Online Reporter
As the nation builds up to the 46th Independence celebrations set for Maphisa Growth Point in Matobo district in Matabeleland South this Saturday, our Senior Reporter, Thupeyo Muleya (TM) sat down with the Matabeleland South Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Albert Nguluvhe (AN), to get an insight into the province’s state of preparedness to host the national celebrations and related issues.
TM: Matabeleland South is hosting the main Independence Day celebrations this year — what key milestones have been achieved so far in preparations, and are you fully ready to host the nation?
AN: Thank you very much. Firstly, I want to thank President Mnangagwa for his mantra of not leaving any place or anyone behind in national development matters. To us, as Matabeleland South we never expected that as a province, we would be given an opportunity to host national Independence Day celebrations. True to his mantra, we were told, we are hosting the celebrations this year. So, as a province, we then sat down as the leadership to decide on the venue and we settled for Matobo district, the home of the late Father Zimbabwe, a nationalist and then Vice President Joshua Nkomo.
Every one of the seven districts was interested and Matobo came up as ideal after evaluations, as we all agreed to have it there in recognition of Father Zimbabwe. In fact, we were ready to host the event.
However, in hosting the national events, a lot has to be done and we were tasked to carry out legacy projects in the build-up to independence. So our approach was it’s not only Matobo that will host the national celebration, but it’s the province as a whole, and hence we decided to spread the legacy projects across the seven districts, which include Gwanda, Beitbridge, Insiza, Umzingwane, Mangwe, Bulilima and Matobo.
We then presented some of our challenges to the President, along with our provincial chairman, Cde Mangaliso Ndlovu and the President then felt it necessary to build 40 science laboratories to help the teaching of STEM subjects in local schools across the province.
To date, these are at the wall-plate stage, and they will be completed and equipped by the end of the year. Other projects include road construction – key among them the Bulawayo to Maphisa, Maphisa to Brunaburg and Gwanda to Maphisa, among others, which had been on the card for years, schools, internet connectivity, borehole drilling in each of the 12 constituencies in the province (solarised), civil registry offices construction in Filabusi which is now 98 percent complete, the 16 civil servants garden flats in Beitbridge whose phase 1 is complete and we left with electrification. We have managed to make the Gwanda to Maphisa road accessible, cutting the travelling distance for people from many districts in our province to Maphisa.
This project will be completed soon. We had Kezi hospital, which was outstanding and it is almost complete. We have renovated Maphisa Hospital and expanded an aerodrome to 1,5km at Kezi to carry small planes, we have also worked on a school of nursing at Maphisa, the Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Vocational Training Centre, which will be ready by September.
We are also monumentalising the site where Commander Mpini was killed with his troops and some children. We already built a clinic in the area. In Beitbridge, there is an Assembly Point known as Juliet (Zezani), which has also been monumentalised and the Independence Flame was lit by Vice President Chiwenga to mark the road show across the province to Maphisa.
In addition, we have built a 20 000-seater stadium at Maphisa with an improved drainage system, a new culture village, and the construction of Mahetshe Primary and Mahetshe Secondary Schools.
We have been reassured by Vice President Mohadi that the roads will be done by September. We have expanded the internet access after receiving 171 Starlink kits, which we have deployed across the province to the clinics, traditional leaders (around Matobo), the police, the army, the President’s Department, the schools and other key public institutions.
We also appreciate the work by the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, who have expanded the reception signal of the radio and television in Matobo. So I would say as a province, such projects were going to take years to come, because there are too many. So in a nutshell, as a province, we are fully ready to host the nation at Maphisa. My appeal is that everyone must come and experience the Rainbow Province where we will have excellent displays at the culture centre reflecting all the diverse cultures in the province.
TM: Security and logistics are critical for such a high-profile event — how is your office coordinating with national agencies to ensure a seamless and safe celebration?
