adminIN this week’s edition we are talking to Cde Patrick Dube, who was the chief of staff for the Zipra forces Northern Front One, which comprised parts of Bulilima in Matabeleland South, the whole of Tsholotsho and Umguza districts in Matabeleland North. During the operations Cde Dube was commonly known as Makandiwa because he had put to a stop the construction of contour ridges (amakandiwa) which blacks were forced to construct in their fields by the white settler regime. As the chief of staff in the NF1 he was under the command of Cde John Nyamupingidza (Major Chipa). Below he narrates his exploits in an interview with Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda.
The continued arrest of my parents, my father Khange Dube and mother Lumbidzani Maphosa, for political activities by the rebel Ian Smith forced me to leave my home area of St Joseph’s under Chief Bidi Ndiweni in Kezi in 1969, first for Johannesburg in South Africa and later for Zambia via Botswana to join the armed the struggle.
The other reason that made me leave the country was the forced recruitment of youngsters by the Rhodesian security forces under their call-up programme. Some of my age mates such as Patrick Ndiweni, the son of Chief Bidi were some of the people who joined the Rhodesian security forces under the call-up programme.
While in Joburg I would sometimes return home for visits, but with the political temperature rising, in 1974 I left South Africa for Botswana to join the armed struggle. In fact, what happened before I left for Botswana was that I dreamt of my mother who at that time was late urging me to join the armed struggle. On our way to Botswana we were 18, some guys coming from my home area, some from neighbouring areas such as Chief Malaba and Chief Hobodo across the Semukwe River in Mangwe.
When we arrived in Francistown we were taken to a police station where we were interrogated and later put in holding cells just to keep us and also as a security measure. We were not under arrest, we would move in and out at will. Among us were guys from Zanla, but they kept us apart. We were visited by a trained guerilla, Cde Makepesi during our stay in Francistown.
After staying for some time we started complaining that we wanted to go for training and then one day 26 of us were taken to the airport and flown to Lusaka, Zambia where we were met by Cde Billy Mzamo who drove us to Nampundwe Transit Camp.
From Nampundwe we were taken to the newly- created Mwembeshi Training Camp and that was in 1976, which was under the command of the now Retired Colonel Eddie Sigoge. Our group of more than 2 000 recruits was the first to be trained in Mwembeshi where instructors included people like Cde Jack Kaniki, Mbeya, Rodwell Ncube, Todd Mlolo and Tennyson Magedleni Ndlovu (Thambolenyoka) who was for bayonet charge and physical exercises.
After completing my training I was given 80 soldiers and that was still in 1976 and deployed to the front with my area of operation being Northern Front One region, but specifically in Tsholotsho District. All in all we were 82 including myself the commander of the group and commissar, Cde Fisher Nkala. The guy who deployed us was Cde Stanley Gagisa. From the 80 comrades, 20 were headed for Mwenezi and they were under the command of now Retired Colonel Bester Magwizi and Cde Tempele while other units were to be sent to other areas.
We crossed the Zambezi River at the DK point, which was used by Zipra forces and our intention was first to move to Chief Saba’s area in Binga. We had been made aware that near Mlibizi there was a garrison of the Rhodesian forces, so we were on the lookout for the enemy. Just before we reached Mlibizi River, we met an elderly man and when we asked for directions and how we could navigate the terrain, he told us that it was not possible because the river was in flood, little did we know that he meant that there were enemy forces around. That man was a Rhodesian spy, that is why he was talking in riddles.
When we got to the river, we asked three comrades to go and fetch water and while we were doing that the enemy forces were watching us, as they had deployed in the area. That was around noon. Then all of a sudden there was heavy firing from the enemy which was well positioned. However, we fought back and that battle went on until after 5pm. One of the comrades who was in the river drawing water was killed while the other two escaped. In that battle we lost three comrades and that was the last time I saw Magwizi, I only met him after independence.
That battle destabilised us, resulting in the unit splitting into several groups. Asivuruvaya amakhiwa. We moved towards Kamativi and then to Cross Dete. After crossing the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road, we decided to follow the railway line to avoid losing the direction to Tsholotsho and also we did not want to get deep into the Hwange National Park.
We started running out of water, but we were lucky to find three men manning a water engine and those people gave us food, isitshwala esasitshetshwa ngedobi. We then moved past Ngamo Siding. At that point we were tired and wanted to take a rest. We saw a big tree and decided to take a rest. To our shock the Rhodesian forces were also resting under that tree and serious fighting ensued. We quickly withdrew as we wanted to save our ammunition. We did not have any casualties and we continued pushing forward and after going past the Hwange National Park we arrived at the homestead of a Mabhena who was very excited to see the guerillas. We were given meat, isitshwala and traditional beer. The hospitality was just out of this world. However, we did not stay long there as when we were deployed we were told we will meet other comrades who have been operating in Tsholotsho in villages such as Samawuro and Twenty.
We continued with our journey until we located five comrades who had been operating in Tsholotsho for sometime and they were Celani, Orange, Maplazi, Pharoah and Thabo. However, Pharoah later returned to Zambia for other tasks.
