Colonial monuments: Celebrating or remembering colonial history?

Tinomuda Chakanyuka Sunday News Reporter

THE Cape Town University council, on Wednesday 8 April unanimously voted for the removal of colonialist Cecil John Rhodes’ statue from the university campus.

This followed weeks of protest by students at the institution who demanded the removal of the monument with some activists having thrown excrement on the statue.

The matter which has been dubbed the “Rhodes Must Fall” debate also sparked defacement of other colonial era monuments around South Africa, including a statue of King George VI at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the splashing of green paint on a statue of Paul Kruger in Pretoria.

Debate on the fate of colonial era monuments has not only been confined to South Africa. Zimbabwe, which shares an almost similar colonial heritage with its southern neighbour, has also been seized with similar discourse for quite some time.

Zimbabwe, a former colony of Britain habours over 40 colonial era monuments with Rhodes’ grave in Matobo district probably headlining the collection.

The developments in South Africa have seen ignition of fierce public debate on the continued preservation of artifacts and monuments that bear the country’s colonial history.

As the country draws closer to marking its 35th Uhuru celebrations, the debate on the matter has flared with some quarters radically calling for the annihilation of the monuments and artefacts.

Such calls are premised on the argument that the continued preservation of such artefacts and monuments with colonial history was tantamount to celebrating colonialism.

Without doubt colonialism ranks as the height of the West’s barbarism against other races, of course after the infamous slave trade which saw over 20 million black Africans being shipped to America and Europe to be enslaved in plantations.

Again it cannot be contested that colonialism and slave trade, to Africans who were on the receiving end of the two systems, remain the darkest periods of the continent’s history.

Thus from an African perspective, celebrating such dark epochs or any action that smacks of such is utterly inexcusable. In this context the anger being directed towards colonial monuments and artefacts by those calling for their removal is understandable.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) recently came under fire for its decision to uncover a plaque that some sections of society regard to be demeaning people from Matabeleland.

The Indaba plaque at the main entrance of the City Hall’s municipal offices, depicts Rhodes seated on a higher rock, during peace negotiations with leaders of the Ndebele Kingdom who were sitting on the ground.

City fathers have justified their move saying the plaque had historical significance for Bulawayo.

Rhodes’ grave in Matopo has also been targeted by those calling for the obliteration of colonial artefacts and monuments, as they continuously urge authorities to exhume the colonialist’s remains and repatriate them.

Sometime in 2012, Government blocked plans by war veterans to exhume Rhodes’ grave and return his remains to the United Kingdom, saying his legacy was part of the national history. The war vets blamed the existence of Rhodes’ grave for the drought that hit some parts of the country.

As debate around the colonial artefacts and monuments continues there are a lot of questions that recur and are begging for answers.

President Mugabe, who was in South Africa on a State visit last week, tapped into the “Rhodes Must Fall,” debate and said, “So we are looking after the corpse and you have the statue. I don’t know what you think we should do. Dig him up? Perhaps his spirit might rise again, what shall we do?”

Questions that are constantly brought up in the colonial monuments and artefacts debate are: Is preserving the artefacts and monuments in any way some form of celebrating the domination of indigenous people by white settlers? Is the continued preservation of the artefacts and monuments a sign of the West’s continued dominance, and an appendage of their neocolonialism agenda? Is it by any means an insult to national pride?

On the flip side of the debate, one may also ask if the complete destruction of the monuments will help us forget or perhaps rewrite the colonial history? Should we even forget that history and what do we stand to benefit from deliberately editing our history. Will our future generations be any wiser if they don’t know their complete history, including the darkest parts of it? As we get into Independence celebration mood, will it help us in any way to celebrate freedom without fully knowing and appreciating that from which we were freed?

If all these questions and several others around the subject are answered satisfactorily and honestly, without malice, the debate on how the nation should treat the monuments and artefacts may come to a logical end.

It should also be noted that there is a difference between celebrating a history and remembering it. What role the artefacts and monuments play in each of the two gestures, is yet another question that if answered may also put the discourse to rest.

In the 1980s the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) ordered the removal of Rhodes’ statue which was situated at the intersection of Main Street (now Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Street) and 8th Avenue.

