The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
IN the midst of pomp and ceremony President Mnangagwa officially commissioned the enhanced Pupu Monument on 21 March 2024.
The original lacklustre and stunted baby monument was erected in honour of the 34 white soldiers who perished in the hands of Ndebele fighters early in the morning of 4 December 1893. It was an epic battle that came after the more decisive Gadade Battle, also known as the Mbembesi Battle that took place on 1 November 1893.
The stunted obelisk had, on one of its faces the names of the white war dead and nothing capturing the battle from a Ndebele perspective. It is known that hundreds of Ndebele soldiers perished in the vicious encounter that lasted several hours.
The pursuit party under the leadership of Major Patrick Forbes got to the raging Shangani River at the time when night was setting in. However, Major Allan Wilson, the second-in-command, was keen to hog the limelight.
Against the wise advice from his boss, he decided to lead a party of men across the Shangani River when they got news that King Lobengula was not far away. He made some gross military miscalculation by venturing with a few men at night, knowing well they did not take with them the Maxim gun that had decided the outcome of earlier battles.
His deep love for glory cost the lives of the 34 white solders. Those who managed to take news back to Major Forbes reported candidly that only “a bird that flew straight up could survive.” The report was accurate.
This article seeks to highlight the significance of the construction and commissioning of the Pupu Battle. The fateful battle was waged on 4 December 1893.
Beyond the baby obelisk there was nothing else that was constructed on the site. Today the fallen soldiers in the Major Wilson Party are remembered reverently through a gigantic monument.
With regard to the Ndebele fallen fighters there was nothing built in their honour after independence. It came as no surprise to me when we visited the Nsanjika Hill in Chipata where the remains of King Lobengula are said to be interred. One of the huge stone boulders on the hill summit disappeared. If it rolled down, it left no trace of its path. White pigeons that lived on the boulders also disappeared without trace. A more detailed account in the envisaged book will be furnished in due course.
President Mnangagwa with Pathisa Nyathi
The Pupu Monument is indisputable testimony to Ndebele military traditions, military genius, prowess and valour in the face of unprovoked white aggression and insatiable desire to access the natural resources.
The revamped monument depicts Ndebele fighting formation, the chest and horns formation. The military legacy of the Ndebele nation has been given a new lease of life and some enduring memory. This will even be more so when a site museum is constructed that will feature aspects of Ndebele military traditions expressed through collected and accurately interpreted war artefacts such as spears, rifles, water carriers, revolvers and pistols, inter alia.
The commissioning of the monument should not be viewed as a done and dusted project. A statue of King Lobengula may have to be erected, alongside his praises and the narrative of the historic battle in the context of Ndebele military traditions. It is envisaged that the monument will open more vistas in terms of rehabilitation and the construction of monuments that depict Ndebele history, culture and indeed, their military traditions.
This will demand that the construction remains true to Ndebele traditions in terms of artefacts, contrary to what took place at Old Bulawayo where strange and exotic items were introduced and curated as Ndebele artefacts. All this should resuscitate the punctured and deflated egos and loss of pride by the descendants of the gallant fighters. A patriotic sense of national belonging has eluded the Ndebele people who continue to feel they live on the peripheries, unrecognised and denied recognition in fighting for the freedom and independence of Zimbabwe, especially given the political events that took place soon after independence.
The Pupu Monument, its completion and commissioning hold hope that finally the Ndebele people may begin to receive due recognition that was denied them under the Mugabe regime. If Pupu serves as the beginning of a new era that renders and delivers due pride to a Ndebele past we could be headed for a future of hope and the creation of a nation that is characterised by unity beyond country and state. Ours is a wounded nation with palpable toxicity. It is crying out for genuine and sustainable healing and reconciliation.
More cultural and historical projects could be pursued to heal the nation. We are there to identify some of the possible cultural projects with reconciliatory dimensions and infused with pride and dignity. There is scope for more military-related sites that require development such as Gadade (01/11/1893), Bhonko (25/10/1893). For now, the Mzilikazi Annual Memorial event is taking place under deplorable conditions. There is a need for infrastructural development and acquisition of more land where requisite rituals and ceremonies may be conducted.
The same goes for the King Mzilikazi’s Entumbane Burial Site. Both Entumbane and Mhlahlandlela are screaming for revamping to the level that the Ndebele people would be proud of. These, alongside well-crafted and empathetic political and developmental strategies, may turn out to be game changers and cultivate some social cohesion that Zimbabwe sorely needs at a time when climate change is set to play havoc on the livelihoods of the people of Zimbabwe.
A lot of scope presents itself where President Mnangagwa could bring about some fundamental changes to the national psyche, one not characterised by discrimination on ethnic or racial grounds. Only the future can tell.
It was through his support for the research trip to Chipata in Zambia at the time when we sought to determine if indeed the King Lobengula ended up in Chipata. That has been confirmed and marks the first step in the long journey to make amends with the forgotten King.
