The Sunday News
SILVER whose real name is Josiah Ndlovu is a household name in Bulawayo’s social and entertainment circles as the man once ran a thriving shebeen business along the lines of the tavern system in South Africa.
His shebeen was unique in that its operations did not interfere with his family as the drinking space was separated from the main house. Probably he was inspired by local politicians such as the late Vice-President Joseph Msika, the late fiery legislator and nationalist Cde Sydney Donald Malunga and former Mayor and current advisor to President Mnangagwa on disability issues, Cde Joshua Teke Malinga who all advocated for the legalising of shebeens arguing that they were the “places where gentlemen go.” Later on Cde Ndlovu was not so lucky as he was raided by the police and incarcerated for running the “illicit” business.
However, very few people or patrons might have been aware that the charismatic Cde Ndlovu was in the thick of things during the war of liberation, a senior cadre in Zipra for that matter who at one point was given the responsibility of commanding the famous Freedom Camp (FC), which was situated a few kilometres from Zambia’s capital, Lusaka. Cde Ndlovu whose pseudo name was Cde Silver Bafana survived the 19 October 1978 bombing that claimed hundreds of cadres on that fateful day. He almost lost his left leg when it was hit by a shrapnel. On Friday last week our Assistant Editor, Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) spoke to Cde Ndlovu about his exploits during the armed struggle. Below are excerpts of the interview. Read on….
MS: You are a popular figure in Bulawayo especially in drinking circles, but people might be interested in knowing where does Silver Ndlovu come from.
Cde Ndlovu: I was born on 10 August 1948 at Fort Usher in Matobo District, Matabeleland South Province. However, Fort Usher is the home of my maternal grandparents. My district where my father came from is Bubi, in Matabeleland North Province. Sivela eSiganda. As for my education I went to Fort Usher School and then later on moved to Mtshede Government School in Bulawayo’s Njube suburb where I went up to Standard Six. That could have been in 1962 if I my memory still serves me right. After school I looked for employment and got one at the Main Post Office here in Bulawayo.
I got the usual job which were mainly reserved for blacks that is being a messenger. I was to later leave the Main Post Office for Radiator and Tinning. I also left Radiator and Tinning for Books of Rhodesia where I worked for five years. I then left the country to join the armed struggle.
MS: What pushed you to join the armed struggle and take us through your journey to join the war.
Cde Ndlovu: Like any African in Rhodesia I had been a victim of racism and the revolutionary spirit was everywhere. I had in my line of employment been subjected to racism, so I felt the urge to correct it and that could only be done through taking up arms against the racist Ian Smith regime. I was staying at Luveve at that time, so one day I woke up and went to the Main Railway Station where I boarded a Botswana bound train. I was alone when I embarked on the journey. I travelled well without any incident and when I got to Francistown, I went to the local police station where I reported to.
There I found others who were also going to join the armed struggle. We were later on joined by others as well. We were in Botswana for sometime before we were flown to Zambia. When we got to Zambia we were taken to Mboroma then later on moved to Mwembeshi. I was part of the Group of 800 and we are the ones who opened up Mwembeshi as a training camp. We also did not stay long there as there were new arrangements made by the then OAU and Front Lines states that called for the unification of the liberation movements. That was during the formation of ZIPA, so we moved to a Zanla camp at Mgagao in Tanzania. Our group moved under the guidance of the late, Cde Sam Madondo with instructors such as Stanley Gagisa who was commonly known as Doko.
There were conflicts at Mgagao, which is in the public domain, a lot happened there. As a result of the differences there we moved to Morogoro where we completed our training. Immediately after completing our training I was among a group of cadres who were moved out of Tanzania to Zambia, from where we were flown to the then Soviet Union for further training.
MS: Tell us about your time in the Soviet Union.
Cde Ndlovu: We did full conventional scale warfare, military strategies, military engineering, and military intelligence. As for the weapons we did a lot — from small arms such Makarov, assault rifles, artillery pieces such as mortars, B10s, SAM 7 (Straler), Zegues and other heavy warfare machinery. At personal level I specialised in the use of Mortar 82mm. We were in the Soviet Union for six months.
To be continued
