The Sunday News
Pathisa Nyathi
This article is the tail end of a three-part series which looks at the relationship between guerrilla-trained and advanced guerrilla-trained cadres and the resulting tension as witnessed by two groups of ZPRA cadres operating in Region 2(GCB) of the Northern Front(NF). The guerrilla-trained group entered Rhodesia in April 1976. The group had undergone guerrilla training initially at Mwembeshi, the first Zambia-based military training camp, being in the Group of 88 which included the six pioneering girls from Gwanda.
At the political level, the Zimbabwe People’s Army (Zipa) politico-military project was being implemented. Training for the joint ZPRA and Zanla guerrillas was to take place in Tanzania at Mgagao and Morogoro military camps. Infiltration into Rhodesia by trained guerrillas was to be launched from Mozambique. As a result, the group’s military training was not completed at Mwembeshi from where they travelled to Mgagao where they were to combine with their Zanla counterparts. Things did not work out well and bloody clashes ensued during which several unarmed ZPRAs were killed. Survivors, including the six girls, proceeded to Morogoro where they underwent further military training in the bush with limited weaponry.
From Morogoro the group proceeded to cross the Zambezi River en route to Region 2 where they operated from April 1976 till ceasefire in December 1979. Some in the group never returned to Zambia for whatever reason till ceasefire in December 1979. Another ZPRA group arrived on the scene early 1979 having come from Hurungwe which was in another region within the Northern Front. The Sanyati River was the boundary between the regions 2 and 3. The Hurungwe Group called themselves “iNgqwele” and strayed into Gokwe where the old 1976 guerrillas were operating from.
This is by way of painting some background picture regarding the two groups so that their relations are better appreciated given their different modus operandi. The “iNgqwele Group” were apparently Libya-trained in advanced guerrilla training which was more akin to regular/conventional army training.
The episode being narrated here is an excerpt from a larger rendition in the biography of one of the members of that 1976 group. The biography is due for publication later in the year. So, news began filtering through into Gokwe that there was another ZPRA group that had crossed the Sanyati River and entered Gokwe. Their mission, it was understood, was to withdraw the old guerrillas who, it was alleged, were no longer fighting effectively.
Their claim was that they were sent on that mission by Zapu President and Commander-in-Chief, Joshua Nkomo. The immediate suspicion of the old guerrillas was that the new group were probably Selous Scouts who were engaged in counter insurgency. They were in the habit of impersonating ZPRA guerrillas by wearing their uniforms and mimicking their modus operandi. They would then launch attacks on unsuspecting ZPRAs or, in order to accentuate inter-party conflict, attack Zanla guerrillas.
The old guerrillas combined two sections and proceeded to meet up with the group that did not seem to follow the usual protocol of reporting to guerrillas already on the ground. After getting close to the new group, “iNgqwele Group,” they dispatched the youths with the message that, if they were ZPRA, they would like to speak to their commanders. A curt and cheeky response was brought back by the youth. “In ZPRA we are all commanders.”
Reports were being received by the old guerrillas that “iNgqwele Group” were terrorising villagers and the youths alike. Villagers and the youths were running to the old guerrillas to seek protection. The villagers were not familiar with their political language. They did not seem to know the local Zapu activists who were an important link in the struggle, particularly in gathering and sending intelligence to guerrillas. Their modus operandi was just different and unfamiliar.
The old guerrillas were itching for a fight. The old guerrillas then decided to send youths once again, this time to ask the whole group of twenty four to come. To that they agreed and went to meet the old guerrillas. A few faces among them were familiar. They noticed that the “iNgqwele Group,” were well kitted out with a new military fatigue, new boots, new weapons and a lot of ammunition.
In terms of weapons they had the same types: AK47, AKM, RPD, Simonov, pistols, grenade launchers, two bazookas and grenades. The old guerrillas then told them, after they were convinced these were genuine ZPRA cadres, they were proceeding to integrate them into their sections. This was the usual procedure whenever new reinforcements were received from Zambia after completing military training.
