Dube’s military exploits

Cde Dube, who was known as Mafutha Ncube speaks about his military exploits and how the freedom fighters under his command fought off the Rhodesian forces in March 1978 when they cordoned off the Dongamuzi and Mzola areas in Lupane for about a month in a bid to flush out the guerillas. After suffering heavy losses the Rhodesians burnt 30 homesteads in frustration

In the run-up to the Heroes Day this week and immediately after Sunday News will carry articles on freedom fighters who participated in the armed struggle. The articles will focus on those who were deployed to the front and operated as field commanders.

In this week’s article Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) speaks to Cde Saul Sydney Dube, who was the regional commander of Zipra forces in the Northern Front 1 and his area of command covered Lupane and some parts of Nkayi.

MS: Can you please give us your brief history?
Cde Dube: I was born at Antelope Hospital in Kezi near what is now called Maphisa Growth Point on 20 March 1948. I attended Seula, Mbembeswana and Tshelanyemba primary schools, all in Kezi. After completing my primary education I went to Mpopoma High School where I did my secondary education where I went up to Form Two. After that I moved to South Africa to look for employment and that was in 1968. I worked in a hotel there.

MS: How was the situation in South Africa at that time?
Cde Dube: It was the same as in Rhodesia, whites treated blacks like dogs and in 1974 I left to join the armed struggle. In fact I became politically conscious when I was at school back home in the mid-60s when many nationalists were arrested and thrown into detention camps. In South Africa the urge to fight white rule grew and I left for Botswana en-route to Zambia to join the armed struggle. We were four of us, myself, Amos Dube, Smart Dube and Milos Dube.

We jumped the border into Botswana and our first port of call was Gaborone, but we were later taken to Francistown where we were kept at a Zapu house and that is where we met other cadres who were on their way to join the armed struggle. We stayed there until 1975.

MS: Who were some of the cadres you met in Francistown?
Cde Dube: There were many, some of them were women and in the women group were people like Cdes Toriso Phiri later to be called Cde Bvundzayi, Angela and Belinda. At one point Dumiso Dabengwa came to address us. I was tasked to be in charge of the whole group and I feel that was an honour bestowed upon me at the early stages of my life as a freedom fighter.

MS: Then tell us about the journey to Zambia and what happened when you got there?
Cde Dube: We were finally flown to Zambia and on arrival we were taken to Nampundwe Transit Camp where we underwent physical training. We found a number of recruits there and later we moved to Mwembeshi Camp where we started military training and there were more than 800 recruits. We were the first group to train at Mwembeshi, but we were later sent to Tanzania to join our colleagues in Zanla at Mgagao. That was during the period of Zipa. However, our programme in Mgagao did not last long as there was a conflict between us and our Zanla colleagues. That was an unfortunate incident as lives were lost and we had to go our separate ways.

MS: Then take us through what happened after the unfortunate Mgagao incident?
Cde Dube: Cde Akim Ndlovu came and addressed us at Iringa Military Academy and he told us that we were being taken to Morogoro, also in Tanzania which was a Zipra training camp where some comrades had gone through before. It was now in 1976 and that is where we completed our training.

MS: Who were your instructors and comrades that you trained with?
Cde Dube: Some of the instructors had trained us at Mwembeshi in Zambia. They included the current army commander, Lt-General Philip Valerio Sibanda and Retired Colonel Eddie Sigoge. Among the recruits were former Gwanda South Member of Parliament Cde Orders Mlilo, Pharoah Moyo, Vanda Ncube, Andrew Ndlovu, Clever John Dube and Zenzo Maphekapheka Ntuliki. We completed our training in December 1976 and we returned to Zambia in January 1977 just after the assassination of JZ Moyo.

MS: So when you arrived in Zambia where were you taken and what happened?
Cde Dube: We were taken to Détente Camp, which was near the Zambezi River ready for deployment. However, some of the comrades were sent to other countries for further training. Later on some of us were deployed to the front where we made incursions into the then Rhodesia to launch surprise attacks and cross back into Zambia. At that time the chief of operations was the late Major-General Jevan Maseko. He had taken over from Cde John Dube, who had died. We continued with those operations, but after a realisation that they were dangerous because of the heavy presence of the Rhodesians along the Zambezi River, which on its own was a big obstacle, it was decided that we move permanently into the country and start operations in Binga and Lupane and that happened in May 1977.

MS: So you finally crossed into the country and how was the reception from the villagers?
Cde Dube: There were 12 of us and it was like starting all over again because operations had been stopped for a while. So in the first three months we did not do any fighting as we carried out political orientation programmes by explaining the importance of the armed struggle to the people. We wanted the people to have a buy-in to the struggle so that they would be able to support us. After we were satisfied that they were now on our side we started the fighting. I was the political commissar in that group.

MS: So when was your first attack?
Cde Dube: We had stayed for three months undetected by the enemy and our first attack was at Jibhila area in Lupane where we laid an ambush for the enemy, which was moving in three trucks. We took them by surprise. We hit the scout truck with a bazooka, forcing the one following behind to collide with the one in front. The third veered off the road and hit trees and threw its occupants out. It was a very successful operation as a number of enemy soldiers died. After that attack the enemy realised that the guerillas were now in the area and fighting had restarted. The number of our fighters was also growing as more were being deployed while others were passing through to other operational zones.

So we continued with these sporadic attacks, but the situation changed dramatically in March 1978.

