HEROISM, MABHENA AND THE MYTH OF POTENT NDEBELE RAIDS

HEROISM, MABHENA AND THE MYTH OF POTENT NDEBELE RAIDS: JULIUS SAI MUTYAMBIZI-DEWA




I have listened to arguments and counterarguments of a tribal nature in many a forum particularly in the UK Diaspora. I have never known such lies of Ndebele-Shona disunity which one only experiences in the UK but my memory of activism back home is that those in Harare existed in more than harmony with their brothers and sisters in Matabeleland and the Midlands.

There was a young man called “Dinyo” [Promise Matunhira] who was the NCA youth leader at the time I left, he must have been from Manicaland but the way he led and drilled NCA youths at the time I left Zimbabwe in 2002 was something of a marvel. To me he was a true field marshal and his national meetings or gatherings were held in Matabeleland, Mashonaland and the Midlands as opposed to one region. There is a song that we Highlanders supporters sung “Highlander iteam yezwe lonke” it was also adopted by the NCA youth at that time and whenever it was being sung by a young activist known as Netsai from Matabeleland, Dinyo and others who were based in Harare would join to sing.

And I remember ZimRights in 1997, led by the then Chairman Nick Ndebele, the deputy leader was my cousin CD Moyo and there was a healthy mix of people from different tribes in its top hierarchy. I am a Moyo, Dewa, Sai, Vumabalanda.....to me this thing about tribes does not apply because as Rozvi I have relatives among the Samuriwo people in Marondera, Nyamweda, Chipai and Ndawana in Mhondoro, Tandi, Mavudzi and Chiduku in Manicaland, Bhasvi and Rozani in Wedza, Negomo and Shopo in Mashonaland Central, Madamombe, Mutendi, Chiminya in Masvingo, Sai, Gumunyu, Jiri, Njelele in Gokwe despite the fact that the Moyo are predominantly a Matabeleland and Midlands tribe. In terms of genes there is no difference between a Moyo in Tjolotjo or Hwange and a Moyo in Mashonaland East and even a Sai or Shai in Polokwane in South Africa. So to me although I treasure my Kalanga background and will at every opportunity try and remind my children as such, I am aware that belonging to a particular tribe has been rendered a bit irrelevant owing to the position contemporary Rozvis find themselves. My argument therefore is not motivated by tribal bias but anthropological observation and I believe it will be very credible.



MABHENA’S HEROISM



I am going to say the late Welshman Mabhena is a hero and if Heroes Acre was truly for heroes, his soul must be laid to rest there. As we have come to know the decision is by a political party and therefore it will be very partisan. Yes Mabhena spent most of his time after independence fighting for the people of Matabeleland, that’s very true. And this is why people have not forgiven him and they have called him a tribalist. But Mabhena never talked of Ndebele superiority all he said was that his region was marginalised and that his language was dying. No, people who have not experienced this will not understand where he was coming from.

So it Is very easy to say. People who were never stopped at a roadblock by gun wielding soldiers and asked to produce their ID even if they were only 9 years old cannot understand why.

MABHENA’S TRIBALISM

Had Mabhena said Ndebeles were superior to Shona then I would have been the first one to ask for his dishonour. All he did was to champion the cause of his people and his region after they had been betrayed by most of Zimbabwe who did not say anything during Gukurahundi. And what we have forgotten is that traditionally speaking Mabhena is among the leaders of the Khumalo clan to which Nkosi Mzilikazi belonged. He had the same obligation to speak for his people that Chief Rekayi Tangwena had and if Chief Tangwena was a hero for that then I do not see how Mabhena will become a tribalist for doing exactly the same.

If anyone asks me today why I am not happy about independent Zimbabwe I will always start by saying that I am not happy because Kalanga, the language of the Rozvi, is not a national language and it is not in the school curriculum. I do so knowing that I am a politician and like every other politician I have aspirations to lead my country one day but I will never forsake my own history because of political expediency. The construction of contemporary Zimbabwe has by default allowed the emergence of an underclass and an upper class and unfortunately these problems will not go away by defeatism. There is a reason why post-apartheid South Africa has been successful, its construction, unlike Zimbabwe, has never been based on the majoritarian principle which seeks to maintain a hegemony of the majority but South Africa has pursued a democratic principle which accommodates minority interests.

This is why every language is a language in South Africa and that includes Venda despite the fact that the entire population of Vendas is only 600thousand in a country more than 40million people. And unlike white Zimbabweans, white South Africans remain in their security personnel and by and large they feel they belong to South Africa and its not really very surprising in South Africa to hear a white South African speaking one of the languages spoken by his black compatriots.

The resistance that has faced the issue of autonomous regions in Zimbabwe has been fuelled mainly by the mistrust between Ndebele and Shona even though autonomy would extend to Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland regions. And one needs not go any further than public internet forums to get the answer. The unaddressed issue of Gukurahundi, the pre-colonial Ndebele “raids” into Mashonaland, the origins of the Ndebele and the total failure of the government of Zimbabwe to address this has created a society treading on thorny pricks of tension making Zimbabwe a script whose every turn is full of suspense.



