The Sunday News
ZIPRA trained intelligence officer Cde Lovemore Ngwenya pseudo name South Nkayi later rechristened Mkhize Mapatapata broke through the Rhodesian forces’ ring of fire when he was cornered at a house in Luveve near Beit Hall in June 1978. He was in Bulawayo for an urban warfare operation. Mkhize carried out the task in a spectacular fashion leaving eight enemy soldiers dead. He never fired a single shot from his dependable AK-47 rifle but used only two grenades with fatal effect to leave a trail of destruction in his wake. Below he reconstructs the events of that fateful night in an interview with Sundays News Assistant Editor, Mkhululi Sibanda (MS).
MS: Cde Ngwenya you found yourself in such a precarious situation, can you please tell us how it happened and why you were in Bulawayo?
Cde Ngwenya: After completing my training at Mwembeshi in Zambia in 1977 I was deployed to the front immediately after that and I should mention that during my military training I specialised in military intelligence. After the training we were taken to DK crossing point along the Zambezi River and we were in two groups, one set for Tsholotsho under the command of Cde Makandiwa and ours meant for Nkayi. At the crossing point we found Cde Pilate Sibanda who was deployed in Bulawayo to carry out reconnaissance missions. Our group of 25 went to Nkayi which was supposed to be our operational zone, but later on there was an order that five of us should join Pilate and go to Bulawayo for a reconnaissance mission. Our task was to identify targets for attack and they included some of the big companies in the city which I can’t mention now. We then set for Bulawayo. This was not surprising because we had also trained in urban warfare.
MS: How was your journey from Nkayi to Bulawayo?
Cde Ngwenya: It was eventful because when we got to the Insuza area we got into an enemy ambush but we managed to survive, the five of us. As we continued with our journey we lost contact with two other comrades and I was left with Cdes Pilate and Mujibha. We then got into a farm in the Umguza farming area and the owner of the farm, a white man tried to be funny, but we managed to overpower him. That farmer was armed with an FN30 rifle and a pistol. After disarming him we tried to extract information from him but he was very arrogant and we had no choice but to kill him in front of his shocked workers. We then took his rifle and pistol and moved to Bulawayo. After arriving in Bulawayo we were accommodated at different houses by some of our contacts. We then carried the reconnaissance mission for almost a month until that fateful night. We would meet every morning and disperse in the evening. The three of us were each armed with an AK-47 rifle and two grenades. We had an arms cache along the Luveve railway line where we kept grenades, the captured white farmer’s weapons and ammunition.
MS: Then tell us what really happened on that night?
Cde Ngwenya: What happened was that the people I was staying with being a monthend, that was the end of May decided to go for a beer drink at a nearby shebeen. At that shebeen our commander Pilate was also there with some party youths drinking and during the drinking session Pilate had an altercation with a man whom he correctly suspected to be a member of the Special Branch. The altercation degenerated into a physical fight and the man pleaded for mercy and managed to convince Pilate that he was a member of Zapu. After that the man started buying beer and when Pilate relaxed the Special Branch agent sneaked out and relayed information to his colleagues that there was a “terrorist” at the shebeen. The Rhodesian forces then came and cordoned off the area, but Pilate had left the shebeen. All along I was sleeping not even aware that Pilate was next door and oblivious of what was happening at the shebeen.
MS: So you were not aware of anything and then how did you get into the cross fire?
Cde Ngwenya: I woke up in shock to hear the Rhodesian forces using a hailer calling on the “terrorist” to get out of the house with arms up and surrender. I thought they had located where I was staying and so I quickly got up, armed myself with the AK-47 and the two grenades. However, I could not locate my shoes. I then waited. At that point I moved to the back door so that I could make good my escape but my guerilla instinct and training told me that the enemy could be lying in ambush where there was no commotion. I then told myself that if I was to break their lines it had to be through the door which they were urging me to use. The enemy might have sensed that there was movement in the house and they targeted that house. The enemy then started firing at the door which I wanted to use and then stopped. I then moved closer to the door and opened it slowly and a little bit. The firing resumed and they were still demanding that whoever was in the house should come out. I then heard their footsteps getting closer and I opened a little bit again and threw at them the offensive grenade. At that time everything went quiet.
MS: Now you had started the war.
Cde Ngwenya: Not only that I had also confirmed the presence of a guerilla. But I told myself that I would not surrender meekly to the enemy and if I dont win, they should not get me alive.They then resumed firing and I think because I was not retaliating they thought they had killed me or I was seriously injured. I guessed right because suddenly there was a stampede towards the door, I think those guys were now trying to outdo each other in getting hold of me so that whoever was first would get a promotion or a medal for bringing the head of a “terrorist.” They had miscalculated big time because that was what I was waiting for, I then threw the defensive grenade and it did its job. I then quickly got out of the house and jumped to the next house. I took advantage of the commotion and disappeared into the night and remember I was barefooted. I was to learn later on that eight enemy forces died. The incident became the talk of the town and news spread and even reached the ears of other comrades in the bush.
MS: After losing your enemies what happened next?
Cde Ngwenya: I then moved to Magwegwe North, then to Old Pumula and finally to St Peter’s Village where I came across some guys and by that time it was around 3am. I had sustained some injuries on my foot when I was jumping the fence during the skirmishes. I spoke to those people and fortunately there were members of the Zapu Youth League and they accommodated me. Early in the morning we left for a bushy area where I remained while those guys went to Luveve to check on the situation. When they came back they told me that they were told by residents there that eight bodies of the Rhodesian soldiers were seen at the scene of the incident.