Director of the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) Dr Godfrey Mahachi said preservation of such artefacts and monuments was not a sign of celebrating colonialism, but was a way of appreciating the country’s colonial heritage.

He said remembering our colonial heritage serves to give us legitimacy as a nation and helps us learn from our past mistakes.

Dr Mahachi added that recording the country’s history should not be about editing aspects of our past that we don’t like but accurately capturing every aspect of our history.

He, however, pointed out that placement of monuments and the prominence given to such monoliths differentiated between simple preservation and commemoration of colonial history.

“Rhodes’ grave is just a grave and we don’t celebrate it in any way. It is there so that we remember the person and system we defeated to attain our independence. That grave does not in any way compare to our National Heroes’ Acre. The heroes’ acre is placed at a prominent place, where everyone can see to show that we actually celebrate that part of our history which brought us independence.

“It is the case with all monuments and artefacts that we use to celebrate our history, they are deliberately placed in prominent places. Those that have a colonial history and only serve to remind us of that part of the history are carefully placed in places such as our museums, not in public places. This is why soon after attaining independence we had to pull down Rhodes’ statue and put it somewhere in our museum,” he said.

Dr Mahachi said the country could not pretend that colonial history did not exist, adding that if there were places that reminded the nation of such times they should be known.

Dr Mahachi’s sentiments were echoed by Mr Peter Zwide KaLanga Khumalo, a descendant of the Ndebele king, Lobengula who regarded as mere activists’ emotions calls for the removal of the plaque and exhumation of Rhodes’ remains.

“If we remove that plaque because it reminds us of Rhodes then why don’t we go around destroying all the buildings in the city that were built during the colonial regime, I view this as mere activists’ emotions because we just cannot go around removing plaques and digging up graves.

“Those who are saying this plaque should be taken to the museum should think what role it will play at the museum which is different from the role it is playing at the City Hall, this plaque represents a part of the history of Zimbabwe and the Ndebele in particular,” said Mr Khumalo.

Below are some of the colonial monuments on the national monuments list, their locations and brief profiles.

World’s view hill (Matobo)

A site commemorating the burial place of Cecil John Rhodes and other colonial founders.

Shangani Battlefield-Memorial (Bubi/Umguza)

A monument that marks the place where Allan Wilson and his party were killed by allegedly fleeing Matabele people under King Lobengula.

Old Jesuit Mission — Sauerdale (Bulawayo)

Site of the first Jesuit mission station to be opened by the Jesuit Fathers in the country. This monument is located near the site of Old Bulawayo, Ndebele King Lobengula’s capital which he abandoned in the early 1880s.

Memorial Cross (Mutare)

A memorial cross erected in honour of black native soldiers who participated in the Great War of 1914-18.

Old Mangwe Fort (Bulilima-Mangwe)

A fort built in 1893 to guard the Mangwe Pass and the road to Bulawayo.

Mangwe Memorial (Bulilima-Mangwe)

A granite obelski erected in 1954 in memory of people who travelled through the Mangwe Pass prior to the occupation of the country.

Blakiston-Routledge Memorial (Mazoe)

A memorial situated at Irene Farm in Mazoe area, erected to commemorate people who were killed in the 1896 rebellion.

Filabusi Memorial (Insiza)

A memorial erected to commemorate people who died in the Filabusi area during the 1896 war.

Mambo Memorial (Bubi/Umguza)

A memorial located at Mambo Farm near Gweru, erected to commemorate people who died during the 1896 war.

Fort Rixon Memorial (Fort Rixon)

This fort was built after the rebellion of 1896 as a laager for the white people residing in the Fort Rixon area. There is also a small cemetery containing graves of people (white) who were killed during the uprising.

Harare Toposcope (Harare)

Site that commemorates the place where the flag (Union Jack) was hoisted by the Pioneer Column on 12 September 1890.

Rhodes Indaba Site (Matobo)

A fenced anthill located in the Matopos National Park where Cecil Rhodes and his accomplices are reported to have sat on during their Indaba with Matabele leaders in a bid to end the war of 1896.