MS: How did the situation change, take us through that interesting period?
Cde Dube: After realising that we were stepping up our operations and we were winning the battles, the Rhodesian forces launched a serious operation, which I believe was meant to exterminate us and also close the corridor, which was being used by our forces who were coming from Zambia. So in that March the enemy moved into Mzola and Dongamuzi areas in more than 50 Bedford trucks and about 10 helicopters. They set up camp in those areas and they had brought supplies. To us it became clear that they had come for real war. That was a special unit, which comprised white soldiers only.

MS: Then what happened Cde Dube, did you attack first?
Cde Dube: The first contact with this group was at Mzola Four and I was not part of the comrades in that battle. The Rhodesians found 30 guerillas organising food near the homestead of Mahanyaza Msipa and it was late afternoon. There was serious fighting there, but we did not suffer any casualties and the enemy was hit hard.

The following day there was another contact where we lost one comrade while another, Cde Khanye was seriously injured. A bullet ripped through Cde Khanye’s head and he was lucky in that the brains were not affected. He was found after six days still alive by herdboys and was treated and he continued with the fighting later on.

MS: It looks like the situation was getting tense and how did you survive the onslaught?
Cde Dube: Yes the situation was getting tense everyday, in fact for the whole of March we would have two or three contacts with the enemy and the guerillas started calling that area Lebanon. The enemy had air support, but that did not deter us. In the first four days of fighting we had 17 comrades injured. We had to set up a makeshift clinic to treat these guys. At one point the Rhodesians located it and carried a raid, but we defended it heavily, forcing them to withdraw.

MS: So you continued with the fighting and what was the reaction of the villagers?
Cde Dube: The villagers were very supportive and they continued giving us food under those dangerous circumstances. It was during this period that I was almost captured by the enemy. It was early in the morning and we were waiting to be served with food, we had gone for two days without eating properly. There were 20 of us and my boys were outside this Ncube homestead and I had gone inside to wash my face. While I was washing my face one of my boys came running and said “commandira kulamakhiwa”. Within seconds the enemy started firing and I jumped inside the hut to get my weapon and the comrade who had come to warn me followed. The enemy fired and it was difficult to move out of the hut. Our comrades could not shoot back because they did not want to hit us in the crossfire, so they remained in their positions.

However, the Rhodesian soldier who was carrying a machine gun made a mistake and moved into the homestead and started firing directly inside the hut through the door. We could see him and I was armed with an RPK. I fired back and I got him, his colleagues realising that he was dead stopped firing and we escaped.

MS: That was close.
Cde Dube: It was really close and there were so many such dangerous situations during that tense period, but the turning point was the battle of Matshokotsha where we ambushed the enemy and killed more than 20 soldiers who were travelling in a truck. One of the villagers, a Msipa was so excited by the incident that he picked limbs of the Rhodesian soldiers and went around showing other villagers. However, the enemy came for him and killed him. However, after that attack the enemy realised that it could not win and so moved out, but that was after a month. In frustration they burnt more than 20 homesteads.

MS: Did the enemy change tactics?
Cde Dube: Yes it did. They came and took all males from the age of 12 upwards to undergo military training. But when they returned we captured them all. By that time there were more than 400 guerillas in my region and I must say one of my outstanding commanders in my region was Andrew Ndlovu. That boy is brave, he is one of the unsung heroes of our struggle.

MS: After the ceasefire what happened?
Cde Dube: By the ceasefire period our operational area was a liberated zone. We even had type writers, we were doing as we pleased.

MS: Which assembly point did you move to?
Cde Dube: We moved to St Paul’s Mission and when the integration period came I opted out because I was angered by what happened when we were moving to the assembly points. I lost seven boys who were under my command when the bus that was taking them to the AP was bombed by a Rhodesian military aircraft at Cross Jotsholo. I made a vow that I would not work with the Rhodesians after that incident. What angered me most was that the issue was just swept under the carpet when it was a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement. I later learnt that the Rhodesian command based in Hwange thought I was inside the bus. Those Rhodesians in Hwange had once written me a letter in 1979 warning me that since they had failed to kill me on the battle front they would use other means of eliminating me.

MS: It looks like you had given them a torrid time?
Cde Dube: We had hammered them and I have no apologies for that, we wanted our country back. In one of the incidents I had forgotten to tell you is that during that March 1978 we found the Rhodesian soldiers near a certain homestead and when we fired at them they ran into the homestead and hid, some under granaries. To us it was a sign of showing defeat and we left them. They spent the night at that homestead and the villagers were surprised with the way they were nice to them on that day!

MS: So what are you doing now Cde Dube?
Cde Dube: I am a simple peasant farmer based at my rural home in Kezi. I live a simple village life. I am not active politically. However, during the run-off of the 2008 Presidential elections, I came out of my political shell and took charge of the campaign in my home area to support President Mugabe because I felt the country was going back to the Rhodesians. I had to defend the revolution.

MS: Any message to the youngsters and authorities?
Cde Dube: My message to the young people is that war is not a nice thing, it means death. To the authorities I would like to urge the Government to bring its programmes closer to the people. In my village, that is Seula, the last village to the border with Botswana it looks like we are a forgotten lot. There are no radio and television signals, so people are listening to propaganda stations like Studio 7 and that is not good for a country under siege from the West. Also you local journalists you are not covering us at all.