adminFreedom Mutanda
This week we celebrate exploits of Gideon Mhlanga – the man who is famed for becoming the second African to obtain a varsity degree. It became his intrinsic desire to see as fellow Africans follow his academic footsteps into tertiary education despite the apartheid policy being biased against blacks. Who is Gideon Mhlanga? He was born to Masotcha Maforo Mhlanga, a member of the ‘Mbonyabuya’ regiment of King Ngungunyana, the leader of the Gaza State founded by Sosahangane, King Zwide’s army commander in 1908.
He went to school late having spent some years as a herdsman. He felt out of place because youngsters to him could read and write. He enrolled at Emerald and Beacon Hill Schools tracing his footsteps to Mt Selinda High for secondary education. Fees were hard to come by, and he raised part of it by doing menial chores for his white principal. His inner drive was to be a professional teacher.
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There is time when destiny pushes one somewhere we may have never envisaged. Mhlanga and his friends complained about the food situation at Mt Selinda and were expelled by the authorities. He was in Standard 5.
At 20, he got his Standard 6 certificate at Lovedale Institute. He went on to do his Junior Certificate in one year. He couldn’t proceed with Matriculation due to financial constraints. Mhlanga acquired a Primary Teacher Higher Certificate at Lovedale and went on to teach at Heald Town High School.
At the age of 27, he matriculated in one year. At 38, he obtained his BA from Fort Hare University. He became the second African in colonial Zimbabwe to attain that feat. Mhlanga was a pioneer teacher at Goromonzi High. He taught Mathematics. Among his students were the Herbert Murerwa and Sarah Kachingwe.
He was there for 12 years and left for Mhizha Primary School en route to Mt Selinda, becoming its first black principal. He retired in 1968. Activism in agitating for teacher welfare
In 1942, Mhlanga was voted as the first president of the teacher pressure group known as Rhodesia African Teachers Association ( RATA). Gideon used the platform to attack anomalies in the treatment of teachers then. He fought and succeeded in making the state pay teachers. He made sure that teachers got paid while on vacation and sick leave.
Prior to that, only white teachers were entitled to the benefits on top of their hefty salaries. He also represented teachers on the Advisory Board on African Education where he championed pension and gratuities for black teachers. RATA is the forerunner of present day teachers’ unions.
Retiring and building a secondary school for the disadvantaged
When Mhlanga retired, the 1966 Education Act passed after UDI was taking effect. The Act emphasised the policy of separate development (apartheid) in education. A separate Ministry of Native Education had been established to take care of African education while the Ministry of Education catered for the white children education.
Gideon Mhlanga bit the bullet and established a school for those who may have failed to access education due to their not-so-good passes at Grade 7. Mr Gondai Gata, a pioneer student at Gazaland Secondary School takes up the story.
“Mhlanga realised that practical subjects suited the less gifted were the right ones for those who didn’t come with flying colours at the end of Grade 7. Although I have a Master’s degree in International Marketing from Middlesex University, I owe it to that man who built Gazaland Secondary School, literally from scratch. If I had not gone to school that year, I may probably have helped my father in his business and never reach the lofty heights of the academic field,” argued Mr Gata.
He christened the new F2 School, Gazaland, as a stark reminder of the old Gaza State in which his father was a fighter in one of Ngungunyana’s regiments.
“Donations to build the school came from the business community. Chinguno, Gata, Kaiboni and Musuthani Sithole contributed towards the construction of the school. Dr Liberty Mhlanga acted as the publicity point man as he looked for funds from overseas churches especially the American Board Mission Churches. More importantly, volunteers from Mt Selinda Institute came to help in the building of the school,” recalled Mr Gata.
Mr Mhlanga was the founding principal till his death. With time, Gazaland Secondary School changed its name to Gideon Mhlanga High School. Today, the school, headed by Can-see Mapuranga, is one of the bastions of academic brilliance in Chipinge.
“We continue to uphold the founding principles of this institution. Gideon Mhlanga’s vision of empowering the disadvantaged children is the cornerstone of this school. Thus, our enrolment of new students is non-discriminatory on grounds of academic inability.’’ Mr Mapuranga enthused.
With the UCCZ saying its varsity is about to open its doors, surely Mhlanga, who was born and bred by the church should be smiling in his grave. The university is a dream coming true. Lessons to be learnt by UCCZ
Recently, The Manica Post reported that plans were at an advanced stage to establish Gazaland University. While doubting Thomases say the dream will never meterialise, it is instructive to take some positives from what Gideon Mhlanga did.
He started his school project on a small scale and developed it bit by bit. UCCZ authorities can do the same. Perhaps, dialoguing with the authorities fruitfully may see the university starting lectures. NUST did the same and going there today, one sees that it is work in progress.
Gideon Mhlanga involved traditional leadership, church authorities and the government. It could be a church’s baby, but the bottom line is, it is a district, provincial and national project. That calls for church lobbyists to engage the District Administrator, Provincial Administrator, Provincial Minister and the Ministry of Higher Education.
The winner ultimately is the nation not the host district of Chipinge. Gideon Mhlanga did not only enrol local students. The pioneer students came from all over the country.
ZAOGA has successfully established a university owing to its determination to serve its community. The United Methodist has done that with Africa University. The Anglican is about to do the same and what can stop UCCZ? Several other churches have succeeded and what the UCCZ only needs to do is to take a cue from them. Where there is will there is always be a way.
All UCCZ members need to do is to give it their best. United we stand and divided we fall. Gazaland University must become a reality. Gideon Mhlanga did it. And collectively, the UCCZ can do it.
Online Reporter