The Sunday News
CDE Richard Dube commonly known as Sidleni among his peers was deployed at the height of the armed struggle in Hwange District in July 1979 in a unit of 32 military engineers. Their brief was simply to cause havoc by carrying our economic activities in the district that is also home to the magnificent Victoria Falls and other tourism attractions in Matabeleland North Province. On Friday Cde Dube whose pseudonym was Cde Dabula Mlotshwa spoke to our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) about what drove him to join the armed struggle in Zambia in 1977, training and subsequent deployment to Hwange specifically to the Jambezi area, which is close to Victoria Falls. Below are excerpts of the interview.
Read on . . .
MS: Cde Dube when were you born? Give us a brief background of yourself.
Cde Dube: I was born on 15 October 1949 at Singwango Number 2 in Filabusi, koGodlwayo. I started my primary education at Tshazi where I did Sub-A up to Standard 3. For Standard Four to Six I was at Gangabezi, St Matthew’s, all these schools are in Filabusi. After school I came to Bulawayo where I got a job at Esben Clothing Factory and that was in 1967. I worked there until 1977 when I left the country to join the armed struggle.
MS: When did you start being interested in politics?
Cde Dube: I should say I started being politically conscious around 1964 as abadala (parents) would discuss a lot of political activities that were taking place during that time. Although my father, Amon Mbekwa Dube worked as a member of the British South Africa Police (BSAP) his views on the nationalistic struggle were very positive. He left the police force in 1965 to join the security department of the Bulawayo City Council, starting off working at Ncema Dam before joining the Housing Department. My political interests were also raised in 1965 when some people from my home area left to join the armed struggle in Zambia among them Mthunzi, Artwell Siwela, Tshuma and these are the people who fought in the famous Wankie Battle.
Then when I came to Bulawayo I became more active when nationalist movements combined under the umbrella of the ANC-led by Abel Muzorewa. We used to have meetings at the house of Cde Angeline Masuku kuBlock 21 eMpopoma. The meetings were chaired by a man called Peter Mano. When the nationalists were released from detention in 1974 I was part of the youths that did guard duties at the house of Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo in Pelandaba.
MS: But how did you do guard duties since your were not trained at that time?
Cde Dube: As youths we loved being around the house of the old man, armed only with stones, nothing else. We would begin our guard duties from around 7.30pm and be there until 6am the following day. We would then leave the house for our workplaces. The spirit of freedom was all over and people were ready to tackle the Smith regime head-on.
MS: As for joining the armed struggle when did you do that?
Cde Dube: I will first give a background of what happened before I left the country for the war. One day at my workplace, Esben Clothing Factory, two senior Rhodesian government officials came to address us. They were leading a man whom they said was a captured Zipra guerilla who had trained in Tanzania. It was in September 1976 and the day could have been a Tuesday. All the workers were ordered to gather at some place and various weapons were put on display.
That so-called guerilla then started explaining to us how the weapons functioned. I think the whites wanted to promote their propaganda, instil fear in us that guerillas were being captured and so-on. However, their move backfired as a number of workers were moved by that man and felt the urge to leave the country and take up arms as well. On Friday of that week, several workers left the country to join the armed struggle in Zambia via Botswana. Among them is now current politician and former Bulawayo councillor, Wilson Bancinyane Ndiweni.
MS: As for you when did you leave the country?
Cde Dube: I left the country in July 1977 in the company of my cousin brother, umntaka mama omncane, uClifford who was working for Cotton Printers. It was on a Saturday, we boarded a Matambanadzo bus at Renkini and left Bulawayo around 1pm. We did not have any problems along the way and we dropped off koNgwanyana, Mangwe District after 3pm. By that time we were four as we had met two other guys in the bus, Fiso and Mthandazo who were also on the same mission to join the armed struggle. We managed to cross the border into Botswana on the same day. Across the border we went to a certain homestead where we were accommodated overnight. The following morning they gave us directions to Tsetsebe Police Station. From Tsetsebe we were fortunate enough to find a police car that was heading towards Francistown and they offered us a lift.
In Francistown we stayed at a facility that was teeming with recruits, some from the Zanu side, Zapu while others were supporters of Bishop Abel Muzorewa. However, we were later moved to Selibe-Phikwe where after a week we were flown to Zambia. We were around 97. Upon our arrival at Lusaka International Airport we were put into Kraz trucks and driven to Nampundwe Transit Camp. A number of comrades have spoken about the situation at Nampundwe, so I will just say a few words about it. I could not believe what I was seeing on arrival there, people just looked like ghosts, very dirty with mud all over as a result of being ordered to roll over muddy waters while at training.
MS: I think at that point you might have regretted going to the war?
Cde Dube: I did not regret as such but to be honest I was shocked, you know even the person you knew from long back you could not recognise them, it was after he had introduced himself that you started recognising him. The other feeling that I had when I got to Nampundwe was that maybe the Smith regime had a point. You know the colonial regime used to flood flyers in many places with images showing how recruits were being ill-treated in both Zambia and Mozambique, those thoughts came back to me. I said probably the regime was right on this one.
However, there was no going back and also there was the bigger picture of delivering our people from colonial bondage. I also told myself that what other men could do, I could do it as well. The camp commander at Nampundwe at that time was Killion. Also there was Cde Thodlana (late Tshaka Moyo), Benjie, Midzi, Dan, Themba and Tonderai. As for physical exercises they were tough and by the time we went for fully fledged training we had done a lot.
To be continued next week