MS: What about your other two comrades, what happened to them?
Cde Ngwenya: Pilate was cornered, shot and he got injured and it looks like he is the one who led the enemy to where Cde Mujibha was. However, when they raided the house where Cde Mujibha was he managed to escape and fled towards the Solusi Mission area and later joined other comrades. After the war I met Mujibha but as for Pilate I don’t know what happened to him. No one seems to know, probably they killed him.
MS: Then take us through what happened after the incident. Was the enemy still on your trail?
Cde Ngwenya: I left Bulawayo after about two days from the day of the incident, moved towards the Figtree area with the intention of going back to the rear through Botswana. First, I got to Cyrene Mission where I spent a night in the servants’ quarters after convincing three workers to shelter me. The following day I moved towards Kezi through Bhazha, spent the night there and then continued with my journey the following day until I got to Donkwe-Donkwe area in Kezi. It took me two-and-a-half days to arrive in Kezi.
MS: Were you still barefooted?
Cde Ngwenya: No (laughing), I was wearing amapatapata which I got from those guys at St Peter’s. I couldn’t wear shoes because my foot was giving me a lot of pain. In Donkwe-Donkwe I came across a man who identified himself as Mnkandla and that man was a Rhodesian informer. I held him up and started interrogating him and he lied to me that he was a teacher. However, lucky enough there was a traditional beer drinking ceremony in the village and I force-marched him to where other villagers were and they confirmed that he was a sell-out. I told him to stop what he was doing after which I thoroughly whipped him in front of other villagers. Ngamkatsa kakhulu lowana undoda.
MS: What led you to think he was an informer?
Cde Ngwenya: He was smartly dressed for an ordinary villager and that raised my suspicions. That man was later killed by some comrades as he continued with his sell-out business. From Donkwe-Donkwe I moved to Zamanyoni where villagers helped me locate some comrades who were operating in that area. Luckily I had trained with them at Mwembeshi and they included guys like Magwegwe, Stephen Maqhageni, Nzimande, Themba and Search. I then started operating in Kezi which fell under the Southern Front Three, which covered Mangwe, Kezi, Gwanda and some parts of Beitbridge. After some time the regional commander, Cde Takongwa Mphini arrived in the area from Gwanda in the company of comrades such as Lovemore and his mission was to re-organise the administration for the Kezi operating zone and more comrades were being deployed there. He was very happy to see me and congratulated me for the successful mission I had executed in Bulawayo as that incident was on everyone’s lips. Under the new administration set up by Cde Mphini, Cde Kennias Sibanda became the area commander for Kezi, I was appointed the area commissar working under Cde Odeah Shumba who was the regional commissar. At some point I also worked closely with Cde Adonis Ndlovu, who was the National Security Organisation (NSO) operative attached to the region as the security man, remember I had specialised in military intelligence. We fought fierce battles in Kezi and the villagers were very supportive.
MS: Tell us about some of the battles.
Cde Ngwenya: There were many and fierce ones for that matter. There was a day when I and two other comrades, Kennias and KK were cornered by the Rhodesian forces in Mbuso Village and we fought heavily and managed to wriggle ourselves out of the situation. Then there was another day when we rescued about 70 villagers who had been rounded up by the Rhodesians and were being taken to the farm of a notorious commercial farmer, Busumanani. We laid an ambush and the operation was very successful as all the villagers were rescued. However, the situation continued getting tense and an unfortunate incident happened in the Ratanyane area and that was in mid-1979 when our regional commander, Mphini was killed by the Rhodesian forces together with other five comrades. It was a fierce battle that lasted several hours.
MS: What happened on that day?
Cde Ngwenya: I was not involved in that battle but Cde Mphini, a brave soldier with a brilliant military mind found himself and his group surrounded by the Rhodesian forces and instead of withdrawing, Mphini urged his guys to fight on. In fact, Mphini never withdrew from a battle without a fight, he was for results no matter how dangerous the situation was but on that day they found themselves having to contend with ground forces and air support. The Rhodesian ground troops were supported by helicopters while Dakotas were dropping para-troopers, it was a fierce battle. Our comrades held the ground from mid-morning until around 5pm. There were serious casualties on both sides, but that is where our commander fell and 10 other comrades. After that the Rhodesians deployed more forces in Kezi and a majority of their troops were still fresh from training. However, we had our revenge in the Mbembeswana area when a group of 20 comrades under my command had a contact with them, it was immediately after the death of Mphini. We hammered them in that battle and they immediately left the Kezi area. Something which I should mention is that after the death of Cde Mphini, Cde Thomas Mpofu took over the command and by that time there were so many comrades as we had opened a corridor for the forces that were coming from the rear with some passing through to areas such as Gwanda and Mberengwa where there were comrades like Retired Colonel Bester Magwizi, who was one of the commanders there.
MS: In conclusion can you please tell us your brief history and what you did after the war.
Cde Ngwenya: I was born in Mangwe District in 1949 and joined the armed struggle in 1976 in Zambia via Botswana. I was trained at Mwembeshi in Zambia where the camp commander was Retired Colonel Eddie Sigoge. Some of my instructors were Cdes Jack Mpofu, Daky and Magedlela who is commonly known today as Thambolenyoka who taught us the bayonnete charge techniques. After the ceasefire I was at Zezani Assembly Point. Then in 1982 I left the country for South Africa where I started a business in tree felling and painting. My company grew and I was able to employ more than a dozen people winning tenders with institutions such as Joburg City Parks. However, as of now I am back home.
