Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
THE family of liberation war hero, Cde Thuso Maphala who lies at the Gwanda Provincial Heroes Acre have made it a norm to travel from different parts of the country to visit their father’s gravesite at least each quarter, in commemoration of his life.
This year, his daughter, Mrs Kiitumetsi Zawanda, travelled all the way from Harare to join the rest of the community of Matabeleland South for the first time in celebrating the lives of the gallant sons and daughters of the country, buried at the provincial shrine.
Cde Maphala, whose liberation name was “Jubilee Dlodlo,” died in September 2020 at the age of 60, after a short illness.
Mrs Zawanda said the family celebrates the life of her late father daily as he set a good example, which will be cascaded to generations to come. She said it is also an honour to have the entire nation celebrate her father on this historic day.
“We make it a point that we come together as a family regularly and visit his grave and be with him. To me, Heroes Day is the icing on top. We join the rest of the nation to celebrate my father’s life. We are grateful that His Excellency, President Mnangagwa honoured my father with a liberation war hero status after taking into account his contribution in the liberation struggle. We delight in joining hands with Government, the ruling party, in honouring its faithful cadre who is my father.
“One of the greatest things, which my father did during his lifetime was to set a good trend for us as his children and we will pass this on to our children and generations to come. We learnt valuable lessons on serving the country, being a development champion, being selfless and working hard,” she said.
Cde Maphala was born on November 1, 1959 at Thekwane Hospital in Bulilima.
He joined the liberation struggle in 1977 at the age of 18. After independence, he joined the Zimbabwe National Army, rose through the ranks and retired in 1991 having attained the rank of captain.
Mrs Zawanda said her father used to describe his involvement in the liberation struggle as a pivotal time in his life where he got to understand more about his country and himself.
She said after independence, her father embarked on an academic journey, which he pursued until his last days.
“During his time in the army, he got the opportunity to go back to school and he majored in social work. He worked under the Social Work Department of the Military where he took care of the forces and their families. He played a pivotal role in setting up Emganwini’s Emasotsheni area in Bulawayo.
“After he left the army, he joined the then Gwanda Town Council as the Director of Housing and Community Services. This gave him the opportunity to continue his passion of serving people. He was one of the people who were instrumental in turning Gwanda into a municipality as it was a town council before that. He played a part in developing several housing projects in Gwanda. We are very proud of the work he did,” she said.
Mrs Zawanda said her father never forgot his comrades as he always advocated for the welfare of war veterans. She said his involvement in community development, crisis management, welfare of marginalised and underprivileged groups remains a valuable lesson for them.
She said her father also ensured that he imparted the skills he had acquired to others through vocational training of professionals in the civil service and public sector during his time at the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Administration (Zipam).
He also worked under the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare and later the Civil Service College in Ethiopia, where he worked as a lecturer.
In January 2018, Cde Maphala joined the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare as a National Director of Social Welfare, a position he held until his retirement in October 2019.
His wife, Mrs Bernardette Maphala, said the life of her late husband did not only serve as a life lesson for his family but even to those outside. She said since she met him in 1982, she learnt a lot from him, especially on how a person has to work hard to develop themselves and their community.
“My husband was development oriented and he loved education. At the time he fell ill, he was supposed to start his doctorate. He was adamant on enhancing his education up to the time of his death. He also taught me that if you want to start something, you have to go for it and in order to reach a certain target no matter how complicated it might seem, you have to take the first step,” she said.
Mrs Maphala said the hard work and dedication, which was displayed by liberation heroes as they embarked on their journey at a young age should serve as a life lesson to youngsters of today. She said it is disheartening that a lot of youths today were now involved in drug and substance abuse instead of enhancing the country’s development agenda.
Mrs Maphala said if the youths of today could have the same zeal, which their elders had during their youth then the country could record significant development.
Cde Maphala obtained a Masters Degree in Public and Development Management from the University of Witwatersrand and a Masters in Tourism and Hospitality from the University of Zimbabwe, Diploma in Social Work and a Bachelor of Social Work Degree from the University of Zimbabwe. He was also awarded a Diploma in Urban Development and Project Planning, among other achievements. — @DubeMatutu
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