The Sunday News
On Tuesday, 27 February 1979 The Chronicle’s lead story on its front page had a headline in caps which read: RHODESIAN JETS HIT BIG ZIPRA BASE IN ANGOLA; with some paragraphs of the story reading “Rhodesian Air Force aircraft successfully attacked ‘a very large Zipra terrorist training base’ near the town of Luso, eastern Angola, across the Zambian border at 8.10am today, Combined Operations Headquarters announced. The Herald also led with the same story.
The raid was unexpected because of the distance between then Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Angola. More than 1 500 Zipra recruits who had just completed their training and were preparing to travel back to Zambia for deployment were caught flat footed together with their Cuban instructors.
More than 200 newly trained guerillas perished in that attack. One of the survivors in that attack was then 18-year-old Cde Somandla Dube whose pseudo name was Cde Richard Machikito Mguni. In our this week’s Lest We Forget column Cde Dube spoke to our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) about how he joined the armed struggle up to the raid on the Zipra training camp in Angola. Cde Dube also was among the many youths of school going age who had abandoned their studies to join the struggle. Below are excerpts of the interview:
MS: Cde Dube, you are one of the survivors of the raid in Luso. May you briefly tell us, who is Somandla Dube.
Cde Dube: I was born on 24 November 1961 at St Paul’s Hospital in Lupane. I come from Mazilanka Village in the Pupu Ward. I am the last born in a family of seven with my parents being Mawabayi Dube and my mother Emily Bahluphe Mguni. My village has serious historical connections as our homestead was some 800 metres to the east of the historic Mtshwili tree (iron wood) where it is purported that is where King Lobengula was last seen.
About 3km from our homestead in the north- easterly direction is the Allan Wilson Memorial site where the Ndebele warriors wiped out the Major Allan Wilson Column, which was in hot pursuit of King Lobengula. My family was one of the many which were victims of the Land Apportionment Act and Land Husbandry Act, that saw them being forcefully evicted from their original land at eHadlana in Kezi in 1954 to Lupane.
MS: Quite interesting. So that was to influence your decision in the later stages of your life to fight the injustices that were perpetrated by the white racist Rhodesians.
Cde Dube: Very correct. This was because the cruelty and notoriety of the then Kezi District Administrator who was known by the locals as Nkomiyahlaba but whose real name was Ian Robertson had long lasting consequences on our people. Therefore the people of Pupu who had been removed from their original homes developed strong resistance to the colonialists and as a result Pupu became in future years, one of Zipra’s strongholds. Although coming from Lupane, I did my schooling first at Mahlabezulu Primary School in Tshabalala from 1968 to 1971. My father was the caretaker there. Upon his retirement I transferred to Lobengula Primary School in Mzilikazi where I completed my Grade Seven. By then I was staying at Ross Camp with the first born in our family, my sister who was a nurse at Mpilo and was married to a policeman, the late Detective Sergeant Albert Mtoliki.
MS: Then when did you start being involved in political activities?
Cde Dube: My first encounter with politics and the war situation was in the late 60s when I would find unknown men dressed in overalls at our rural home purporting to be buying pigs from villagers. These people frequented our home and I later learnt that they were Zipra guerillas and my mother was a focal point as she was the treasurer for the Zapu Pupu branch. The guerillas got their supplies like cigarettes and clothing from her. Later on I attended Mzingwane Government Secondary School in Esigodini where my uncle, the late Obadiah Lotshe Mlilo was the principal. By then my political life was being moulded through participations in the Zapu youth activities where I became the Pupu youth secretary. At Mzingwane around 1976 and 1977 we held “evening prayers” which in actual fact were political gatherings. However, the turning point was in 1977 when Manama pupils in Gwanda were taken by the guerillas and that excited us a lot with many waiting for the arrival of the freedom fighters at our school to take us as well.
MS: While you were at school how was the situation in your home area in Lupane?
Cde Dube: The war had intensified in my home area. It was a no go area for the Rhodesian forces. During school days I would be heavily involved in my tasks as the district secretary. The advantage I had was that I was among a few youths who had attended secondary school. My family tried to keep me away from the dangers of the war zones by sending me away from Pupu during the school holidays. My sister, the second born in our family, Lizah Verenga was a nurse at Nharira Hospital in the then Enkeldorn area (now Chivhu) and that is where I would be sent. It was during one of my visits sometime in 1977 that I witnessed the death of Mr Dokora who was a general hand at the hospital who fell victim to the effects of chemical warfare waged by the desperate Rhodesian regime against the freedom fighters and civilians. It was at this point in my life that I was boiling to join the armed struggle. I met Cdes Simukai, Mudzimu Ndiringe and others from the Zanla side who were operating in the Nharira, Hokonya and Sadza areas and I was inspired.
MS: Were you still at school?
Cde Dube: Yes. Back at Mzingwane the Rhodesian government had come up with plans to conscript us into its military ranks under the programme which was commonly known as Call Up. That is when I said enough is enough and I threw away the books and pens and ran away to Pupu, which by then was a liberated zone. My journey to the armed struggle had begun. In early March 1978, I left Pupu headed for Botswana en route to Zambia. I was in the company of our herdboy by the name Ernest. The guerillas had given us directions from Pupu to Lupaka and then to the Gwaai area — Mpindo to Mlevu crossing between Dlamini and Sipepa Camps. From that then to Phelandaba-Mgodi Masili-Dupute-Bambadzi in Bulilima and finally in Botswana where we headed for a cattle outpost called Dzivananeni.
MS: You were walking and how long did that take you?
Cde Dube: The journey took us eight days. We crossed through the area controlled by Cde Todd Mpisi in Tsholotsho who was the Zipra commander there. We eventually arrived at Nata having got a lift from one Ethan who was a Motswana recruited by Zipra to assist in ferrying recruits to Nata. I understand Ethan later became a councillor for Tonota.
MS: You spoke about guerillas giving you directions to Botswana, do you remember their names?
Cde Dube: Among those comrades were people like Maleveni, Mzizi kaThebula, Gumede and Mafu.
The interview continues next week with Cde Dube telling us about his arrival in Botswana and Zambia, being selected to go to Angola, the training manual of the Cubans and the attack by the Rhodesian forces on the Zipra training camp.
