The Sunday News
We continue our interview with Phumuza Ndlovu aka Mbulali Nare, Donki Itshekile or Mdzwengi who operated as a dissident during the post-independence civil strife in the country. In this week’s instalment Ndlovu tells our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) the dilemma the dissidents found themselves in as not only did they had to contend with the country’s security forces, but they had another adversary in the form of Super Zapu dissidents who were sponsored by apartheid South Africa.
He also speaks about how they chose their command structure when they held a meeting near the Njelele Shrine in Matobo District. Ndlovu also brings into the fore how women villagers were forced into romantic relationships with the dissidents who proposed love at gunpoint, in other words how the women were raped by the dissidents. Below are the excerpts of the interview. Read on….
MS: You spoke about Super Zapu dissidents how did villagers manage to distinguish you from them?
Cde Ndlovu: The villagers were in a dilemma, but at the end of the day they are the ones who came up with a solution. A majority of Super Zapu dissidents had this tendency of wearing badges of Zapu leader, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo written Father Zimbabwe and the villagers realized that. They then advised us that if they were some within our ranks who were wearing them, they should remove them and we duly did that.
MS: The question arises what was the really objective of the dissidents, was it to try and prop up Zapu and its leadership including Dr Nkomo.
Cde Ndlovu: Our objective was simple to defend ourselves and as for Nkomo he had his own ways of preserving himself. We were not part of that. Sasingalweli uNkomo, hanti laye wayezilwela, angithi nguye owasuka ebaleka eMasvingo. Like I said before we became dissidents because we were being hunted down. We had to find means of avoiding death, the option available was to be armed.
MS: But how long were you going to hold on because when you surrendered you were 113. Others had been accounted for by the security forces while some were fleeing to South Africa and Botswana am told. So don’t you think you were saved by the Unity Accord.
Cde Ndlovu: It’s true that the Unity Accord saved us, but looking at it closely not only us the dissidents but even the ordinary people who were also dying during that period. People were being killed and the killings stopped after the signing of the Unity Accord.
MS: Then when you guys presented yourselves to the authorities after being pardoned by the Government, am told you yourself refused in front of television cameras to say you had been pardoned. Is that true?
Cde Ndlovu: Yes it’s true, I said asixolelwanga but sixolelene because as for me I was never defeated neither was I captured when I was a dissident. In that way it means I also pardoned those I was fighting against that is why to me that period is now water under the bridge. We all forgave each other. We all agreed that we were going to chart a new way forward, serve and respect the Unity Accord.
MS: Okay. Then how was the command structure of the dissidents?
Cde Ndlovu: It was structured along the lines of what we had been using during the war, during our time in Zipra. When we ended our operations, the overall commander of the dissidents from here in Matabeleland South, Midlands all the way to emaguswini (Matabeleland North), was Cde Brown. Brown was his dissident name, he came from here in Gwanda District. He died a few years back.
MS: Who appointed him, how was he chosen?
Cde Ndlovu: We met as dissidents and chose him.
MS: Where did you meet?
Cde Ndlovu: You know when the security forces changed their operations bringing in the Support Unit to hunt us down, we managed in April 1984 to call a meeting of the dissidents. The meeting was attended by comrades who operated in different areas such as Beitbridge, Kezi, Gwanda here in Matabeleland South, Silobela, Lower Gweru, Zhombe in Midlands, Lupane, Nkayi, Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North. That meeting or gathering point (GP) was held near the Njelele Shrine in Matobo District.
MS: How many attended?
Cde Ndlovu: On that day sasifika 60 or 70. Not everyone attended, some remained in their operational areas. They sent representatives.
MS: How did the word travel to all those areas?
Cde Ndlovu: We had a strong network, we will send someone for example from here to go and deliver the message at point A, someone will pick that message and take it to point C and so on. If one of our contacts leaked the information he was killed, there was no way we could keep that person. So, in other words those villagers although not armed they were part and parcel of the dissidents set-up.
They were very crucial in our operations. As for the meeting it was held without any incident and it never reached the ears of the security forces. So Brown was chosen as the commander while Majikijela who operated in Lupane came in as his deputy. Myself I was chosen as the chief of logistics and that meant I had from time to time move to areas such as Midlands and Matabeleland North. I remember travelling to as far as Lower Gweru.
MS: Why did you choose Njelele as your gathering point?
Cde Ndlovu: It was chosen on the basis that it was a place that could be easy for anyone to locate. Njelele is a popular place in this country and people travel from all corners of the country to go their for religious purposes.
MS: When the time to surrender came where did you hand yourself.
Cde Ndlovu: We went to Matopo Mission and our activities had always been around that area. We presented ourselves to the now late Thenjiwe Lesabe. We had insisted that she be present when we hand ourselves over. The reason simple being that she was a Member of Parliament for Umzingwane. Matopo Mission although in Matobo District is on the border that separates Matobo and Umzingwane districts.
I handed myself over in the company of Ndevuziqamula Amankomitsho, Lucky and others. We insisted that Lesabe be there as a security measure, we did not trust anyone. So, her coming in as the MP gave us some assurance that we were safe. As for Brown wangenela ePlumtree. OThambolenyoka in Gwanda.
MS: During your operations the dissidents were accused of carrying out hair raising activities such as armed robberies and rape. Can you take us through what was really happening.
Cde Ndlovu: Being armed does not mean that one cannot answer to the call of nature. Let me tell you something, an armed man does not have time to propose love to a woman and wait to be given an answer after some hours or days. So an armed man doesn’t propose, the moment he starts telling a woman that he loves her, yikho ukuqala kwerape. With my words I will be already be raping.
The conditions that a woman is given by an armed man have no room for a fair discussion. The woman would be told that I don’t have time to allow you to go and think about my proposal. It is therefore true that women were raped and that is not a good thing. We used to reprimand those who raped among our ranks of course. We did not condone it.
We conclude the interview with Phumuza Ndlovu next week and he will talk among other things about how 16 members of the Community of Reconciliation religious commune were massacred by the dissidents led by Gayigusu in November 1987. The 16, all whites were killed at New Adams Farm and Olive Free Farm in Esigodini.
n See interview videos on www.sundaynews.co.zw
