The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
THE Rhodesian forces thought, when they launched attacks on ZPRA’s 1 Brigade, it was going to be some stroll in a rose garden. Their target was the 1st Batallion which was commanded by Retired Brigadier General Madliwa Khumalo. I had the pleasure not so long ago to come across one Khausios Mjirakutshisa Khayelitsha Moyo who commanded the unit which operated the Grad P during the battle.
He had written a short 36-page autobiography in IsiNdebele titled “Umgandane” which was edited by Sister Maria Dube a Ndebele language teacher at St Bernard’s High School in Pumula Township. I had the honour and privilege to launch the book at the author’s house in Nkulumane Township. Unfortunately, Comrade MKM Moyo did not dwell much on the attack by the Rhodesian forces on the 1st Batallion during the
Five-day encounter. Moyo, who comes from St Joseph’s in Matobo District joined ZPRA in 1976.
The battalion’s water sources had been poisoned by the Rhodesians. As a result, they relied on water which they had in their water bottles. It had become clear that the ZPRA’s regular battalions were no pushover. When they could not get water to drink and the Rhodesians persisted with the bombardments the 1st Batallion decided to undertake tactical withdrawal under the cover of the Grad P. They pushed deeper into Zambia, away from Lake Kariba. In his unpublished memoirs Sterlington Shumba does refer to the Rhodesian attacks on the 1st Batallion.
“The raid launched by the Salisbury Regime was targeted at the 1st Batallion of the 1st Brigade which was deployed at Siavonga along Lake Kariba. As aforesaid, the 1st Brigade which was deployed on the Zambian side stretching along the Zambezi and working a front of +/- 300 km. The strategy of the Salisbury Regime was to attack all the five Battalions of ZPRA’s 1st Brigade, disorganising the brigade formation and force a deadlock in the ongoing Lancaster House Talks so that they could go back to Salisbury and continue with the racial policies. The forces deployed by the Rhodesians included mercenaries and the Rhodesian Light Infantry (RLI). The forces attacked the 1st Brigade from both the air and the ground.
“It was not easy for them to dislodge the ZPRA Battalion. ZPRA had dug in in such a way that it was practically impossible to successfully attack them from any angle. ZPRA was well trained and well-armed to stand up against attacks by the Rhodesians. They held the Rhodesians for all the five days they had set aside to dislodge the whole Brigade. The Rhodesians had encircled the whole Batallion in such a way that no replenishments could be sent to the Battalion from Lusaka. So, the Batallion was trapped for all the five days and had to use all materials at its disposal. On the night of the fifth day the ZPRA Batallion withdrew into the interior of Zambia after launching a heavy artillery attack on the Kariba Dam wall and in the process, inflicting damage on the hydro-electric power plant resulting in disruptions to power supplies.”
On the 6th day the Rhodesians landed where the ZPRA Batallion had been holed up. The Rhodesians thought the Soviets and the Cubans took part in the battle. ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo denied their allegations but did point out that the regular Batallion had members that were trained by the Soviets and the Cubans. They were thus bound to fight like them. While the attack was going on the other ZPRA forces including those at Solwezi where Shumba was, were on full alert. It was welcome news that the plans for the Rhodesians did not materialise.
It was back to the Lancaster House Talks with an agreement being reached early in December followed by a ceasefire.
“Our task at the rear was to prepare the ZPRA forces to get back home. A refugee type of repatriation was arranged for the ZPRA fighters. ZPRA objected to the arrangement, instead preferring to get back home in military style. Part of the agreement was that the ZPRA and ZANLA forces were to gather at designated assembly points, in the operational areas. The British did not want us to come with our heavy armour. The British preferred ZPRA cadres carrying on them light weapons. Again, this was rejected by ZPRA who preferred getting in in military formation.” Sterlington writes that ZAPU tried to convince the British that integration of the three forces take place before the holding of general elections. The British would not entertain the ZAPU idea. General elections were held and ZAPU lost but were invited to be part of government by the leader of the victorious ZANU-(PF) party Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Independence Day was set for 18 April, 1980. The ZPRA cadres who were still in Zambia insisted in celebrating the day in Zimbabwe. Sterlington Shumba and others had been constituted into a Guerrilla Division which stood side by side with the 1st Brigade. The 1st Brigade went to the Gwayi River Mine Assembly Point in Matabeleland North. The Guerrilla Division was sent to Rukomechi in Mashonaland West where ZPRA had some presence during the liberation struggle and had won a seat during the general elections. Following the independence celebrations, the ZPRA and ZANLA cadres were advised they were going to receive monthly payouts of $1100.00 regardless of rank.
Meanwhile, integration was expected to proceed bit by bit as the new Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was being constituted.
The integration exercise was administered by the British Military Advisory and Training Team (BMATT).
“The security organs were to be integrated first. Therefore, I was in the first group of 10 to be sent for integration with 10 ZANLA and 10 Rhodesians to make a unit of Military Intelligence Officers. We had to sit for four weeks during which we were given instructions in cloak and dagger tactics and at the end of each week we wrote a test. At the end of the four weeks results of the progress tests were averaged after which we were told our positions. I’m happy to say the first seven positions went to ZPRA and this angered the British and the other parties. It had been agreed the results of the tests would determine the rank and the position in the new Zimbabwe Military Intelligence Corps.”
It was at that juncture when it was decided that it was going to be unfair to have the Corps of Military Intelligence run by ZPRA. As a result, a decision was taken that ranks were going to be done through appointment and not by using the results of progress tests as the criteria.
“That angered us so much that we had to kidnap the British instructors and held them for 18 hours until the government intervened. The British claimed we were KGB agents and were hence declared Undesirable elements in the society. We were not allowed anywhere within 30 km radius of the Harare Main Post Office for 28 days.”
