‘I met my queen out there during the war in Zambia’

TODAY, we conclude our interview with Brigadier-General (Rtd) Brave Matavire pseudonym Cde Ncengani Gumbo. In the past weeks, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire has spoken about leaving his job at Risco now Zisco to join the armed struggle in Zambia. He was later sent to Tanzania’s Morogoro Camp for guerilla warfare training. After Morogoro, he was sent to the then Soviet Union for further training before he was deployed to ZPRA training camps such as the famous Mwembeshi in Zambia as an instructor.

He then rose through the ranks to become Chief of Staff (CoS) at Mazowe Training Depot (MTD) also in Zambia. In the last conversation with our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS), Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire spoke about the challenges they faced during the integration process of the three armies, ZPRA, ZANLA and the Rhodesian Army.

He said at some point the guerillas from ZANLA and ZPRA teamed up and exchanged blows with the Rhodesian forces at the Zimbabwe Military Academy in Gweru. The former Rhodesian soldiers refused to allow Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire and nine other former freedom fighters to use the officers’ mess, saying they were not commissioned. Below, Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire concludes his narration. Read on…

MS: Last time you were talking about being deployed to Llewellyn Barracks, which is a training school for the army. Let’s resume the conversation from there.

Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: I stayed at Llewellyn for some time but briefly left the training school to enrol at the Zimbabwe Staff College in Harare for enhancement courses. I then worked with different units and formations holding both command and Staff appointments.

MS: Which were the units that you served under?

Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: I served under the 3:2 Infantry Battalion as a Company Commander, 4:3 Infantry Battalion as the Battalion Second-in-Command, Two Presidential Guards Battalion also as Second-in-Command. I then moved to Headquarters Presidential Guards where I was initially the Administrative Staff Officer and then Brigade Major. I was deployed in Somalia on a Peace Keeping Mission and from there I was posted to the Zimbabwe Staff College as the Staff Officer Grade One at the Tactical Trainer.

MS: How long did you stay there?
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: I was then posted back to the Zimbabwe School of Infantry this time as the Chief Instructor. From Mbalabala, I was then posted to Bulawayo District where I was to be the Deputy Commander. While at Imbizo Barracks that was once Llewellyn that is where Bulawayo District is located, I was assigned to head the Cowdray Park Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle housing project. This was quite a delicate task.

MS: Delicate in what sense?
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: The Bulawayo City Council would somehow try to frustrate us by playing politics. I would simply circumvent their barriers and carry on with my task. I completed the project in record time and I was quickly moved to the Midlands to spearhead a new programme, Maguta. I can confirm that I really worked extremely hard on this programme covering the whole length and breadth of the Midlands Province. Crop farming is anchored on time especially where there is no irrigation.

Fortunately, the 2005/2006 season had good rains and I scored a first where we put resources. We recorded a bumper harvest. From there, I was promoted and posted to Headquarters Two Brigade in Harare where I was appointed Deputy Commander. While I was in Harare, I was also assigned to be in charge of the Garikayi/Hlalani Kuhle programme there.

MS: How did you find the situation there in Harare?
Brig-Gen(Rtd) Matavire: Such programmes encounter some problems, especially in places like Harare where there is too much congestion of power. Then from Two Brigade, I was posted to One Brigade in Bulawayo but still as the Deputy Commander. The area of responsibility for One Brigade is so large that working there is not business as usual. You have to know what is happening in Pandamatenga in Matabeleland North near Victoria Falls and at the same time know what is happening in Tshikwalakwala near Beitbridge in Matabeleland South.

MS: If you don’t mind you can tell us about your family.
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: Oh, okay. I am married to a former freedom fighter, Sibongile Ncube whose pseudonym was Cde Nhlinipho Khuya. We met in Zambia during the war. In 2013 my wife was elected councillor for Ward 15 in Somabhula. She has some high work ethics and would spend a lot of time with the community. She would either be meeting the elderly, the youth or some women crafting some self-reliance wares. She would be away during much of the day and projects at my farm were stalling to the extent of collapse. I had to make a choice between carrying on working for the country or getting a rest and monitoring my own projects closely. I was convinced that without me the ZNA would still progress but without me all that I was trying to build for my retirement would collapse and eventually retire with nothing. I had to hand in my retirement papers only to part ways with the combat jacket in December 2014.

MS: How is it transitioning from the military to civilian life after so many years as a freedom fighter and then serving in the ZNA?
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: During the early days of your retirement you sometimes sort of go crazy. You can hurriedly wake up feeling like you are late for work only to realise that you are retired when you are already by the bathroom door.

MS: Tell us how you met Mrs Matavire whom you said it was still during the war in Zambia.
Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: I met this queen out there in Solwezi in Zambia where she was a radio operator at MTD2 Girls Camp. I had deployed a platoon of male soldiers at the Girls Camp for their security. Now Major-General Nicky Dube (Cde Bhuzwha), Zimbabwe’s former Ambassador to Mozambique was the platoon commander. One day I visited the Girls Camp to go and check on the state of readiness of the defence and defence platoon as there was some intelligence that the enemy could attack anytime. A girl came and gave the platoon commander who is now Maj-Gen Dube, a radio message. When she had left I told Gen Dube to tell her that I loved her and I drove back to MTD camp.

That is how it all started and we eventually got married in 1981. We were blessed with four boys who are now all grown up. We are now staying at the farm in Somabhula, having left our house in town.

MS: In conclusion, may we please go back a bit. How was it going home, that is, your rural home in Mberengwa under Chief Mataruse after coming from the war?

Brig-Gen (Rtd) Matavire: Our stay at the University of Zimbabwe coming from the bush was not as free as many would think. The situation was really too dangerous to roam about. It was extremely dangerous to try and go to your village. The Rhodesians were still in their operational bases countrywide and the guerrillas were still wandering around in the bush. It was only after about two months after our arrival that I managed to go and see my friends and relatives at home.

My mother would not allow me to go back to my duties fearing that this time around I was going to die despite assuring her that the war was over. I had to come back and join other comrades. Fortunately, I went home after we had been given our first allowances and I went there decently dressed and left them quite a sizeable amount of cash. When things got settled down and I was now gainfully employed, I then decided to get married.