AN: Remember, security is a sensitive issue. I have been in the security cluster before, we cannot talk about it. However, the sub-national JOC is on the ground, taking care of all security issues. Zimbabwe is a very peaceful country; we should not worry about that topic. The security cluster is taking care of that. Everyone will get to the venue without any hustle. People must come in their numbers.
TM: How are local communities in Matabeleland South being involved in the preparations, and what economic or social benefits are expected to flow to them?
AN: You will note that one of the key pillars of Devolution is to use local resources to address service delivery, develop our areas and so on.
So when we were told we were going to host the national celebrations as a province, we then rallied the local business, companies and so on to tag along. Most of the raw material, labour is from Matabeleland South. Our businesses and communities are the ones who are benefiting from offering different services for the construction of infrastructure projects.
There are a lot of people who have been engaged and are being paid. Let me also mention that they have contributed a lot to this event, they have taken it upon themselves as their responsibility through donations in terms of fuel, food, relish, groceries and supplies to our various teams on the ground.
I want to thank them for this wonderful gesture. In addition, the roads, clinics, schools, high-impact infrastructure projects and other social amenities come with huge and varied benefits for the people in Matabeleland South.
TM: What unique cultural elements or innovations can Zimbabweans expect from this year’s commemorations compared to previous editions?
AN: As mentioned above, Matabeleland South is a Rainbow province with diverse cultures and as such, every culture in this province is being allowed to showcase itself in many ways at the culture village. Building a cultural village, this is another way to show that we want every culture in our province to have an equal opportunity to give a good account of themselves to our visitors.
However, I am not very sure of the previous events, but here in Matabeleland South, we are proud of our diversity and co-existence. We have the Venda, Ndebele, Tjikalanga, Sotho and Shangani cultures among others, which we have all incorporated in our preparations.
TM: What message do you hope this year’s Independence Day celebrations, hosted in Matabeleland South, will send about national unity and the province’s place in Zimbabwe’s broader development agenda?
AN: Without mixing issues or confusing people, you will note that a lot of people in Matabeleland South always felt that they were being marginalised on certain national issues. So this message this time at the back of every head is that the President’s mantra of not leaving anyone or any place behind is real. We are all equal, we must all enjoy the national cake, and we must share the cake.
I believe that the people in this province now feel that they are part and parcel of Zimbabwe and they are being recognised for the key role they played in liberating this country.
You can relate to the feeling of the community members at the Independence Flame lighting ceremony presided over by Vice President Chiwenga at Zezani in Beitbridge, where there was excitement in the air. Of note was the presence of the late Vice President Dr Nkomo’s children at Zezani, who came all the way from Bulawayo to witness the lighting of the Independence Flame. It goes on to show that there is unity in Matabeleland South and that people appreciate what the Government is doing.
TM: Youth participation is often a key feature of Independence Day. How are young people in the province being actively involved in both preparations and the main event?
AN: We actually did not leave the youths behind, you might have seen that the provincial Zanu PF Secretary Cde Moses Langa has been walking with us at all major preparations and events.
All the youth who have been working or were engaged from the various projects we got through our party’s youth structures.
I am happy that the youths are actively involved at all levels and on Saturday, they arranged a marathon in commemoration of the 46th anniversary where I was also invited to Maphisa.
However, due to other work commitments I could not make it and they had to arrange another guest. So, we are involving the youth because the future of this country is in their hands. I am very happy that the youths are now participating fully on matters of national importance and even if we all go, this country will be in safe hands with the youths taking care of our legacy.
TM: Beyond the celebrations themselves, what long-term impact do you expect hosting Independence Day to have on the development trajectory and national profile of Matabeleland South Province?
AN: I hope you are aware that all these legacy projects won’t be destroyed after the national Independence celebrations at Maphisa in Matobo district. The stadium, science blocks, roads and other key infrastructure will still be there and that on its own will leave a legacy which always reminds the future generation that this country was being developed without looking at where development is taking place.
The whole country is being covered, the whole country is being recognised. So to me it will leave a profile of the people of Matabeleland South that they are now happy that they are being recognised.
