Johanna Fuyana Nkomo
The late Mrs Nkomo was wife to the former vice-president and nationalist Dr JMN Nkomo, she is a Zimbabwean national hero.
Johanna Fuyana was born within Nguni royalty in 1927 on the 18th of September. She was the second of three children of Paul Silwalume Fuyana and Maria Sithunzesimbi.
She attended St Joseph’s Primary School and Emhandeni, and went to work for the Dominican Sisters’ Convent in Bulawayo as a girls matron. It was while working at the Convent she met Joshua Nkomo who would later become her husband.
They married in 1949 and started a long married life in the Bulawayo railway compound. They were blessed with four children Thandiwe, Barbara, Enerst Thuthani, Micheal Sibangilizwe and Loise Sehlule. She was involved supportively to her husband in the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe and in her own individual capacity that she was also had a stint in detention. Following independence she contributed to the unity of the nation.
She passed away on June 3 2003 and was declared a national hero. She is buried at the national heroes acre.