Fort Umlugulu (Bulawayo)

A defence fort built during the 1896 rebellion. It was also at this site that Baden Powell, a member of the small party that used the fort is reputed to have first mooted the idea of forming a Boy Scout movement. Furthermore, it was also from this site that a J P Richardson, a Native Commissioner and Zulu Linguist was reported to have taken a great personal risk by venturing into the hills in a bid to arrange meetings with the Ndebele elders. His efforts culminated in the Indaba that took place at the Rhodes Indaba site.

Rhodes’ Summer House (Matobo)

The original of this house was destroyed by veld fires. However, an replica of the building was then constructed to replace the destroyed one. The significance of the house is that it was used by Cecil J. Rhodes as a dining room during his visits to this country, especially during the hot season.

Rhodes’ Stable (Matobo)

An example of a Victorian Stable. This building located on the land of the Matopos Research Station was built on the instruction of Cecil John Rhodes through his farm manager, Mr Hull.

J Lee’s House-Bulilima (Mangwe)

Ruins of a building that was used by J Lee, the first hunter to settle in the Mangwe District in 1866.

Old Mission Site-London Missionary Society, Inyathi

Site of the first ever mission station to be established in the country. This particular mission station was opened by Robert Moffat’s London Missionary Society in 1859 after having been granted permission to do so by the Ndebele King Mzilikazi.

Rhodes’ Hut (Bulawayo)

This small thatched rondavel built on the site of King Lobengula’s capital was used as sleeping quarters by Cecil John Rhodes on his visits to Bulawayo.

Fort Tuli (Gwanda)

This fort was the first to be built by the Pioneer Column in this country when they crossed the Shashi River. Just adjacent to the site of Fort Tuli are also the remains of the first ever hospital to be established in the country and run by Mother Patrick and her Dominican sisters.

Fort Martin (Chegutu)

A fort established by Captain R C Nesbitt and named after Sir Richard Martin then overall commander of all the invading Rhodesian forces. This site which is located in the Chegutu area was built in a bid to subdue Chief Mashayamombe, one of the most outstanding Shona leaders in the 1896 war of resistance against colonial intrusion.

Fort Gibbs (Gweru)

A fort built by Captain J A C Gibbs during the rebellion of 1893 in Gweru. This fort was used again in 1896 by the British South African Police (BSAP) and abandoned after the conclusion of that war.

Laager Site, Battle of Bembesi (Bulawayo)

A monument in honour of those who died at the battle of Mbembesi in 1893.

Site of the battle of Bembesi (Bulawayo)

A monument that commemorates the site of the 1893 battle between the Matabele forces and the invading colonial armies.

Selous House (Mzingwane)

This monument comprises ruins of a house once occupied by Fredrick Courtney Selous one of the first white hunters to visit this country.

MacDougall Weir,Canals and Tunnel (Chiredzi)

This monument depicts the remnants of the first irrigation canals, tunnels and weirs that were used to draw water from the Mtirikwe River to irrigate the sugar cane fields at Triangle ranch.

Fort Mazoe (Mazoe)

A fort built during the 1896 war as a means of regaining control of the Mazoe Valley after the settlers had retreated. It was from this site that a full scale offensive against the Hwata people was launched from after initial negotiations had broken down. The graves of Blackstone, Routledge, Faull, Dicknson, Cass, Jacobs and Van Staaden are also located near this fort.

Old Fort Victoria (Masvingo)

Monument depicts remnants of a fort that was built by the Pioneer Column in 1890 during its trek that resulted in the occupation of Mashonaland.

Horse Trough (Victoria) (Bulawayo)

A cast iron Victorian Horse trough standing outside the stables in the grounds of the Government House in Bulawayo.

Matopo Railway Terminus (Bulawayo)

Site of the railway terminus that was built for the train services to the Matopo hills.

The Trek Memorial, Chimanimani (Chimanimani)

Memorial constructed in honour of the first white settlers to settle in the Chimanimani District.

Coach House and Stables (Bulawayo)

This coach house located on the grounds of the Government House in Bulawayo contains Victorian iron and wood work and was used by Cecil Rhodes during his visits to Bulawayo.

