear they were being trailed by police cars. Parirenyatwa and the driver, Sibanda, stopped for petrol in Shangani. According to Sibanda at the inquest, they were stopped a mile beyond Shangani and accosted by some unidentified Europeans. As it approached Bulawayo, the vehicle suffered a collision with a speeding train, which dragged it for several metres. Parirenyatwa was killed outright. This account was confirmed by the driver, although Nkomo's lawyer later claimed that the deceased's hands bore marks suggesting he had been bound with rope. (According to Shamuyarira, Sibanda reported having no memory of the event after the alleged beating). Parirenyatwa's funeral, held on his father's farm, drew thousands of visitors, including Nkomo, Ndabaningi Sithole, Robert Mugabe, Leopold Takawira, and Josiah Mushore Chinamano. Even Reuben Jamela, with whom Parirenyatwa had enjoyed a cordial working relationship, chose to attend – despite the hostility incurred from radicals present. During the funeral Jamela was assaulted and left for dead; ZAPU youth also burned his car despite an attempt to impose order by Mugabe. Legacy After Mugabe's ascension to power in 1980, Salisbury's Andrew Fleming Medical Centre was renamed Parirenyatwa Hospital by the Zimbabwean government and opened to all races. The legacy of Parirenyatwa's work continues since his son, David Parirenyatwa—also a medical doctor—served as Zimbabwe's Minister of Health from 2002 to 2009 and again since 2013. References External links The Fallen Heroes Who is Who in Mutare? 1927 births 1962 deaths People from Manicaland Province People from Rusape Road incident deaths in Zimbabwe University of Fort Hare alumni University of South Africa alumni University of the Witwatersrand alumni Rhodesian politicians Rhodesian physicians