The Sunday News
TODAY we bring to an end a series of interviews on accounts of the armed struggle the Southern Front 3, an operational area that covered Mangwe, Kezi, Gwanda and Beitbridge districts in Matabeleland South Province.
Under the series we published eye witness accounts from villagers and in the last two weeks we have been speaking to one of the guerillas, Cde Abel Nsewula pseudonym Cde Sifiso Njalo or Disco. The series covered the gunning of Zipra commander for the Southern Front 3, Cde Adam Dube aka Mphini and 10 other fighters as well as four children from one family in Ratanyana area, the killing of about 11 Rhodesian forces at Tjewhondo village by the guerillas and Cde Nsewula’s interviews where he spoke about his training, deployment and operations in the SF3. Below is the final account with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS):
MS: In your operations tell us the success stories of your campaign, incidents where you can say the guerillas inflicted damage to the enemy.
Cde Nsewula: There are quite many, but what I can say where as guerillas we felt the enemy suffered and felt intimidated was the attack on the Kezi and Maphisa post offices. I was not part of that unit, but some of the comrades went there at night and shelled it. That terrified the Rhodesians although no life was lost. You know the post office in Kezi was within an area where there is Kezi Police Station, Special Branch offices, the District Administrator and all the offices and people that ran the Rhodesian government at local level.
It meant that we had taken the war to their door step. We were using guerilla tactics and we wanted those people to feel it was no longer safe wherever there were. Then there was also the killing of a big Rhodesian businessman, who was called Payne at what is now Maphisa Growth Point. He was a businessman who was very rough to the black population and was always armed as he was part of the Rhodesian security forces. He was killed in broad daylight and it was a one-man operation that stunned the Rhodesians.
MS: Who killed him and how?
Cde Nsewula: Payne was killed by Cde Kenias Hove, a young man who came from Mberengwa who later on rose to become the deputy SF3 commander, deputising Thomas Dlodlo who took over after the death of Cde Mphini in February 1979. You know Kenias was very brave, he left a unit of guerillas at Mabonyane who included Mkhize and went to attack Payne. He arrived at the grocery shop like any customer dressed in a dust coat, he looked more like a farm worker or umfana wenkomo nje. What worked in his favour was that he was very young. In fact he was one of the youngest guerillas when we got to Kezi just like Twoboy and Mjojana.
So when he got into the shop he pointed at an item which was on the top shelf and asked Payne to give to him. When the big Rhodesian turned to pick up that item he poured a number of bullets into that big body using his AK-47 folded butt. However, Payne trained as he was, did not just die, he tried to fight back, but it was too late. In fact Payne fired some shots and if Kenias was not such a good fighter could have died as well. The villagers who were at the store ran in different directions in fear. Kenias then walked to the till and collected the money and took some grocery items and disappeared. Follow-up efforts by the Rhodesians yielded nothing.
MS: So what was your strategy?
Cde Nsewula: Our strategy was to use small mobile units, inflict damage on the enemy and disappear. Lay an ambush there, engage the enemy and withdraw. Even when we came across a unit of enemy forces, if we killed one and injured some, we celebrated. Our objective was to keep the enemy forces guessing and on their toes. You see we never operated in big numbers, the only time you could find us in a big unit was when we had combined two sections and that we would be about 14 or 15. We used to operate as a section of seven guerillas and we could even split it to move in a unit of three or four, although we would be in the same vicinity. As for us who were in Mkuwa, Manyane, Donkwe-Donkwe areas we made sure that we stopped the Rhodesians from moving in their convoys.
You see, the areas I mentioning are very close to Kezi Centre, some 15 or so kilometres. However, we managed to stop them from using their trucks, we did not plant landmines much but we attacked those convoys, we were hitting them with rocket launchers and bazookas. We closed all those roads, but allowed bus companies to continue plying their routes as usual. At times when I look back, I feel we were a bit crazy, when an army truck appeared I would jump into the road and release a bazooka shell, especially in the radiator area. As for the Mkuwa area they stopped completely and then tried to use the Fumugwe area as their launch pad, but like I said they suffered losses. As a result the Rhodesians ended up using the Plumtree Road and then come through the farms where they set up bases. The notorious farms were Bloomberg and Taylors. From the farms they would then embark on foot patrols to reach the villages in a bid to flush us out.