Mother Patrick’s Mortuary — Pioneer Hospital (Harare)

A small building used as the first pioneer mortuary in Harare. The building also illustrates the great work done by Mother Patrick, the first person to run a hospital in the city.

Settler Tree (Mutare)

This tree which is located in the grounds of the Magistrates’ courts in Mutare was planted by Don Luize Filipe, Duke of Braganza and Crown Prince of Portugal to commemorate his visit to the City of Mutare in 1907.

Paper House (Kwekwe)

Remnants of paper house built in Kwekwe in the early 1900.

BSA Co Lion — Government House (Bulawayo)

A cast iron standing on a granite plinth erected just adjacent to the main gate of the Government House in Bulawayo.

Old Foot Bridge (Kwekwe)

The first footbridge in the country, built to cross the Bembezana river on the Kwekwe to Mvuma road.

Site of Telegraph Office (Mazoe)

A fenced site containing the remnants of a pole and dagga telegraph office from which Blackstone and Routledge warned Harare of the attack on Alice Mine during the 1896 Mashona risings.

Fort Alderson (Mazoe)

A defensive fort built towards the end of the 1896 war on the instruction of Lt Col E A H Alderson then officer commanding Mashonaland Field Force. This fort just like the others in this area was built to defend the Mazoe Valley during the 1896 war.

MacDougall Homestead — Triangle (Chiredzi)

Original home of MacDougall, one of the first white settlers to occupy Zimbabwe’s southern Lowveld.

Cecil House (Harare)

A building constructed in 1901 and accommodated the De Beers offices.

“Utopia” — Home of R S Fairbridge (Mutare)

This monument is the home of R S Fairbridge.

Missionary Tree (Bulawayo)

 

Why we went to war

Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu

WHILE Zimbabwe is celebrating its 35th independence anniversary, many people born after the country’s attainment of nationhood do not really understand the socio-economic conditions under which the black people of this country lived during the white settler regime’s administration.

The conditions were meant to keep the African people as drawers of water and hewers of wood for the white settlers for the foreseeable future if not forever.

Shortly after the British South African Chartered Company (BSAC) grabbed this company by military force and trickery in 1893, its administration passed a couple of laws to subdue and control the indigenous people.

The laws included the Masters and Servants Act, the Native Affairs Act, the Land Apportionment Act, the Industrial Conciliation Act and the Land Husbandry Act.

The Masters and Servants Act was a copy of a law by the same name that had been passed by the Cape Colony’s parliament a few years earlier when Cecil John Rhodes was an MP in that British Colonial possession.

He later became its prime minister and colonised our territory during that period, using his political influence to recruit military personnel to form the Pioneer Column.

The Masters and Servants Act stipulated that a black person could not be called “an employee”, whatever his or her nature or work. The term “employee” was reserved for white workers, and so were normal workers’ rights.

Black workers were treated well — nigh like slaves, especially those in the farming and mining sectors. The law permitted the white employers to flog their black workers for pilfering, desertion, absenteeism, disobedience or for laziness or slovenly done work such as laundry, house-cleaning and cooking.

Some social scientists and Christian missionaries would suggest years later, and even at that very time, that many white settlers in this country and in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and elsewhere had very strong slave-owners’ mentalities.

Slavery had been abolished in British administered territories in 1836, that is about 60 years before Rhodes’ Pioneer Column camped at Fort Salisbury on 12 September 1890, Occupation Day, to later seize Matabeleland in 1893.

The Native Affairs Act was passed in 1928 to control the socio-political behaviour of the country’s indigenous people, hence its name.

One of its clauses made it an offence for an indigenous black person to criticise either a native commissioner or a chief. The fine for such a crime was 100 pounds (sterling) or a year’s imprisonment.

If the accused was not indigenous to this country, the Native Affairs Act called for that person’s immediate deportation.

The author of this article was arrested in early 1964 for criticising the cowardly behaviour of the African chiefs, and was fined one hundred pounds (sterling).

The Land Apportionment Act divided this country into two parts for occupational purposes, one for the white settlers and the other for the black majority.

