The Sunday News
Nkosilesisa Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
CALLING to mind heroes of the liberation struggle, household names such as George Silundika, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo and Masotsha Ndlovu quickly come to mind, rarely paying attention to the unsung female heroines who played a major role in Zimbabwe’s fight for freedom.
However, in his latest book, “Don’t Cry for Me” Ezekiel Hleza explores the role played by women in the struggle for Zimbabwe’s liberation.
“Don’t cry For Me came as a challenge to me when I was discussing my book Emfuleni Wezinyembezi with Luveve High School A-level students. They pointed out that the role of women in the struggle was underplayed in Emfuleni Wezinyembezi and as a result, I had to revisit the role of women in the war of liberation,” said Hleza.
Don’t Cry For Me deals with major events surrounding the liberation struggle particularly on the Zimbabwe Revolutionary People’s Army (Zipra) front.
The historical piece of writing starts at Mukushi Training Camp for women and maps its way to different historical phases in the development of the struggle, paying particular attention to the contribution of different Zipra departments to the struggle.
“I looked at the role of women against the very unfortunate events that took place at Mukushi in September 1978. The Rhodesian air force launched Operation Green Leader as retaliation against the inhabitants of Mukushi in response to the downing of Viscount Hunyani on 3 September 1978 with a SAM7 missile, a massive air and ground attack on Zapu and Zipra camps deep inside Zambia. From there, I flash the reader back to the operations of Umkhonto Wesizwe at Wankie and back to the operations of Zipra in the 1970s,” Hleza said.
Using written records, personal experience and recollections from the freedom fighters and his own family members as his main sources, Hleza admits that certain parts of his book are fictionalised.
“It is not all one hundred percent fact but the central events captured in the book are historical events coupled with a recollection of those events by later generations, particularly the children of the freedom fighters.”
Patsimo Che Guevara, a female guerrilla plays a central role in the book while Comrades Jane and Richard make recurring appearances throughout the book. The late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo can also be considered another of the main characters in the book as he too makes recurrent appearances in the book.
“I believe this book will contribute a lot in the understanding of history in the sense that it looks at particular and major historical events in the liberation struggle and how they relate to one another in a sequential relationship.” Said Hleza.
Born at Kafusi in Kezi and raised in Gwanda, Matabeleland South, Hleza is a Literature in English teacher at Tshelanyemba High School in Maphisa District. He holds a Bachelor’s degree, majoring in English and Linguistics. To date, he has published two books in Ndebele; Emfuleni Wezinyembezi and Uyangisinda Lumhlaba and both books have received awards at different levels. Don’t Cry For Me is Hleza’s third book in which he partnered with London-based Austin Macauley Publishers. The book is available for purchase by order and on Amazon.
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