SOUTH AFRICAN ORIGINS OF THE NDEBELE AND THEIR RAIDS

The South African origin of every Ndebele is a pure myth that was constructed mainly by the same Beach who claimed Great Zimbabwe was constructed by Phoenicians. His writings have been widely criticised as they sought to divide Zimbabweans. Everyone knows that more than 70% of the present day Ndebele is made up of people who were by the Khumalo in Zimbabwe. They are the Kalanga, Venda, Nyubi, Nambya, Tonga, Shona etc whose ancestors were found by the Khumalo in Zimbabwe. And Mzilikazi called them amaholangubo “those who earn clothes” because they wore clothes they earned through trade with the Portuguese. Pro-colonisation historians later used the word “hole” in a derogatory way in order to achieve and sore divisions by proferring colonialism as having been a necessary evil to stop the genocide, manipulation and denigration of the Shona by the Ndebele. This is the same reason why there has been an argument that Ndebeles raided Shonas for cattle, food and women. This is not supported by fact and could only be possible if Ndebele warriors were high-tech, highly mechanised armies who could drive at full speed to Mashonaland and return with their loot to Matabeleland. Even modern armies can never move with such speed.

It does not make sense for anyone to think that spear wielding warriors could travel all the way from Bulawayo to Harare at full speed and raid and return at the same speed to Bulawayo. And honestly the Shona would have been very pathetic to be defeated by such a clearly tired army. I have said Ndebele raids into further Shona territory could only be true if the Ndebele had satellites in Mashonaland. That way they could camp and rest and would have been able to invade with a potent force. Moreover it has been said that the Hwata people of Mazowe and Mashayamombe people of Mhondoro had guns and the Ndebele would not even attempt to attack them. Ndebele, Shona rivalry was a creation of propagandists at the time of colonisation and it is a myth because the two tribes cooperated with each other in 1896 and Chimurenga wars were fought both in Mashonaland and Matabeleland. Had there been such rift that cooperation would not have happened.

Coming to the issue of origins there seems to have been more than one tribe in Zimbabwe that came from South Africa. Historians have said the earliest Shona speaking group to come to Zimbabwe is the Dziva people which separated from the BaKwena/BaSotho people of South Africa. The Rozvi/Kalanga are linked to the BaLotzwi/BaLobedu of Polokwane and the Venda and everyone from the Mashayamombe people also claims that they came from Swaziland and so does some people from the Makoni Chieftaincy who say they came from South Africa.

MATABELELAND: ABDICATION OR DEVOLUTION

What I will never support is for anyone to say Matableleland will abdicate and that is where my point of departure with Welshman Mabhena is. This is because Matabeleland has never existed as a separate entity, it is Zimbabwe, it is where my own direct ancestor, KHOSI Netjasike who is the last king of the Rozvi/Kalanga was based, it is where another ancestor Changamire Dombo was based. The shrines that have always been the shrines of Zimbabweans at Mahwemanyolo, Njelele, Mahwematjena etc are all in Matabeleland. They were not Ndebele shrines, they were not Kalanga shrines, they were not Shona shrines but were national shrines.

Yes there is anger in Matabeleland and yes Zimbabwe demands devolution but my hero was very wrong in calling Matabeleland a country because it is not a separate entity. It is part of modern Zimbabwe as it has always been part of ancient Zimbabwe. To make matters worse those who have been calling for abdication are working in direct opposition to the aspirations of Mzilikazi. They are saying they will unite Matabeleland with the Zulu nation in South Africa. Now this is unacceptable, Mzilikazi cut ties with the Zulu, he chose to leave that kingdom and those who seek a return there are not working in cahoots with the aspirations of Mzilikazi.

Mzilikazi had every opportunity to appease Shaka had he wanted. He could have said look I found a beautiful country for you and now here it is, but no he became part of Zimbabwe and started building relations with the people already settled there. As for Welshman Mabhena I think the people of Zimbabwe will recognise him as their national hero with or without ZANU PF approval.

Contrary to what people think of him he was not the kind of man who jumped at any opportunity to “work with people from his own tribe, the Ndebele”. When the MDC split in 2005, given a choice of who to work with the faction of Welshman Ncube and the late VP Gibson Sibanda [Peace be Upon Him] who were both Ndebele or that of PM Morgan Tsvangirai and the late National Chairman Isaac Matongo [Peace be Upon Him] who were both Shona, he chose to work with the later as he argued they were more principled. He did not look at tribe but substance. He had his shortcomings but they were very minimal. He was not infallible. I personally like his character particularly his fight for his own people. I too am not ashamed to fight for my Rozvi/Kalanga roots. We have identities and it is important to realise that. Time must come for Zimbabweans to demand that their heroes such as Welshman Mabhena be buried with the honour they deserve at the national shrine. Lalani ngokhuthula okaMabhena!



Julius Sai MUTYAMBIZI-DEWA is the Chairman of Communities Point. He writes in his own capacity.

Contact: mutyambizidewa@yahoo.co.uk or 07529705413 or 07401182271