Online Reporter
CDE DAVIS MUSHANGWE, whose Chimurenga name was Cde Lobo, last week chronicled how he received comprehensive military training at the Mgagao Camp in Tanzania. He also recounted the fierce battle at Mudzingadzi, where liberation fighters handed Rhodesian Security Forces a crushing defeat. This week, he tells Zimpapers Politics Hub’s KUDA BWITITI of the moment he was selected to take part in the daring bombing of the Salisbury BP Shell fuel tanks — a mission that would send flames and thunder rolling across the capital and into the annals of Zimbabwe’s fight.
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Q: Cde Lobo, please tell us how you were selected to be among those who bombed the Salisbury fuel tanks.
A: So, sometime in 1978, General Rex Nhongo (Solomon Mujuru) came to Tete. He came with the message that some members of the High Command were going to conduct interviews for a special operation. Some of the leaders who conducted the interviews included Cdes Perrance Shiri, Mark Dube and others. The interviews were held at Uriri Camp in Mozambique. I was selected among the nine comrades who were to take part in that special operation.
Q: Give us the names of the other comrades that you were selected with.
A: The names of the other comrades are Cde Member Kuvhiringidza, Cde Poison, Cde Nhamo, Cde States America Mudzvanyiriri, Cde Bombs Damage, Cde Brian Tichatonga and Cde No Rest Muhondo.
Q: Why do you believe you were selected?
A: I believe I was chosen because I was committed and skilled in combat. Another advantage I had was that I came from Salisbury, where I had lived before joining the war. Since the special operation was going to be carried out right there in Salisbury, they needed someone who knew the city inside and out.
Q: What happened after the selection?
A: After that selection, we were separated from the rest of the group and told to prepare. We underwent special training, though we were never told exactly what we would be doing. The mission remained a top secret. Trainers like Cde Chaminuka took us under their wings. Then one day, Cde Perrance Shiri and Cde Josiah Tungamirayi informed us that we had to go to Salisbury. Cde Tungamirayi told us that because this was going to be a special operation, he wanted to make a treat for us.
He killed a goat and prepared it. We were surprised that a commander would humble himself to such an extent. He insisted he was doing it for us precisely because the operation was so extraordinary. To further underscore its importance, he handed us a letter signed by General Tongogara, instructing that we be given the very best ammunition available. So, as we left Mozambique, Cde Perrance Shiri drove us all the way to the border.
The fact that a high-ranking commander personally drove us there shows just how seriously the mission was taken. Once he dropped us off, we made our own way to Salisbury.
Q: How long was the journey from Mozambique?
A: The journey lasted five months. It took so long because, along the way, we were constantly planning. During the journey, I also fell sick for several days. The unfortunate part was that I was the medic for this mission, so there was no one else to treat me.
I was often called the Medicine Man, so I had to tend to myself for a while. Not wanting to disrupt the mission, I told the rest of my crew to continue the journey and leave me behind. Luckily, I came across a traditional healer named Sekuru Duri, who helped treat me. After a few days, I managed to recover and catch up with the rest of the group. We regrouped in the Domboshava area, because that was where we had to set up our base.
Q: Why set up base in Domboshava?
A: We needed a location within striking distance of Salisbury but sufficiently removed from where Rhodesian spies operated. That made this area the ideal choice for launching our reconnaissance.
Q: The bombing of the Salisbury fuel tanks was a momentous occasion during the liberation struggle. Tell us how you executed it.
A: Each of us carried our own AK-47 assault rifle, a CZ pistol tucked at the hip and several grenades slung across our chests. I personally carried an 82mm mortar and a rocket launcher.
In the hills of Domboshava, we struck up a friendship with a local businessman named Mverechena.
He became essential to our mission, quietly bankrolling our operations from the shadows.
For reconnaissance, we dressed in crisp, smart clothes — like any ordinary men about town — and studied our targets: the electricity power station and the BP Shell fuel tanks in Southerton. Our unit moved in teams of four.
Whenever we left Domboshava, we travelled with a tall, lanky tomato farmer we called Long Chase.
He would drop us off in Mbare, right where he sold his tomatoes, and from there we began our surveillance.
Over several weeks, we slowly investigated the targets. For a stretch of time, an older woman named Mbuya Hwiza sheltered us in her home. Eventually, we split into two groups — one heading straight for Mbare, the other towards Highfield. We concealed our weapons in Highfield.
The Mbare group went with Long Chase. The Highfield group, which I was in, was accompanied by a removal company truck driver we nicknamed Murewa. But soon the Highfield team moved back to Mbare, taking a house right next to Mbuya Hwiza’s.
After four days in Mbare, Sekuru Hwiza — a taxi driver — warned us that locals were becoming suspicious.
We needed to speed things up. Our original attack date had been December 25, but we moved it forward to December 11.
We decided to bring along Mbuya Hwiza’s son, Tasi, and a neighbour named Norman from the adjacent house — just in case their parents might betray us.
Sekuru Hwiza offered his Rixi taxi, which carried five of us, while the other group hired a second taxi driven by Harry Muzuva.
Both taxis drove us to a mountain in Warren Park, where we laid out our final attack plans. We reached Southerton around 8pm but held off because people were still lingering on the streets.
At roughly 9pm, we lined up about 400 metres from our target — across from Bitumen, along Lyton Road.
Then we opened fire, relentless and heavy, until the fuel tanks erupted.
The explosion thundered across the city. It was deafening and massive.
Towering flames and thick smoke rose into the night, visible even to people back in Domboshava, who would later tell us what they had seen.
The entire mission was over in 10 minutes. We sped off towards Snake Park, where the taxis dropped us at a farm near Snake World.
For two days, we camped in a mountain, surviving on wild fruit.
Then we ambushed the London Bakery’s delivery truck as it arrived at the farm, commandeered it and drove straight into town without a single problem and proceeded to our hiding place in Domboshava.
Our mission had been a success.
Next week, Cde Mushangwe ends his account by speaking about the final days of the liberation struggle.
Tinaye Agere