After meeting those comrades, serious work was to start and strategies were mapped out. I then took command of the whole Tsholotsho area. Those comrades told us that there were already working on a recruitment mission and were targeting secondary schoolchildren who were at home during the December holiday. The aim was to commandeer one of the buses plying the local routes and take the children to the border with Botswana and from there finish the journey on foot. The plan was put into action one day but the bus was intercepted by the Rhodesian soldiers and there was heavy fighting, resulting in the injury of some of the children and one comrade.
After that setback I ordered one of the comrades to take the injured comrade, Mapulazi to Botswana so that he could receive proper treatment. However, on their way to Botswana they had a change of heart and decided to return to our area of operation. While they were still trying to locate some comrades they got to a certain homestead where the owner pretended to be friendly and tricked them into believing that he could cure Cde Mapulazi using traditional herbs. They could have over-trusted that man because one day he locked them in the hut on the pretext that he was going to look for herbs while in fact, he was going to call the Rhodesian forces. The Rhodesian soldiers found them still in that hut and when they tried to escape they were shot and killed on the spot.
After that incident we then decided to take the war to the enemy. Our strategy was to destroy all the enemy bases and those targeted were Sihubo, Dlamini, Sipepa and Tsholotsho Centre itself. That was to mark serious fighting in Tsholotsho and that changed the situation completely. The enemy forces were also now everywhere while on our side more units were coming in and that set the stage for a serious war.
Then one day we went for Sihubo where the enemy forces had set base. We raided it at about 5am and that was in 1977. We were a section of seven and we took positions and waited for the enemy to show up. Indeed the enemy soldiers showed up and they were in a relaxed mood as they were brushing their teeth. We went for them and overran the base. That was the end of the base.
Our next operation was the Twenty Seven Dip Tank where we captured the enemy’s communication equipment, the B22 radio and we were the first unit in the Zipra forces to capture such a prized possession. On that particular day there were nine of us and we laid an ambush just near the dip tank. The Rhodesian forces were rounding up villagers and taking them to the dip tank because they wanted to force them to pay tax. No one was aware of our presence in the area, even the villagers.
When they got to the dip tank the Rhodesian soldiers left one of their guys guarding their Land Rover and the vegetation was thick. When we realised that the rest of the soldiers were busy harassing the villagers we stealthily moved to the Land Rover. While we were doing that a cow was also moving towards that vehicle and the white soldier in panic shot at the cow because it was not visible because of the thicket. He then relayed information to his colleagues that what he thought was the enemy was in fact, just a beast. He was very unfortunate because after that we pounced on him; he did not make much noise. We quickly strangled him, set the Land Rover on fire and disappeared into the thick forests of Tsholotsho. Our prized possession, the radio was taken to Nata Police Station across the border in Botswana and later to Zambia. The Zipra High Command was impressed by that feat. The Rhodesian forces also realised that we meant business. It was no longer a picnic.
More units were still coming in, some of them on transit to neighbouring operational zones such as Bulilima, Umguza, Mangwe and Kezi.
We then targeted the Salamkomo base. We laid landmines on the road leading to the base some days before a cattle sale there. We warned bus operators to avoid a section of the road where we had laid the landmine and they complied. However, a stubborn villager defied us and used the road and her heavily loaded scotchcart was blown into pieces by our landmine. We planted more landmines and on the day of the cattle sale, army trucks with soldiers on board arrived in the area and one hit the landmine. We hit others using RPG7 (bazooka) and in that ensuing confusion we assaulted them. In fact, the whole Salankomo camp was taken apart with the infrastructure destroyed.
After destroying Salankomo we attacked a base at Dlamini Business Centre and left it in a mess. In fact, Salankomo fell after sustained attacks, it was not a one -day incident.
Sipepa was also attacked and during our attack three sections were deployed. With the intensity of the war it became common for villagers to watch with glee Rhodesian forces fleeing. We were on top of the situation.
We would also harass freight train crews along the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls railway line and by 1978 there were no trains using that railway line. We had put a stop to that. It was part of our economic sabotage.
I continued commanding our forces in Tsholotsho although the regional command structure had changed with the coming in of Cde John Nyamupingidza (Major Chipa) in 1978 who had taken over the Northern Front One, which covered parts of Bulilima, Tsholotsho and Umguza districts. I then became second in command to Cde Nyamupingidza as the regional chief of staff. Cde Nyamupingidza is alive and running a safari business in the Gwayi conservancy area. Cde Nyamupingidza took over the regional command from Todd Mpisi who had returned to Zambia for other assignments.
In August 1979 Cde Nyamupingidza and I were asked to receive a battalion of about 600 comrades, being deployed in NF1 and were under the command of Cde Middle (the late Colonel Smile Madubeko Moyo). Among them were about 28 MK comrades. We met them in the Kazungula area and our task was simply to lead them to our operational area. However, before the arrival of the late Rtd Col Smile Madubeko unit there were about 300 guerillas who were in operational zone. Our assembly point was at Lima in Bulilima District.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter