adminNqobile Tshili, Chronicle Correspondent
FORMER freedom fighters in Bulawayo have recommended that the late war veteran Cde Sly Masuku be declared a national hero as he is one of the pioneers of the liberation struggle.
Cde Masuku (78) died on Sunday and was buried yesterday at Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo.
During the war of liberation he was once sentenced to death for “terrorism” but his sentence was later reduced to life imprisonment.
He spent 12 years in jail, only to be released at independence in 1980.
Former War Veterans’ Minister Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube said Cde Masuku deserves to be recognised for his contributions towards liberating the country.
“I know him very well because I was among those who deployed him together with some other freedom fighters. It’s good that such people get recognised. He is one of those deserving freedom fighters who are easily forgotten yet their contributions were immense. His family insisted that he must be buried today but we were still organising that he be accorded proper recognition,” said Rtd Col Dube.
The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans’ Association Bulawayo province yesterday requested that Cde Masuku be accorded the highest honour that a freedom fighter might get.
According to his biography compiled by Mafela Trust, an independent body which documents history about Zipra cadres, Cde Masuku was born in 1940 and did his education at Bulawayo’s Lobengula Primary School before progressing to Sobukhazi Secondary School.
After completing his secondary education, he relocated to Zambia where his parents had moved to due to job commitments.
In Zambia, Cde Masuku became politically conscious through the teachings of Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and US Martin Luther King Junior.
The late Vice President Dr Joshua Nkomo’s nationalist teachings later led to him to join the liberation struggle.
Mafela Trust said Cde Masuku was part of the joint South Africa’s African National Congress military wing Umkhonto weSizwe and Zipra military operations: the 1967 Wankie and 1968 Sipolilo battles against Rhodesian and apartheid South Africa.
The trust said due to his political orientation, Cde Masuku became a commissar and was instrumental in assigning joint operations.
“The 1968 Sipolilo campaign unit command headed by Moffat Linda Hadebe had Sly Masuku as commissar who carried out combat battles in Sipolilo and Chiwore that elevated the Zimbabwe armed struggle to the international world political scene,” said the trust.
“Rhodesian and apartheid South African Forces sustained casualties throughout the bitter battles that remain memorable and historic. The Sipolilo/Chiwore battles had gone for a full week resulting in separation of forces.”
It said Cde Masuku was captured after some locals had sold him and his combatants out to the Rhodesian Forces and they were charged with terrorism.
“The court proceedings were held in camera under heavy armed guard. The case was ranked and classed as Terrorism Act. Sly Masuku was sentenced to death with other 32 freedom fighters. A reprieve to death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment by then Rhodesia President- Walter Dupont,” it said.
Mafela Trust said Cde Masuku was imprisoned at Khami Maximum Prison for 12 years and was released in 1980.
The trust said at independence Cde Masuku worked as a project manager for Sumukai Cooperative in Harare, a successful agro business which transformed many urban and rural lives.—@nqotshili
Online Reporter