“INgqwele Group” flatly refused to be integrated, but took away one of their number who had joined the old guerrillas two months earlier. He had separated from his group during a contact with the Rhodesian forces. A few days after they had gone back, gunfire broke the silence.
“INgqwele Group” were hammered by the Rhodesian forces. It was then that they thought of their comrades. They approached the old guerrillas in 2s, 3s and 4s, crest fallen and devoid of their usual arrogance. They accused the old guerrillas of selling them out. Why were Rhodesian soldiers targeting them but leaving the old guerrillas to roam freely?
It was time for the old guerrillas to strike while the iron was still hot. The commander of the old guerrillas advised them their approach to the struggle would see them destroyed by Rhodesian soldiers. “You have poor relations with villagers and youths alike. You are harassing them.”
Meanwhile, the old guerrillas received information there was a group of Rhodesian soldiers scheduled to take food rations to their colleagues stationed at Sengwa Bridge, on the border between Binga and Gokwe in the Midlands.
At the time, the Rhodesian soldiers had changed the times of getting to the group at the Sengwa Bridge. Instead of getting there at 9.00 am as before when they had the upper hand in the war, now they were getting there at 1.00 pm.
The commander suggested they combine forces to launch an attack on the group travelling in a Puma truck. “You have two bazookas, we have one. You have grenade launchers and AK47 rifles. I want to deploy your weapons. They rejected the suggestion. Compromise was struck. The old guerrillas were to provide six men and “iNgqwele Group” members to also contribute six. To that, they agreed. The combined force had two bazookas; one provided by the old guerrillas and the other by ”iNgqwele Group.” A man carrying a bazooka also carried an
AK47 rifle. This is why the man who also carried a bazooka had to be one who was physically fit and strong. The combined group also carried a grenade launcher.
A man called Jimara carried one of the two bazookas. He was the one to signal commencement of attack by firing the bazooka. Grenades were then launched into the Puma truck. Prior to the engagement the members of the group had all been given a withdrawal signal.
Bulawayo! This was to ensure the enemy did not read into the code. Sometimes it would be Gwelo! or Kwekwe! By the time of attack, the commander would have indicated a Gathering Point (GP) where after withdrawing from battle they would all congregate to check if all had survived. Guerrillas did not linger around to engage in the luxury of counting the number of casualties. That is dome by a conventional army.
Guerrillas need to get away as quickly as possible. Their approach is “kill, wound and withdraw.” They do not have heavy weapons to withstand fire from helicopters (with protective armour plates on their lower sides) that are summoned after the attack. They have no transport to use to get away and ferry the wounded to a clinic or hospital. When jet fighters, spotter planes and Dakotas arrive they must be nowhere near the scene of attack.
During the attack one of “iNgqwele Group,” in the heat of firing and sound from guns and exploding grenades, abandoned his bazooka on the scene. That was an indicator he was not then battle hardened. In his mind, he thought the Rhodesian soldiers were aiming at them. Little did he know their guns were just firing without particular aim. To the uninitiated, it worked as they thought the Rhodesian soldiers were returning fire. It was a surprise attack on them and their guns were firing from their positions within the Puma troop carrier. Guns can fire automatically.
It was time to get to the agreed Gathering Point. Already the helicopters were hovering above like vultures above a carcass. The Rhodesian soldiers based at Sengwa Bridge had communicated for reinforcements from Gwelo (now Gweru). It was time to ridicule “iNgqwele Group,” and soften them to agree to be distributed among sections of the old guerrillas. The commander went for them, “Lingabafazi! You abandon a Zapu weapon? You are good for nothing! All that you know is to harass defenceless villagers and youths. Now we must command you. You were thrashed by Rhodesians and now you have abandoned a precious Zapu weapon in battle.”
Crestfallen and licking their wounds, “iNgqwele Group” ate humble pie and agreed to be divided into small groups that were incorporated into existing sections of the old guerrillas. They were to remain in those sections till they started on the journey to St Paul’s Assembly Point following the ceasefire in December 1979.