As you have heard from the Zezani event where Vice President Chiwenga that if we talk of unity, it is a Zezani where ZIPRA and ZANLA forces (together with Umkhonto Wesizwe from South Africa) before the Unity Accord, it’s the area were ZIPA operated from. There were no fights. These people are the ones who started to show unity by forming the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). In other words, the ZNA came out from this Assembly Point. This on its own leaves a legacy and it’s something we cannot remove from our history. It will remain with us.
TM: As a ZIPRA comrade who worked with the later nationalist Dr Joshua Nkomo, what is your personal feeling now that the National Independence Day is being held next to his home area in Matobo District?
AN: I wish Father Zimbabwe could wake up today and realise that the people of Zimbabwe when they called him Father Zimbabwe they meant it.
As an honour, it is something which everyone feels proud about including his children. As someone who has worked closely with him, I am happy to say that whatever I am doing today, I am doing it because I had to learn from him how he looked at Zimbabwe.
To him Zimbabwe was one, there was no tribe. He believed that we were one people born in one big house built of stones, that is Zimbabwe.
I am happy that we have honoured him and the greatest honour we can give him is that we remain united, focused and we develop this country.
This was his wish that land must go back to the people and the people of Zimbabwe must work hard and remain united to build a prosperous country. You will remember his common line “Ufuna imali, lima” (You want money, farm the land).
Even the people in his village are very happy to witness and note that we have honoured him. Working together with another NGO, we are working on putting a piped water scheme for 100 homesteads in his area and at his homestead we are building a big house to be used as a museum.
TM: Obviously, you didn’t make preparations without consulting those who have hosted the celebrations before. What lessons did you learn and what can those who are yet to host the national celebrations learn from you as Mat South leadership?
AN: It is important to learn from those who have walked the road before. When we were told about us as a province hosting the national celebrations, we set down to map the way forward and we felt it was necessary to check with the immediate past province, that is Midlands.
So I engaged Minister Owen Ncube, who welcomed us with the key HODs and we got a thorough briefing. Some of the take always from the engagements was to team up our best manpower per cluster to get the best results and this has paid dividends. We also learnt from their mistakes and success. Our message to them was that we are not competing but want to improve for the success of our President.
In the Midlands they had a challenge of the stadium and hence we had to build a properly engineered stadium at Maphisa, they taught us a lot on what to do. They also advised us to mobilise our own resources to carry out the projects as a province while we wait for the central Government to release funds especially for roads which are capital intensive. In addition, we got more legacy projects from them and we appreciate their guidance.
For us to succeed we had to pool all the earth moving equipment to Maphisa and the manpower to make sure we deliver on our tasks. We appealed to the local businesses in the province who came to the party. My advice to the next host, which is Masvingo province, is that they need to start resource mobilisation early and request for resources from the central Government.
They are a bigger province and they can make things happen even better and they should also come to us so we share the strategies and lessons learnt. We were prepared to do even better, but the resources were limited. They need to involve everyone in Masvingo province in their preparations.
TM: What can you say were major challenges on the road to this year’s celebrations and how did you overcome them?
AN: Our major challenges were resources. Yes, we were told last year, but resources came late from the Central Government. This affected road construction which began full scale in March this year, However, funding is now there and we are putting our best foot forward to make this event a success. So in our case, we have to engage and appeal to the local businesspeople and community members who came on board.
I believe that as a leader you identify a challenge and come up with a solution. So we identified that the Government was taking too long to fund us and we had to come up with other ways of achieving what we have been asked to achieve.
We had to involve everyone from the province to understand our situation and task at hand and the people from the province heard us and they came and walked with us, I want to thank them for that.
TM: Anything you may want to add on your reflections about the road to National Independence Day celebrations this year?
AN: We must understand that when a district is said to be hosting, it is the province and not the one district hosting. We are doing it in a district, but as a province and hence every district, the entire province must be involved and benefit. We all need to put heads and hands together in making the celebrations a success.
