War vet Sibasa speaks on war

ON 11 August the nation commemorates  Heroes’ Day in honour of the gallant sons and daughters of Zimbabwe who sacrificed their lives for the freedom we are  enjoying when they fought and defeated the settler regime led by the rebel Ian Douglas Smith. In the run-up to the Heroes’ Day and immediately after Sunday News will carry articles on freedom fighters who participated in the armed struggle. The articles will focus on those who were deployed to the front and operated as field commanders.
In our first article this week our Assistant Editor, Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) speaks to Henry Jabulani Sibasa, who was the area zone commander of Zipra forces in Kezi in the southern front region. Sibasa, who was known as Mgugiselwa Mahlangu or Suslov Bangane speaks of chilling incidents that he faced during the war.
MS: Who is Henry Jabulani Sibasa?
Cde Sibasa: I was born on 7 July 1955 at Filabusi District Hospital and my parents were Elijah Sibasa, an agricultural demonstrator and my mother, Rosina Mapula Nyathi. For my early primary education I went to Singwago and Zhombili Primary Schools while I did upper primary education at Ekusileni Mission also in Filabusi where I was a boarder. From Ekusileni I went to Inyathi Mission in Bubi District, but I was expelled while in Form Three for political activities. This was after I was identified as one of the ringleaders of a politically motivated strike in 1972.

MS: So you were already politically active at that age and what had influenced you to take part in politics?
Cde Sibasa: I had been influenced by politicians such as the late Vice-President Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Dr Samuel Parirenyatwa when they visited our homestead while I was still at primary school. When they came to our homestead they were mobilising traditional leaders so that they have a buy-in in the fight against colonialism and that was in 1962. They came to our homestead because my grandfather was a chief, Chief Sibasa. I will never forget  that day because Dr Parirenyatwa took photos of us the children after that long meeting with my grandfather. However, we later learnt that the man had been killed by the Rhodesians and that brought sadness to us.

MS: That’s interesting,  so take us back to Inyathi Mission. What happened after you were expelled?
Cde Sibasa: I went home and obviously my parents were disappointed. I then moved to Masvingo then known as Fort Victoria where I got a job as a dispatch clerk at Aroma Bakery. My interest in politics grew further and I left Masvingo in 1974 for Bulawayo. I stayed at Old Lobengula with a cousin and by that time I was an active member of the Zapu Youth Wing. But my father, fearing for my life, tried to curtail my political activities by asking me to run a family butchery in Zhukwe, Gwanda District.

MS: Did that really stem your interest in politics and the urge to join the armed struggle?
Cde Sibasa: Not at all.  In fact, I was busy sniffing around to find ways of how I could travel to Zambia to join the armed struggle. I left the butchery business in June 1976, but I was not sure how I wasgoing  to travel to Botswana.  I, however, travelled for two days and got to the homestead of my maternal grandparents, that is in Mbizo area of Gwanda. I spent two weeks there. In those two weeks I found out that my cousin, John Thabulugo Nyathi and a neighbour, Phineas Sibanda, were also preparing to go and join the armed struggle. So one morning we left at around 4am and walked towards the Botswana border and we crossed Shashe River at about 10am the same day.

MS: So what happened when you got into Botswana?
Cde Sibasa: We were taken to Chief Sibatu where we were registered. From the chief’s homestead we were taken to Bobonong where we were handed over to the government authorities. From there we were taken to Selebi-Phikwe where we were kept at a police camp. After that we were taken to Francistown where we stayed for less than a week as we were later flown to Lusaka in Zambia and that was in June 1976. We were just more than 20 and among us was the late deputy commander of One Brigade, Colonel Alvin Sibanda. From Lusaka we were taken to Nampundwe Transit Camp where we found many recruits there. On arrival it was clear that the situation had changed. Every morning we were taken through rigorous physical exercises and the camp commander was Cde Killion. However, after two weeks I was one of the 27 recruits who were chosen to do intelligence in party relations.

MS:  How did that come about?
Cde Sibasa: What happened was that an intelligence officer, Cde Sam Madondo came to the camp and carried out some interviews both oral and written. So I was one of the people who managed to pass and we were made to undergo a crash course in intelligence. Our task was to assist in the screening of new arrivals. The process involved looking out for the enemy among the recruits.

MS: Who were some of the other 27 comrades who were chosen with you if you can remember?
Cde Sibasa: Among the 27 comrades were the late Colonel Alvin Sibanda, Cde Jabulani Mbambo, the current provincial registrar for Matabeleland South. Others were Cdes Nare and Madabudabu. But after some time we got bored by the whole exercise as we felt it was not the reason why we had come to join the war. We wanted to go for full military training so that we could fight the enemy. So in May  1977  we slipped out of the camp and joined recruits who were going to the Freedom Camp en route to Boma in Angola for military training.

