The Sunday News
THIS week Lieutenant-Colonel (Retired) Stanford Moyo pseudo name Cde Lloyd Zvananewako or Cde Mabhikwa continues the interview with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) by narrating how after going on a massive political orientation of the masses, they set off to expand military operations.
Last week Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo spoke about how they managed to raid Tinde Mine in Binga where they got away with all the workers’ salaries. They used the money to replenish their supplies especially clothing.
Today Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo kicks off the interview by talking of the arrival of reinforcements from the rear in Zambia which boosted the number of guerillas on the ground. Read on…..
MS: You spoke about the arrival of more guerillas among them the much talked about John Chironda, how did the new arrivals aid your operations?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: As more forces arrived in Lupane in general and Mzola and Dongamuzi in particular which are areas in Lupane it became necessary to send some comrades forward.
Two sections were formed to go and operate permanently in Nkayi District. The first section was given to me to command and it had 10 men.
The other which had 11 comrades fell under the command of Cde Rams (Ramnyanyiwa) who was to be commonly known as uMaleveni by the villagers in Nkayi and Lupane.
He was called Maleveni because Vendas traditionally have incisions on their faces that read like number 11. So the villagers referred to Rams as uMaleveni.
The orders we got were that we were to operate as separate units. My section was ordered to take care of the areas north of the Shangani River.
Rams was to cover areas south of the Shangani River up to Gwampa Valley.
MS: How were you received in your new area of operation?
Lt-Col(Rtd) Moyo: A week passed with my section having worked well with the masses in the Chief Sivalo Mahlangu area.
We were then readying ourselves to move into Chief Sikhobokhobo area.
Then one day at mid-day we were about a kilometre or so from Chief Sivalo’s homestead when we saw a ball of black smoke.
Chief Solomon Sivalo Mahlangu
We were forced to leave our lunch to go and investigate what was happening. When we approached Chief Sivalo’s home we saw armed people within the premises.
As we closed in we realized that it was Rams’ section.
We were shocked to find out that they had already set alight the chief’s vehicle, the vehicle was already burnt to a shell.
I was not amused, I asked Rams to take his section and cross the river to their area of operation.
MS: What was really happening?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: What happened was that Rams had the intention of killing Chief Sivalo whom he considered to be a sell-out, all traditional leaders were viewed that way, which at times was not so accurate.
So when they got to the chief’s homestead they rounded up the chief and his family and told them to wait for the unknown while they were burning the car.
They ordered the chief to get into his main house while the rest of the family was put into the kitchen hut.
We enquired from the chief’s family which was grouped into their kitchen hut, what could have pushed Rams and his men to raid the home.
The family only said they were told that they were sell-outs. When we asked where the chief was we were told that he had been ordered into the main house.
I then went to the main house where I knocked and got no response. I then pushed the door open, found the chief seated on his chair facing the opposite direction.
I greeted him and he kept quiet. I then went in front of him, greeted him again and he replied in a faint voice.
After some time trying to encourage him to go out and be with his family I realised that it was not easy to convince him to do that.
I then went to the kitchen hut, called one of my colleagues and the chief’s wife. I told the wife to go and encourage the chief to come out and indeed he did so after being told by his wife.
MS: After coming out, what was the next move?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: We spent the whole afternoon with him.
We then came up with a plan to save his life.
We were not sure of Rams.
We suggested to the chief that he should move to Nkayi Centre for his safety. We told him to get moving after the last light on that day and remain on the northern side of the river until he crosses to Chief Sikhokhobo.
He safely moved to Nkayi Centre where he stayed for at least two years and only to return to his home after the ceasefire period.
I was to meet him during the ceasefire period at Nkayi Camp and we spent some hours together and that is when he told me how he felt at the time when he was detained in his house alone. He told me that when I greeted him he thought I had come to shoot him.
When I went in front of him he closed his eyes so that he could not see me opening fire on him. He did not believe we were different from the first group which burnt his car.
MS: Did he divulge to you what other guerillas had accused him of?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: He said they were not happy that he was a chief and to make matters worse that his son was working as District Assistant (DA).
MS: So you think your comrades were wrong on this one?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: They were. Our comrades were very wrong in that you cannot punish someone for just being a chief or having a son or daughter who is a soldier or policeman of a government you are fighting against.
Killing Chief Sivalo, a prominent and long serving elderly Ndebele chief then who had so much respect from his community could have been political disaster on our part.
The Rhodesians were going to make a lot of political capital out of that. From that time my relationship with the chief became strong and after Independence I would visit him at his house in Lobengula West whenever he was in town. In turn he would also come to my house.
MS: Let’s go back to your operations, after the Chief Sivalo incident, how did those other comrades behave?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: Just a few days after the Chief Sivalo incident, something happened in Chief Sikhobokhobo area.
A man was reported to have been killed by Rams section and two days later they crossed the river to our side. We pursued them and found them burning Somlimu Primary School.
This time we did not complain but came up with a plan to join the two sections and move as one group. In my unit we were 10 while in the Rams group they were 11.
We only separated when we were looking for food from the villagers to avoid overburdening them. We then went through Chief Dakamela area without any problems.
However, at Chief Madliwa area another incident of assault happened at night. A kraal head as village heads were known as such then was attacked, his crime being that he was a traditional leader.
I had to send four men including a medical officer to go and treat him. After that incident we decided with some comrades to abandon the journey to Silobela boundary and return to Lupane and report to others Rams’ activities.
The plan was that after reporting him to the command element in Lupane, then Rams should be taken back to Zambia for rehabilitation. However, he picked that information.
MS: After picking up that information what did he do?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: He deserted the unit and started operating independently until he gunned down seven people at Ezidulini near the confluence of Shangani and Gweru rivers.
It was during the elections of the internal settlement that resulted in the Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
Those people had been rounded up by the Rhodesian forces and forcibly taken to Nkayi District offices to vote.
When those people came back from voting they were gunned down by Rams and a few comrades he was moving around with. After that incident we hunted Rams and his group down until they got all the way to Bulilima.
The group broke down after some squabbles within it and Rams moved to Bulawayo where he was captured after robbing a bus in Mpopoma suburb. He was lucky that they did not kill him.
He was released after the ceasefire and sent for rehabilitation in Ruwa near Harare. That time he had some permanent injuries that’s why he was sent to Ruwa. I visited in 1981 but I have never seen him since then. I am not sure whether he is still alive.
MS: Despite his behaviour towards the civilians as a soldier how was Rams?
Lt-Col (Rtd) Moyo: As a soldier he was excellent, we carried many operations with him and he was very outstanding. Even when he was operating on his own, he still continued laying ambushes and harassing the Rhodesians.
I had become close to him during our operations in Lupane because I knew that if he was around, the enemy would feel our firepower.
I think naturally he was just a hard-hearted man but an excellent soldier.
To be continued next week
