The Sunday News
Cultural Heritage
LAST week we wrote on the history of pre-colonial Hlekweni and explained the origins of names associated with the current institution which has since closed shop. In today’s instalment we delve into the post-colonial institution to identify its development thrust and the people and institutions that provided it with the necessary leadership drive.
The establishment of Hlekweni Rural Service Centre (HRSC) is traceable to the presence of the London Missionary Society (LMS), now the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA) which set up Inyathi Mission in December 1859. The missionary society was given land on which to farm by Ndebele monarch King Mzilikazi.
Following the demise of King Mzilikazi, the new king, Lobengula gave the missionary society another piece of land to establish a mission station in 1870. The mission station was Hope Fountain (Mthombothemba). The missionary society had links with England where it was established and that link would later translate to a link with Hlekweni.
For 14 years Roy Henson worked as farm manager for the LMS. While serving as farm manager he identified the development needs of the local people. His response to those needs was to set up a rural service centre long before the Quakers came on board. In 1964 Henson resigned his position as farm manager and set his eyes on establishing a rural service centre. For that he needed land.
With Quaker financial support a failed dairy farm enterprise called Valindre (a Welsh place name meaning Mill Town) was purchased. The farm was intended for the benefit of blacks and yet it was located in a white commercial farming zone, according to the land demarcation of the Land Apportionment Act (1931). The farm was accordingly registered in the name of the Central and Southern African Yearly Meeting.
At the time when moves were being made to establish the rural service centre racially induced politics were taking place. The Smith regime had proscribed both Zapu and Zanu and detained its leaders in Gonakudzingwa and Sikombela respectively. Some of the nationalist leaders were being dragged before the courts of law. There was a need for their legal representation.
A Defence and Aid Fund was set up in England by Canon John Collins who then appointed Roy Henson as the Fund’s representative in Rhodesia. Meanwhile, Henson’s wife Irene worked for Christian Care which channelled Defence and Aid money from London to Rhodesia.
Hlekweni Rural Service Centre’s work started in 1967. Hlekweni was to be a pioneering centre for sustainable living and racial equality. From the outset the centre had links with the liberation movement. Released detainees from both Zapu and Zanu were given two-month training in rural skills such as agriculture and building.
Henson and Zapu leader Joshua Nkomo would sometimes hold meetings on the farm. Mindful that the Rhodesians had bugged the place, Nkomo and Henson would wander among the cattle to avoid their discussions being monitored.
Hlekweni Rural Service Centre offered courses in Agriculture, Building and related fields and Early Childhood Development. Many took part in the programmes the centre offered and went back to improve their rural areas, particularly as builders and agriculturalists. Beadwork was also provided. The Rural Service Centre did not train for formal employment; rather their concern was improvement of living conditions in the rural communities.
The Friends of Hlekweni have, as one of their aims, relief of suffering in the area surrounding Hlekweni. There is a feeding scheme at Samathonga Primary School. They have also provided books, furniture and Early Childhood Development (ECD) toys to Mashumba and Ratanyana primary schools in Matobo District. Further, they have been paying school fees for some needy pupils and students and supporting the Zimbabwe Food Relief Action.
Irene Henson, who had been co-director of Hlekweni Rural Service Centre with her husband Roy Henson, died in 1973. Following her death Roy remained in England for a while. There was a challenge in terms of leadership of the centre. The situation was exacerbated by World Neighbours’ move to terminate their funding of salaries. The war situation in Rhodesia was escalating at the time.
A new leadership was put in place to run Hlekweni. Roy Henson’s son Benjamin, Sithembiso Nyoni, Thandiwe (later Benjamin’s wife), Hensons’ daughter Inez and her husband Stephen Hussey took over the reins at the Rural Service Centre. Ben had been acting director when his father was away while Stephen was farm manager.
The Quakers were involved with the work at Hlekweni. Stanley and Margaret Moore of the Salisbury Meeting were fully commited to the democratic struggle. Both became members of Zapu and Margaret was the secretary of the Salisbury City Branch. Sadly, their political views did not sit well with the Salisbury Meeting of the Quakers. The couple decided to resign their Quaker membership.
In response to the escalating war of liberation, the Rhodesian authorities resorted to the call-up system. Both Benjamin and Stephen were called up. They, however, declined to serve in the Rhodesian army. The consequence to that would have been imprisonment. The two decided to leave Rhodesia.
A troika was put in place to run the affairs of Hlekweni Rural Service Centre. The three were to be a farm manager, a training officer and a bursar. Richard Povell, who had managed Church Missionary Society bookshops in Nigeria with wife Nan, offered to become a bursar. Povell was too old to provide the requisite leadership. He, however, served till the advent of majority rule in 1980. A number of directors steered Hlekweni in the post-independence period: Peter Nyoni, Michael Ncube, and Isaac Dube with the last being Innocent Moyo.
While Hlekweni Rural Service Centre may have closed down, the Friends of Hlekweni (FoH) will continue supporting development projects in rural Matabeleland. At a meeting held at Milton Keynes on 22 June 2014 the Susan Lee Taylor-led Trust was confirmed and given a fresh mandate to continue with the development work that they are doing.
