The Sunday News
Yoliswa Moyo, Features Editor
THIRTY YEARS down the line, renowned poet, Albert Nyathi’s rendition of Senzeni Na, still tugs at the heart’s strings.
When he chanted, “Kulicala na ukulwela inkululeko, kulicala na ukulwela isizwe sakwenu, kulicala na ukuzilwela wena inkululeko yakho (Is it a crime to fight for your freedom), it resonated well with Zimbabweans across the lengths and breadths of the country who had lost luminaries, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters during the protracted armed struggle, to liberate the country.
Senzeni Na, is a eulogy to assassinated South Africa liberation leader, Chris Hani.
It is a protest, struggle, freedom and independence song that speaks of justice and Africanism.
It was composed at a time when African literature was banned in South Africa, and it was a crime to have a written record of such a song.
The emotive song speaks of the pain of losing loved ones, too many to count, at the hands of the oppressor. The grief, woe and sorrow is aptly immortalised by the verse, ngilahlekelwe mina.
This was a pain Nyathi knew all too well – he was after all a child of the struggle, having joined the country’s fight for liberation as a young boy.
He speaks fondly of the late ZPRA Commander, Rogers Mangena pseudo name Alfred Nikita, whom he described as a father figure at a time he missed a male role model in his life, back at Nampundwe Transit Camp in Zambia.
“We were sometimes homesick. So, if you were lucky, you would sneak out and join a truck in which they collected guys for training. I was lucky, so I ran away to a training camp called Mwembeshi, but then I was unlucky.
“I was spotted by Alfred Nikita Mangena, the army commander, and he said, ‘Hey, young man! Come join me, I have something else for you,’ and so I went to stay at a place called Zimbabwe House in Lusaka for some months,” said Nyathi.
Rogers “Alfred Nikita” Mangena
It was under the tutelage of leaders like Mangena that he started to discover the true value of education, after snubbing it relentlessly back home. At that time, he was too young to fight on the battle front and was being prepared for life after the war.
Nyathi, who has since the dawn of independence, grown to become one of Zimbabwe’s prime poets and musicians, said the time has come for the arts sector to invest in infrastructure.
“We’re celebrating 44 years of independence this year and what I’d like to see in the creative sector is an improvement in infrastructural development. As the chairman of the Zimbabwe Music Rights Association (Zimura), we bought a piece of land in Bulawayo to develop a creative centre. We would like to see that happening in various towns across the country as well. We want to ensure that it’s done because that’s 44 years now,” said Nyathi in an interview.
The energetic poet, whose bubbly aura is contagious said, “When I grew up, we had youth centres. Some of these youth centres are now dilapidated, others have changed use. Youth centres and community halls were for everyone. As Zimura, we’re looking to build structures that are specifically meant to develop the creative sector and this includes music, dance, theatre, acting, poetry, comedy, film and television, you name it. These will be the centres where we’ll have youngsters in the garden busy; we’ll have guitar rooms, piano rooms, dance rooms, sculptor areas etc.”
Nyathi said Zimura is seeking partners to develop these creative centres countrywide.
“Soon, we’ll be signing MoUs with partners that I can’t disclose at the moment. We’re open to more partnerships. This can be part of a company’s corporate social responsibility. If they adopt a theatre for example, the company’s legacy lives on through that theatre,” said Nyathi.
The seasoned poet and musician urged upcoming artistes to maintain originality and acknowledge work that is developed from creations by fellow artistes.
“Intellectual property is a creation of the mind and music is one such creation. When you take someone else’s music and pretend to the public that it’s yours, and start profiting from it economically, there are certain rights attached. Some of the rights are moral rights. If you take my song and use it inappropriately, I have the right to stop you from doing so. Economic rights mean you can’t benefit without engaging me as the composer or owner of the property. You’re allowed to re-do but engage the owners of the property,” he said.
At the cusp of the interview was the memory of one of the gallant sons of the soil, who recently passed on and was close to Nyathi’s heart, Cde Chemist David Siziba.
Cde Chemist Siziba
Cde Siziba died of kidney failure at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare. on 9 March 2024.
“Chemist was one of the most wonderful people I ever came across. He was an amazing man. He was very kind. I’d say he was one of the first ones to start the black empowerment movement in Zimbabwe. It was him, Ben Mucheche, Leo Mugabe and Strive Masiyiwa,” said Nyathi.
He dotingly recalled his interactions with the late Cde Siziba, whom he described as an accommodating, jovial character.
“He invited me and Lovemore Majaivana, it must have been 1999 or 2000, to his farm in Shangani. We performed for the whole night in honour of his mother. There were lots of people and we performed until morning. What I remember is that he paid us very well. Lwazi Tshabangu was also there. That’s why when Lovemore Majaivana heard that Siziba had passed on, he phoned me, very dejected.
“When Siziba was turning 55, some time back, he invited me and the band Imbongi to his house in Borrowdale to perform. There were lots of his friends. His mother was there as well. He was so fond of his mother. He was full of jokes. He was so accommodating to everyone. He loved Highlanders Football Club. Apart from business, he was a socialite as well. When he was running Cosmos Cellular, he had a tournament which involved Highlanders and Dynamos and he was beginning to grow this tournament,” said Nyathi.
Although he was well-known for his business activities as he participated significantly in corporate affairs and the 1990s black economic empowerment movement, Cde Siziba was an intelligence operative, a part of his life he did not hype.
He participated in the liberation struggle as a Zapu cadre and intelligence officer under the National Security Organisation (NSO), led by the late Dr Dumiso Dabengwa, popularly known as the “Black Russian” due to his wartime undercover exploits.
Cde Siziba started his political activities as a student activist at the University of Rhodesia, in the early 1970s.
Before going to university, he had attended Gwabila, Lubuze, Wanezi, Matopo and Fletcher primary and high schools in Matabeleland South and Midlands provinces.
He then went to the University of Bombay (Mumbai) before relocating to the United Kingdom, where he was recruited into Zapu’s intelligence structures.
As the war intensified, Cde Siziba was summoned to Lusaka, Zambia, where Zapu was based.
He worked in Lusaka until 1979 when the Lancaster House ceasefire and transitional talks paved way for the return of Zapu and Zanu back home.
Cde Siziba was part of the Zapu delegation when they returned home in 1979, ahead of the first majority elections in 1980. – @Yolisswa