The white minority settler’s portion was on the healthy, fertile, middle and high velds, and the African people’s part was predominantly on the low veld, a generally infertile, sandy region infested with malarial mosquitoes and the dreaded tsetse fly which carries the terrible sleeping sickness.

Black people were forcefully uprooted from their traditional area of domicile and dumped in the lowveld, locating in the middle of nowhere. The Land Apportionment Act was the Southern Rhodesia version of the Glen Grey Act of the Cape Colony, created by Cecil John Rhodes when he was that colony’s PM as well as Native Affairs Minister in the early 1880s.

The Land Apportionment Act divided this country virtually into two equal parts, one for the whites who numbered about 200 000, and the blacks who were more than three million.

The Industrial Conciliation Act of 1934, another copy of the Cape Colony law by the same name, authorised white workers to form trade unions but not to allow black people to become members.

It also reserved certain types of jobs for the white community, barring black people from jobs such as train driving, fire fighting, even building and carpentry even if the black people were actually trained. The Industrial Conciliation Act was amended in the late 1950s because of black nationalist pressure brought about by Joshua Nkomo’s leadership and the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.

At the height of the Southern Rhodesia white minority settler regime, no black person was allowed to be called an artisan, however, qualified he might have been. That was based on a clause of the Industrial Conciliation Act.

The Land Husbandry Act was enacted in 1950 and allowed each tax paying black person not more than eight acres (about three-and-half hectares) of land for tilling purposes.

Incidentally, only male adult Africans paid what was called poll tax — which was one pound (sterling) per head. Every land user was required by the Land Husbandry Act to make contours and ridges in his fields to control rain water.

Meanwhile, the number of cattle each tax payer could lawfully own was eight. That resulted in most black people selling their livestock for very little money.

It is important to remember that the culled cattle were sold to white farmers on whose land thousands roamed. The Land Husbandry Act did not really apply to white farmers, especially as far as livestock was concerned.

The black people in urban areas had to live in only what were officially called “locations”, the most well-known of which were Old Location (Makokoba) in Bulawayo, Fingo Location at Mbembesi, and Harare Location in the then Salisbury.

Black people were paid much less than white workers even if the black worker was much more skilled than the white one. That and other socially discriminatory laws, by-laws and practices comprised what was referred to as “colour-bar”, later called “racial discrimination”.

That practice applied to places of residence, schools, mode of travel (trains, buses) hospitals, churches, restaurants, post offices, sports, marriages and prisons.

These are the oppressive measures that led to a great deal of dissatisfaction among the black people. To change that very unhappy situation, Africans demanded universal adult suffrage (one person, one vote). The white settler regime refused, and the only way to free ourselves was to take up arms.

• Saul Gwakuba Ndlovu is a retired, Bulawayo-based journalist. He can be contacted on cell 0734328136 or through email [email protected]

‘Women now proudly empowered’

Martin Kadzere  Senior Business Reporter
THE importance of gender equality and empowerment of women was not given full recognition before independence, but through sustained lobbying from empowerment advocates, women are now active participants in the mainstream economy.

Despite women being critical to economies of developing countries, they did not proportionally benefit from business opportunities as pre-independence policies inhibited them from starting their own enterprises. Even in early years of independence, some barriers, including stringent borrowing conditions, remained in place.

“As women, we were not allowed to open bank accounts without signatures of our fathers or husbands,” businesswoman Dr Jane Mutasa said in an interview this week. Dr Mutasa is also the chairperson of the Indigenous Business Women’s Organisation.

“So it was difficult to obtain credit to venture into business. Even to borrow money to finance the purchase of a house was not easy. Women were viewed as third class citizens. There was no equality and gender issues were not considered seriously.”

Dr Mutasa, with business interests in telecommunications, agriculture and textiles said while conditions improved after independence, the local businesses environment remained a challenge because big foreign owned companies formed cartels to make it difficult for indigenous companies to penetrate markets. For instance, they were classified as Class B buyers when it comes to raw materials such as fabric.

It was a deliberate move to make their final products uncompetitive because they would be expensive. “We could not compete because of the price differences,” said Dr Mutasa.