MS: In terms of the intensity of the war, which areas can you pick and say villagers at this particular area suffered, especially at the hands of the Rhodesian forces.
Cde Nsewula: You know my unit besides covering areas close to Kezi Centre, we also covered Sontala, Silonkwe and Mbembeswana, Gubula and so on. However, most of the contacts we had with the Rhodesians were in Mbembeswana, Silonkwe and Sontala, so the enemy forces vented their frustrations on the villagers there. For instance I still remember 39 homesteads were set alight by the Rhodesian forces in one day. That was after we had inflicted heavy losses on them. What happened is that one of our comrades called Class left the unit and slept at a homestead and was raided there early in the morning by the Rhodesian forces. He used a smoke grenade to make a breakthrough, he threw the grenade through the window and slipped away under the cover of darkness. That day we were a unit of 15 as the previous day we had a GP, so we were still within the reach of each other. On realising that Class had outwitted them, the Rhodesian forces started burning down homesteads. We then went for them, but as we came across a group that was going to a watering point to fetch water we ambushed it. In that ensuing contact, those near the iziguruguru (armoured cars) jumped in and ran away. From that contact we recovered a lot of their equipment, magazines, kit bags, caps and an FN rifle. At Silonkwe nine homesteads were also burnt down.
MS: But despite that villagers continued supporting you.
Cde Nsewula: The contribution of the masses to the struggle iyesabeka, villagers sacrificed their lives for us. We survived because of them, but of course there were some who did not understand and they sold us to the enemy. In those places we used to call around the villagers and address them, explaining to them the purpose of the war and how the white Smith government was oppressing them. Our meetings were very short and quick.
MS: Any regrets during your operations?
Cde Nsewula: I was very affected by the death of our commander, Cde Mphini and 10 comrades at Ratanyana. Then there was also an incident just across Semukwe River in Mangwe District where a villager poisoned our comrades and six of them died.
Those are the incidents that worry me up to now. We also lost some comrades in some battles and in one of the incidents it was through a unit of Selous Scouts.
MS: Where and what happened?
Cde Nsewula: The Selous Scouts moved to Donkwe-Donkwe near the primary school in villages where there is a homestead of the owner of Hawkflight Construction, Mngane Ncube. Thina we were at Manyane, about 10 kilometres or so away. Donkwe-Donkwe is about 10km from Kezi Centre. Then those Selous Scouts sent a message to the villagers, telling that if they see guerillas they should tell them that there was a new unit from Zambia and wanted to meet us. We then asked the villagers on how those people looked like. They told us that they were about 20, all dressed in brownish combat attire, which is Russian and were carrying what looked like new AK-47 rifles with plastic butts, which we knew were made in Romania. From the onset we knew that something was fishy. It was not possible to have such a big unit in new combat gear. So we delayed and we started playing cat and mouse with those people. Then we had other comrades who had separated from the main unit, Qinisela, Mdluli and the other. They fell for the trap and went to those people.
MS: That was tricky.
Cde Nsewula: I still remember it was in 1978 and when they got there near the homestead of a Ngwenya who was the headmaster of Mankala Primary School, they found those people. Then the Selous Scouts said to them if you are a disciplined Zapu cadre hand you’re your weapon to us, it could have dawned to Qinisela and Mdluli that they were in trouble, they refused and tried to fight, but it was too late, they were shot dead there and there. The other comrade was captured. You know those people played their game nicely, they told the villagers that those comrades had to be killed because they were no longer fighting and were undisciplined. However, a few hours later a helicopter arrived on a nearby hill and those people just disappeared. It took the villagers time to realise that the two comrades were killed by Selous Scouts.
MS: That was close for you as well.
Cde Nsewula: You know operating in Kezi was not easy, it was also used by many people who were going to join the war, they passed through Kezi, Gwanda and Plumtree. So a lot of activities were happening and that meant the enemy was also using different methods of inflicting damage to us. There was also the issue of Umkhonto WeSizwe guerillas, they used Kezi as their corridor and we even operated with some of them.
