‘Some comrades froze at the sight of Zambezi River’

IN the past weeks we have been publishing stories on the deployment of battalions by ZPRA in 1979. Some of the interviews have been narratives by the Battalion Medical Officer of the First Battalion, Cde Miller Mlilo which was under the command of now Major-General (Rtd) Stanford Khumalo aka Cde Madliwa and the commander of the Northern Front One (NF1) now Colonel (Rtd) Waison Tshipa pseudonym Cde John Nyamupingidza. Next to come on board and give an account of that period is Colonel (Retired) Victor Ronnie Dlamini who commanded the Support Company and was under the tutelage of the now late Colonel Smile Madubeko Moyo. The battalion under the command of Col Madubeko Moyo sneaked into then Rhodesia and moved to Tsholotsho District where it set up a base. Tsholotsho fell under NF1, an operational area that also covered Bulilima District in Matabeleland South Province and Hwange in Matabeleland North Province. To a certain extent, it also covered Nyamandlovu, which, however, was largely a commercial farming area. In our last edition, Col Dlamini spoke about his training as a regular soldier at Mlungushi in Zambia after which he was sent for further training in the then Soviet Union where he specialised in artillery. Today, he picks up the conversation with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) by narrating how he was deployed to the front. Below are excerpts of the interview. Read on…..  

MS: Col Dlamini please let’s continue the interview by you telling us how your battalion was deployed.

Col Dlamini: When our battalion was ordered to move to its deployment area, I was placed in the advanced party. For tactical and security reasons we left Mlungushi in the evening and were driven to Livingstone and I was in charge of the advance unit. I was to report to the regional commander of NF1, Cde Nyamupingidza (Col Tshipa) as we were moving to his area of command. I should mention that Cde Nyamupingidza impressed me as a military man, he looked a proper soldier from the onset. As you are aware, Nyamupingidza is heavily built and has that authoritative voice. Everything about him was top notch, he knew what he was doing. We were then told to base somewhere outside Livingstone, just across the Zambezi River. As the commander of the Support Company, I had left Mlungushi with all my artillery pieces. I had taken all the equipment with me and the troops. So we stayed at the base waiting for the arrival of the rest of the battalion and the commander, Cde Middle (Madubeko). While at the base Cde Nyamupingidza was working on how the battalion will cross over to the Rhodesian side. I should not mention that it was not only us, the ZPRA forces who were preparing to cross over as we had our colleagues from Umkhonto WeSizwe (MK) of South Africa. ZPRA and MK collaborated in their operations during the two country’s armed struggle. 

MS: You are talking about a whole battalion crossing the Zambezi River, some former guerillas have said the Zambezi was as good as an enemy, so how did you manage that?

Col Dlamini: I can tell you Cde Nyampungidza found himself with a big challenge. A majority of the comrades were facing the Zambezi River for the first time and that was a big problem. Some of the comrades would just freeze at the sight of the Zambezi waters. You know, most of us did not grow at places where there were big rivers, and naturally, we tend to be intimidated by the water. Quite a number of us Africans are not comfortable when we face big water bodies and heights. Those tend to intimidate us. So, yes, some comrades were really afraid of getting into the waters of Zambezi.

MS: How was that solved?

Col Dlamini: Cde Nyamupingidza and his commanders, that is those just below him in rank ended up using minimum force on some comrades. They had to force some of the intimidated comrades to cross. There was no other way. Also besides the water itself, there was the issue of hippos. They were very aggressive as some had calved, they are very protective of their offsprings.  However, giving orders to regular troops was not as difficult as doing that to guerillas. Guerillas by their nature find it a bit difficult to comply with orders compared to the regular troops. 

MS: You are talking of Nyamupingidza using minimum force, how minimum was that minimum force?

Col Dlamini: Some punishment was meted out on the comrades. The comrades were subjected to physical exercises as a form of punishment.

MS: You guys managed to cross the Zambezi, how did you deal with the issue of logistics? Freedom fighters relied on the masses.

Col Dlamini: In our case as regular units when we were deployed from Mlungushi we had everything. We were well-kitted like any army, we had combat uniforms, the popular Soviet rice camouflage, boots, and all the necessities. We were also well catered in terms of rations. We had tinned stuff supplied by countries such as the then German Democratic Republic (GDR). 

To be concluded next week