Dr Mutasa also recalls how women were marginalised when it comes to training programmes.
“This was not only the women’s problem but black people. However even when little opportunities cropped up, the first preference was given to men,” said Dr Mutasa. But the Government’s education for all policy helped to empower the girl child.

Dr Mutasa said the Government should be applauded for addressing gender related discriminations by recognising the need for empowering women through creation of enabling environment to include them in the mainstream economic activities.

“We started forming groups, and this time it was not only women but also men. This was after the realisation that speaking as individuals would not make any difference.

“We worked with people like Mrs Florence Mashaire, Mr John Mapondera, Mr Chemist Siziba, the likes of Mr Ben Mucheche, Mr Rogder Boka and Mr Enoch Kamushinda.

“That is when organisations such as IBWO came into existence and the reason for forming IBWO was to ensure issues pertaining women were heard.

“This helped to eradicate policies that were hindering blacks to venture into business. This really worked because Government listened and appreciated our concerns. What was most important was to level the playing field so that we could compete on level playing field.

“On the women’s side, Government responded by creating the Women’s Affairs Ministry and our concerns were now deliberated at higher levels such as Cabinet meetings.

“This opened floodgates of opportunities for women. If you remember in the mid 90’s we had women selling goods beyond the borders.
“The borrowing conditions were relaxed. The discriminations were completely eliminated and as a woman, we are so grateful.

“Women now own land and properties in their names and most of them are now self dependent. We have women running successful businesses some now competing with big companies. We also have women running big companies.”

Dr Mutasa said while the momentum was encouraging when the new policies came into effect, this slowed at the turn of millennium due to illegal sanctions.

Going forward, Dr Mutasa said it was time for the Government to start developing models that would encourage the creation of new export oriented companies.

She said by adequately supporting women, this would help them to become self-sufficient and could help in addressing the few inequality issues that still remain in society.

“The reality is big companies are no longer creating jobs and the future of the country is on small businesses. Government should now put in place policies to establish the establishment of new companies by indigenous Zimbabwe, which are export oriented and this will go a long way in achieving of economic sovereignty

#1980: Zim launches own social media network

Globally social media has presented opportunities for business and social interaction that has been embraced not only by the young generation but has also permeated all sectors of the economy.

With Zimbabwe emerging as one of the fastest growing consumer groups of technology in Africa, Wangu has stepped to the plate to meet this demand.

The local platform emerged towards the end of last year on a trial basis as a group of young entrepreneurs pooled resources and started inviting people to share experiences on the network.

Wanguzim.com is a social network targeted towards Zimbabweans locally and abroad and makes connecting with friends and discovering new information easier, more fun and more culturally relevant.

A statement issued by Wangu said the network allows members to share photos, videos, music and engage one another in discussion forums.

Just like Facebook and most popular social networks, Wangu members can interact with one another but on a purely Zimbabwean platform.

“Wangu ensures Zimbabwean brands reach Zimbabwean audiences in a growing social environment. Not only does Wangu target Zimbabweans worldwide, but it also creates custom branded experiences for businesses in Zimbabwe, authentically connecting their brands with their consumers.

“Brand pages and traditional media opportunities are available and allow businesses to have a dynamic and responsive online presence,” Wangu said

The statement said the social network connects people with locally relevant information through their friends and other Wangu users who share their interests.

Each member can add his or her profile; upload images, post comments and tips about any subject matter.

For music enthusiasts, Wangu will also promote the Zimbabwe music industry by allowing members and artistes to upload, promote and sell their music online hence reducing piracy.

“This social network will also provide a long time anticipated online music store platform that allows artistes to sell their music online.

Members are allowed to sell or buy music with online payment on Wangu.

In addition, artistes can upload music in order to share or sell their music.”

The presence of Wangu on other social networks such as Facebook ensures that the Zimbabwean flavour remains on the platform that is designed for Zimbabwe by Zimbabweans.

The concept in not unique to Zimbabwe as other countries have also developed the same with France having Skyrock, India — Orkut, Spain — Tuent, United Kingdom’s Bebo and China has QQ.

It is anticipated that in line with Zim-Asset Wangu will make a great impact on the economy and create jobs.

Share on Facebook

Post on X

Follow us

Save