The Sunday News
IN our last week’s edition we carried an article on Colonel Victor Ronnie Dlamini pseudonym Cde Soul Zikhali. In that article, Col Dlamini related how he joined the armed struggle, and his initiation into the military life at Nampundwe Transit Camp in Zambia where he went through the hands of tough instructors such as Teddy, Finish and Tonderai just to mention a few.
From Nampundwe Col Dlamini was together with other recruits sent to Mlungushi Camp where they were trained as conventional soldiers by the Zambian Army. After Mlungushi he was sent to the then Soviet Union for further training where he specialised in artillery.
On his return to Zambia, he was attached to the battalion that was commanded by the now late, Colonel Smile Madubeko Moyo. It was the battalion under the command of Col Moyo that sneaked into then Rhodesia and moved to Tsholotsho’s Butabubili area where they set base.
They had crossed in August 1979, according to the former regional commander for Northern Front One (NF1), Colonel (Rtd) Waison Tshipa alias Cde John Nyamupingidza. Col Dlamini commanded the Support Company in the Madubeko Battalion and that means he was in charge of the heavy weapons.
On Thursday last week, Col Dlamini spoke to our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) to continue his narration of his stint in the armed struggle. Below are excerpts from the interview. Read on…..
MS: Let’s start with you leaving Nampundwe for Mlungushi. Take us through that period.
Col Dlamini: After our baptism of fire at Nampundwe by the instructors there, I was among the recruits who were selected to undergo training in conventional warfare while others were sent to do guerilla warfare training at some camps in Zambia such as CGT and Mwembeshi.
Other recruits were sent to Angola but I and others of course were selected to go to Mlungushi to be trained by the Zambian Army. Our training was in conventional warfare.
MS: Were your instructors only from the Zambian Army?
Col Dlamini: A majority of them were Zambians as the programme was a Zambian military training programme, the usual one.
However, from the ZPRA side there was Gedi (late Colonel Richard Dube), Marshal Mpofu and Cde Khupe. For the three to be part of the training exercise they were commissioned by the Zambian Defence Forces.
Cde Khupe was the camp commandant. As for the training, we covered a lot such as weapon handling, we were taught about the use of small arms such as AK-47s, pistols, machine guns, etc. We did a lot of drills on how to carry out attacks as a section, platoon and company.
We did a lot of drills on that. We completed our training after nine months and we had our pass-out parade, which was attended by the commander of the army, that is ZPRA, General Nikita Mangena. I should emphasize that our group at Mlungushi was populated by Zimbabweans of different tribes, Ndebeles, Shona, Tonga, Sotho, Kalanga and so on.
This was in the spirit of what our Commander-in-Chief and party leader Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo demanded. Dr Nkomo loved all Zimbabweans, he did not look at where one came from. After Mlungushi I was among those selected for further training. While others were sent to countries such as Libya, I was part of the group that was sent to the Soviet Union.
MS: So Mlungushi was a different set-up compared to what other comrades were facing at other camps such as Mwembeshi for instance.
Col Dlamini: At Mlungushi there were proper military barracks, there were structures as it was a Zambian camp. So as recruits, we were living in barracks. We were subjected to the rules, regulations and demands of the Zambian Army. We were made to behave like any other regular army.
MS: Tell us about the training in the Soviet Union.
Col Dlamini: In the Soviet Union I was selected to train as an artillery or battery commander. We passed through the infantry training school where we were there for three months. After that, we went for the artillery training where we would do our target shooting exercises at the Black Sea. We were there for six months. However, when we left Zambia for the Soviet Union we were sort of cartoon characters.
MS: Why do you say so?
Col Dlamini: We were travelling on civilian aeroplanes, so we were made to leave our combat attire behind. We could not travel in our bush attire so we had to look for civilian attire. Being guerillas we had to grab from what the party (Zapu) had received as donations. We rummaged through the bales of clothes and one picked a shirt, a pair of trousers and a jacket. The sticking point came to the shoes.
So some of us boarded the plane at Lusaka International Airport in our ill-fitting civilian clothing without shoes, we were barefooted. It was shocking to other passengers and for us, there was nothing we could do, we were not in the war to get luxuries.
We only got shoes when we arrived in the Soviet Union. Some people think we as former fighters would be exaggerating when we say we sacrificed a lot for the freedom of this country. We went through a lot.
MS: How were you treated in the Soviet Union?
Col Dlamini: We received advanced military training and as for our welfare we were even given some stipends so that we could buy ourselves things that we needed. We were given time to visit the town and do some mini-shopping. After our training in the Soviet Union we returned to Zambia and went straight to Mlungushi where battalions were being formed.
MS: How were the battalions structured?
Col Dlamini: The battalions were composed of the battalion commander who had the rank of a Lt-Colonel. His second in command that is 2IC had the rank of a Major so was the Chief of Staff. The battalion had a logistics officer whose rank was equivalent to that of a Captain. There was an RSO, that is Regimental Signals Officer. The battalions also had an RSM, who was the Regimental Sergeant-Major.
Our battalion was then deployed to Northern Front one which was under the command of now Colonel (Rtd) Waison Tshipa.
That meant that all the battalion officers including its commander effectively fell under the command of Nyamupingidza as Tshipa was called during the war. We found Nyamupingidza a tough commander who did not accept excuses.
To be continued next week when Col Dlamini narrates how the battalion crossed over into the country.
