‘Malawian charms helped me through Rhodesian roadblocks’

ARMED with the protection of two silver tickey coins given to him by a Malawian traditional healer as his charm, Cde Charles Ndebele pseudonym Cde Victor Gasela says he breezed through five Rhodesian roadblocks without much ado on his way to join the armed struggle. Cde Ndebele was to, later on, serve in the ZPRA reconnaissance unit attached to the Second Battalion.

Today in the first series of interviews, Cde Ndebele tells our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) how he left the country in May 1977 on a solo journey to Zambia via Botswana to join the armed struggle, his training at Mwembeshi and later on at the ZPRA Intelligence School called Moscow in Zambia and then deployment to the conventional forces that were trained at Mlungushi.

After the attainment of Independence in 1980, Cde Ndebele was attested into the newly created Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and posted to 2.2 Battalion in Mutoko under the command of now Major-General (Retired) Happyton Bonyongwe who later on became the country’s Director-General of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO). Two years after Independence in 1982, then army commander the now late General Solomon Mujuru conceived the idea of forming a soccer team, Black Rhinos.

All the army units were then ordered to send talented personnel to the 2 Brigade Headquarters at Cranborne Barracks now Charles Gumbo in Harare where trials were done for the players that would play for Black Rhinos. Cde Ndebele was one of the five seconded from 2.2 Battalion and he did not disappoint as he made it to the final 30-men squad which had been trimmed from 150 trialists. Other former freedom fighters to make the grade under the watchful eye of legendary coach, Shepherd Murape were Jerry Chidawa, Picksen Ndlovu and Droment Chirova who has also coached Rhinos.

Below are excerpts from the interview. Read on . . .

MS: Cde Ndebele, let’s start our interview with you giving us your background.

Cde Ndebele: I was born Charles Ndebele on 15 October 1956 here in Bulawayo at the Old Memorial Hospital, that building near Hyper. My parents were Gibson Masaka Ndebele and Ester Ndlovu. I grew up in Tshabalala where I stayed with my grandfather, Tshapho Dube, who was a guard at the Rhodesia Railways Company. For my education, I started off at Cement Primary before moving to Bulawayo Airport. I completed my Grade Seven at Umguza Primary. After that, I was told that there was no money to send me to secondary school so I started looking for a job. I found one at B and S Trucks that had premises along Main Street and 12th Avenue. I worked there as a messenger. While working at B and S Trucks I moved to Mpopoma where I was renting. Mpopoma was known for its political activities as a number of nationalists lived there. That spirit then rubbed off on me as well. I started being politically conscious and at my workplace, like everywhere else there was a lot of discrimination according to one’s colour. I remember there was a white boy who would come during school holidays to do part-time jobs. He would receive a far much higher salary compared to us, the permanently employed workers. That affected me. It drove me to skip the border and go and fight for our independence. During that time a number of people were leaving the country to go and join the war. I knew a number who had left and that also motivated me to become a freedom fighter.

MS: Then when did you leave the country? Take us through how you executed that.

Cde Ndebele: It was in May 1977 that I left my job, my wife and our baby who was a few months old. What happened was that we received our wages on Thursdays. We were paid on a weekly basis. So when we got paid on that Thursday, I did not report for duty on the next Friday and Saturday. I had been planning to go to war and I had told a cousin brother of mine who worked for the railways about my intentions. My cousin then told me that it would be unwise to just go without seeking the services of an inyanga who would give charms to protect me against the Rhodesian security system. To me that was far-fetched but I just decided to give it a try. So we approached an old man of Malawian origin, uPhiri who also worked at the railways as a cook on the trains. We went to his home at Number 72 Nguboyenja and he instructed me to bring some items things which included two tickeys, those were Rhodesian coins with two spears I think. I delivered the items as told and I don’t know what he did to them.

However, Phiri told me that I had to collect the charms on the day I was leaving the country. I followed the instructions to the letter and on Monday passed through Nguboyenja on my way to Renkini Long Distance Bus Terminus to board the bus. I had been told to board a Suka Sihambe bus which would take me all the way to the villages near the border in Mangwe District.

MS:  So you were on your own?

Cde Ndebele: I embarked on a solo journey. I had been warned that I might get into trouble at roadblocks as my national identity showed that I was not from Plumtree. I come from Tsholotsho District in Matabeleland North. During that time the Rhodesians would arrest people found travelling outside their districts of origin. I just took the risk as I was also sceptical of the charms I had been given.

My cousin is the one who had insisted that we approach Phiri. So I boarded the bus and I passed through all the roadblocks without facing any problems. Phiri had told me that his charms would make me invisible to the Rhodesian security system. When I got onto the bus I looked for a seat that was near the door, so that when we were told to disembark at a roadblock I would be among the first to do that.

At all the roadblocks I was at the front of the queue when the passengers were being searched. You will not believe this, the Rhodesians at all roadblocks started with the person who was behind me. They did not ask for my ID card, they started with the next person after me. That is how I survived the enemy’s roadblocks. Also as a precautionary measure, I had bought some grocery items and nappies. In case I had been arrested my defence would have been I was visiting my in-laws’ home to see my wife who had delivered our baby there. After going through four roadblocks, the next was at Khalanyoni Police Station where it was routine for the bus to be driven inside and passengers searched there. Khalanyoni Police Station had a very bad reputation during the armed struggle.  It was very notorious.

MS: What was your reaction when told the bus would be driven inside the police station?

Cde Ndebele: I kept my cool. Before we reached Khalanyoni the bus conductor had said “nxa kulabantu abayale” meaning those going to join the armed struggle they should disembark. He had said they would be shown which direction to take so that they could navigate their way to a spot where they could wait for the bus to pick them up. I was not moved by what the conductor was saying as I remained on the bus. In fact, no one disembarked. I realised later that on that day I was the only one who was going to join the war. As the routine the bus drove into the police station and like at other roadblocks, I stood at the front of the queue. Like what had happened before those big white Rhodesian policemen with huge moustaches did not ask for my ID card, but started with the next person. Done with searching passengers we were told to go back to the bus and continue with our journey. On the way people started dropping off and when the bus reached its destination I was the only passenger remaining. I put up with the bus crew for the night. They were shocked at how I had passed through those roadblocks. The conductor even said ngile mba (muthi). The following day I left them and managed to cross Shashe River at around 7am. On the Botswana side, I had problems communicating with the locals because of the language barrier, but at some point, I was assisted by a man who even used his bicycle with me cycling while he sat on the carrier. He only left me when I got a lift from a motorist who took me to Selibe-Phikwe. I spent three days at Selibe-Phikwe as the number needed to fill the plane had been realised and we were then flown to Lusaka International Airport. It was at Selibe-Phikwe where I found a former workmate of mine, Robert.

To be continued next week