The Sunday News
AUTHOR Jeff Cooper wrote in the Art of the Rifle that, “The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles.”
True to Cooper’s writings, in the liberation struggle of the country there were more good men than there were evil men and the need to make them act and think like the good men was perhaps through the use of guns.
And the guns managed to correct what other peaceful avenues had failed to correct but guns alone have no will of their own, therefore they have to be given the will by men determined to correct the evil.
One of the men who gave the gun both the will and the moral stature in the liberation struggle was Baster Magwizi, a former Zipra cadre who at independence was integrated into the Zimbabwe National Army where he rose through the ranks to become a colonel and was Chief Instructor at the Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru at the time of his resignation.
He said of the hurdles that they came across in the execution of the liberation struggle, crossing the roaring Zambezi River was the most difficult and painful of all as they were always sure of encountering enemy fire as ambushes were laid by a combined force of the Rhodesians and the South African National Defence Forces (SANDF) in the Kavhira forest that connects Binga with the Zambezi River.
He said they fought a fierce battle that lasted for hours against the Rhodesians in July of 1977 at Mlibizi River after the Rhodesians were radioed that there was a force crossing from Zambia into the country and an ambush was laid.
He refuted claims downing a helicopter saying it was impossible with an AK47 alone without the aid of anti-aircraft weapons. “If you hear anyone saying they downed an aircraft they would have been proper maximan. No one can do it with an AK47 alone because usually an aircraft would come to support the ground forces and with the disturbance down for one to say they managed to aim at an aircraft and down it will be negating various military facts,” he said.
He said the story of the liberation struggle that gave birth to an independent Zimbabwe and the liberties that the people enjoy today was a direct result of the sacrifices made by so many sons and daughters of the soil.
As Mazzini rightly pointed out in the unification of Italy that, ‘the tree of liberty grows stronger when watered by the blood of the martyr,’ there were some who were so determined to die for the country. Those are the martyrs whose blood irrigated the tree of liberty whose shade we all enjoy now.
While others are so faint-hearted that they cannot even slay a chicken for meat, those who participated in the war of liberation, men and women were courageous enough and would shoot and kill without remorse, for that was what they had dedicated their life to doing.
“A war is not for boys and girls. It usually separate boys from men and girls from women, where strong willed people are required. The atmosphere that we operated in was usually pervaded by the smell of gun powder, blood and fresh human flesh. It was not an atmosphere where the faint-hearted would comfortably live in. Those whose adrenalin could not settle down easily and who were prone to panic were the first to die while others were injured. Some deserted the battle front and returned home, while others just disappeared into the thickets and were never to be seen again,” said Rtd Col Baster Magwizi, who was one of the many commanders under Zipra in the liberation struggle in an interview with the Sunday News.
Excerpts of the interview are below.
SN. Rtd Col Magwizi can you tell us briefly about yourself before you joined the liberation struggle.
BM. I was born some 60 years ago and grew up in Highfield, Egypt lines in the capital. That was the time where nationalist revolts were the order of the day and Highfield was a boiling pot of all the nationalistic activities. The suburb was the nerve centre of all nationalistic politics and so we grew up in the middle of political activities. And as a young man I became so much interested in the politics of the day. My father was actively involved in the politics of the day as a sales person working at Dulys. He would assist the nationalists with transport to and from various meeting points.
I felt the urge to assist my parents. And I grew up wanting to be a Junior G-Man from the communist film that we were watching on television. I even told my teachers that when I grew up I wanted to be a Junior G-Man. We used to see the leaders Cde Joshua Nkomo, Cde Willie Musarurwa, Cde Robert Mugabe and many others in the suburb when they came for meetings but that was usually under the cover of darkness.
I remember very well singing and denouncing Duncan Saints in 1961 who was a British envoy sent by Harold Wilson to come and persuade Cde Nkomo to drop his advocacy for a one man one vote. We used to sing, “we don’t want Duncan, we don’t want Duncan”.
Realising we were not very safe in Highfield, my father moved us to Mufakose but still our safety was not guaranteed. He then suggested that we move to Sanyati — our rural home in the Chenjiri area where I did my Standard Six at Moyo Musande School.
I came back to the capital for my secondary education but still together with other youths participated politically under the People’s Caretaker Council (PCC). This was after Zanu had been formed in 1963 and the movement of some people from Zapu to Zanu was not smooth, it was characterised by violence where songs like, “kuramba Nkomo uchida Sithole” and “pasi pamera madhunamutuna” were sung by youths chiding those who had joined Zanu leaving Zapu.
SN. So much about the politics of the day. Can you tell us how you joined Zipra, where you trained and your exploits as a soldier in the struggle.
BM. I was arrested after some gunshots were heard and I was taken to Southerton Police Station. I had been found with an iron bar as we were involved in various sabotage operations as active youths under Zapu. That was in 1975. After my release I went with the other youths to the Zapu offices where we were given an Airmail envelope that we were supposed to take to Bulawayo office. We were 13 and we embarked on the journey to Bulawayo where we were met at the office by Cde Vote Moyo who told us we were to wait for the bus that will take us to Botswana from where we were supposed to cross into Zambia. The bus did not come and word later got to the office that the bus was intercepted on its way back from Botswana. And so we were left with no option.
