The Sunday News
Dumisani Sibanda Sunday News Correspondent
THE Government wants to upgrade the monument at Pupu in Lupane — where King Lobengula’s warriors had their final battle with colonial forces led by Major Allan Wilson in 1893 — by fencing it and establishing structures which will include a museum with the correct history of the first anti-colonial war, a Cabinet Minister has said.
Rural Development, Preservation and Promotion of Culture and Heritage Minister Cde Abednico Ncube said this in an interview at Pupu — about 50km east of Lupane Centre — on Thursday after meeting locals to brief them on the plans.
“We want to upgrade this place so that it becomes a truly national monument by making sure it is fenced with a museum among other structures which will have the correct history of this historical episode,” he said.
“We need to salute the bravery displayed by King Lobengula’s warriors who were able to wipe out 32 of the 33 colonial forces that were led by Allan Wilson and had better military technology. The history of this battle should be corrected especially the propaganda by the colonisers that only 11 white soldiers were killed.”
Cde Ncube said the Battle of Pupu was part of the 1893 to 1894 Ndebele War against the whites that formed the foundation of the anti-colonialism struggle that yielded the country’s Independence in 1980.
“You realise after such efforts as the Battle of Pupu we graduated into the use of guns and eventually won the armed struggle hence the Independence that we enjoy today,” he said.
At the monument is a mass grave where Ndebele forces who died in the battle are buried and a structure which had a plaque which had the names of the colonial forces who died. This was done by the colonial government which designated the place a national monument in 1937.
On the proposal to have a statue of King Lobengula erected, Cde Ncube said, the suggestion could be considered as the monarch, who according to Ndebele folklore “disappeared”, was an important figure in the history of this country.
“We would need to consult the Khumalo family on the issue as well as other stakeholders but the proposal is understandable considering King Lobengula is such an important historical figure,” he said.
Cde Ncube was accompanied on the visit by the principal director in his ministry, Reverend Paul Bayethe Damasane; Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister Cde Cain Mathema; the deputy executive director for the Department of National Museums and Monuments, Mr Darlington Munyikwa and historian Pathisa Nyathi.