Cde Vote Moyo then gave us Cde Pifan Moyo to escort us to the camp in Mwenezi where others were as we wait for the convenient time to be taken to Zambia. In Bulawayo we were joined by two others and we were now 15 with four girls. We boarded a train and dropped off at Garare siding after Ngungumbane and we had to move on foot. Cde Pifan left us in a sorghum field and went into the villages to look for food. When he was gone, there appeared some three girls and they shouted to us, “nhasi mapera imi,” loosely translated you are finished after which they started running.
Just after they had told us we were fired so hard at from the small hill that was overlooking the sorghum field we were in. Mind you, we were untrained but I had the combat basics. Some among the group ran-away in different directions. One guy that I had come with from Harare called Brian was shot and the bullet shredded his chest leaving the lungs hanging out. He cried out for help and I removed my shirt and tried to save him. Realising my efforts he said, “You have tried to save me but I am not going to make it. Let me die but continue, don’t let this deter you. It should make you stronger instead.”
And he breathed his last. I had to uproot some sorghum crops and covered his body as well as regroup the guys who were left only to realise there were only five left after the death of Brian. The other guy was shot in the hand. The other nine were nowhere to be seen and we never saw them. That was a baptism of fire that we received, a very hard character testing initiation into the battle.
Cde Pifan then came. He had seen the attack from afar and realised it was risky for him to come to us during the assault.
We had to travel from Maranda to Mazetese on foot and we joined a camp that had people like Brian Mahlangu whose real name was Charles Mashila who died a Major in the army, the late John Dube and a young Tonga guy called Farai who is said to be alive and living in the Matetsi area.
We received our training at the camp under the tutelage of Christ Temple Chuma and I was trained like a commando from where we were given weapons and we started serious operations in the Mberengwa district covering Chegato and Mataga and into Mwenezi. We recruited from the communities in those areas. We recruited former 1 Brigade Commander Brigadier Thomas Moyo at Chegato Sec School and I escorted him to Botswana for training in Zambia.
SN: How were the relations with Zanla forces like during the execution of the liberation struggle?
BM: The relations were not very cordial. At times the Zanla forces would shoot at us and we were forced to return the fire. At one time we became confused as to who our real enemies were. There were the brown uniformed Pfumo Revanhu soldiers who were more like the Rhodesians or they were an extension of the Rhodesian forces, I am not very sure. There were more reports of rape and harassment of the communities in areas where the Pfumo Revanhu guys operated and some of the misdeeds were apportioned to the Zanla forces, though unverified.
I remember there was a time we called a meeting with the Zanla combatants and there came Rtd Major General Victor Rungani, Stopper and Gabarinocheka (Charles Gumbo) and we agreed that we should aim our fire at the Rhodesians and not at each other but surprisingly after the meeting they went back to their camp and immediately opened fire at us. Contact was however, rare because the Zanla forces were operating in the Northern side of the country of Tete, Gaza and Melseta.
SN: When were you confirmed commander and did you receive any other training after that? If so where?
BM: In 1976 we crossed into Zambia and I am sure the then Zipra Commander Alfred Nikita Mangena had heard about my exploits in the many battles that we engaged in. We were received in Zambia by Rtd Brigadier General Abel Mazinyane and I was confirmed commander Southern Front (SF3).
I came back and operated in the same area I was operating before in the Midlands Province and parts of Masvingo. In 1978 I went to Simferopol in the Federal Republic of Ukraine under the Soviet Union and trained in strategic command, artillery weaponry, specialising in long range with Rtd Col Ray Ncube. When we came back we trained a detachment that hit Mana Pools. We were now detachment commanders (more senior than section and platoon commanders) and we carried out extensive operations. But that was the time Commander Nikita Mangena died. It was sad. He was a commander with exceptional abilities and without taking anything away from Lookout Masuku who replaced him and Akim Ndlovu who was commander before him, the real effectiveness of Zipra died with Mangena.
His death affected the moral in the camps but with the discipline that was ingrained in the Zipra forces all was handled well and the transition was quite smooth.
SN: From what you have said it seems to me that you dedicated all you life and time to being a soldier. What made you leave the army?
BM: I felt I had served my country. Yes, I know no other career in my life other than the army. My feeling was that there was unfairness in the promotion mostly of cadres that were from Zipra. I was skirted around in promotions and most of the guys I had worked with in the liberation struggle left because of that frustration. I however, went into the Government again as Loss Control Officer with a brief to look at the losses that Zimbabwe was incurring, where I was working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 2000 to 2004. I however, hold no beef with anyone and I feel so much contended that I did my part in fighting for my country and protecting its sovereignty although more could be done to realise what we really fought for.