MS: Then take us through what happened at FC and your journey to Angola.
Cde Sibasa: At FC the rigorous physical training started again and at the end of July 1977 we were taken by about 32 trucks and driven to the Boma in Angola. We were under Cuban instructors and we drove for more about five days to Angola. When we arrived in Boma we found 300 recruits and that made us a group of 2 000. The training went on for six months and it was intense and our instructors who were Cubans and Russians were very good. At the end of the training Dr Joshua Nkomo was the reviewing officer at the pass-out parade.  The highlight of my training at Boma was that I was appointed an interpreter to make communication easy between the instructors and my colleagues. After the pass-out parade we returned to Zambia on 23 December 1977 and I was one of the 500 troops who were immediately deployed to the front. Others remained behind waiting for further training and deployment.

MS: Where were you taken and how many were you in your group?
Cde Sibasa: We were split into groups of 30 and my group was deployed to operate in Mberengwa District and the crossing point was near Livingstone. That crossing point was called DK. Other groups were deployed to the northern front that comprised Mashonaland West and others to areas such as Nkayi. So we were driven to the crossing point in a truck and that now was early January 1978 and we arrived there at night waiting to move towards the Zambezi River the following morning. However, the following morning at about 5:30 we saw  some people dressed exactly like us in Cuban military attire walking towards us. They then started firing in the air and one of my colleagues, Douglas who had gone to relieve himself on his return ordered them to stop and shouted madoda lizasilimaza. He was immediately shot and died on the spot. Those guys then started advancing towards us and Cde Mike who was armed with a PK3 ordered us to take positions at the same time giving us cover. We then fired back and the battle started. Although at first we were in at a disadvantaged position because they had taken us by surprise, we held our own. Remember we had just finished training and we were itching for a fight. However, they located Mike and they hit him. We were now at a disadvantage because our gunner had been shot dead, there was no covering weapon but that did not deter us, we fought back heavily.

MS:  Then what happened?
Cde Sibasa: The enemy also started dropping paratroopers but because now we had taken good positions we slaughtered them.  We killed all those paratroopers. The battle went on up to around 2pm and at that time helicopters were giving the enemy air support and that forced us to withdraw. We were pushed to the river that was nearby, it is one of the tributaries of the Zambezi, but the enemy, since it was familiar with the terrain, had also laid an ambush and the fight started again. They pinned us down and we had no choice but to return where we came from and this time we managed to break through the enemy lines.

MS: You withdrew and how many casualties had you suffered?
Cde Sibasa: We walked to where the trucks had left us and when we returned to the battlefield the following day we found that the Rhodesian soldiers had collected the bodies of their colleagues while the bodies of our comrades had been ripped open from the abdomen to the neck, this was a way of frightening us.

MS: How many comrades fell in that battle?
Cde Sibasa. We lost 14 and one of the people who died was my cousin John whom we left together to join the armed struggle. I went to his body and said a silent prayer. His death hardened me and I could feel all fear vanishing. I then told myself that for the sake of John I must hammer these monkeys until Zimbabwe was free. I was 22 years old at that time and there was fire in my belly.

MS: With 16 of you remaining I believe your mission had been put into disarray and so what did you do?
Cde Sibasa: Yes, were now in disarray and could not proceed. One of the commanders from the rear came with reinforcements after they had learnt about the encounter and a mass burial was conducted for the fallen comrades. The new comrades who joined were trained in the then Soviet Union and Angola. There was also another group of 30 that was going to Nkayi and another 15 that was going for urban warfare. We then left for the Zambezi River and on our way we found bodies of seven comrades who had been booby trapped by the enemy forces. Their bodies had started decomposing and we could not do anything to them lest we detonated the mines.

MS: Then tell us about your journey to the Zambezi River and when did you cross into Zimbabwe?
Cde Sibasa: The Zambezi was a very big obstacle for us and it gave the enemy an advantage. Since now we were a large group with the comrades going to Nkayi and those we lost it was easy for the enemy to detect us. I also forgot to tell you that among us now there were comrades who had come from the front to collect supplies. All in all we were now more than 85. The comrades who had been at the front for sometime then took charge as they knew the tricks of evading the enemy and we successfully crossed the river.  In their wisdom they said we start crossing at 12 noon using the dingies. They said at that time the enemy was relaxing. But because of our large number, the last comrades to cross did so at 5pm.

MS: Then after you were on the Zimbabwean side what happened?
Cde Sibasa: Now it was February and those who had been operating ekhaya for sometime such as Cde Lameck, were in charge and it took us about four days  to reach the Kamativi area. At one point we almost fell into landmines, but because of comrades like Lameck we managed to negotiate past the booby traps. When we reached Tinde we stopped and asked for food from villagers and at the same time asking about the movement of the enemy. From Tinde the next stop was Dongamuzi in Lupane area on the border with Binga and that is where we learnt that Rhodesian soldiers were looking for the whereabouts of a large group of guerillas. It was now clear that our movement had been detected.

MS : I suppose you were now treading with care and did you continue  with your journey?
Cde Sibasa:  We decided to rest in Dongamuzi and after a week we were told that enemy trucks were spotted moving towards Msimanga Stores. At that time we had met veterans who had been operating in the area for sometime such as Cde Volunteer Mkhwananzi (Andrew Ndlovu) and they split us into small groups to avoid easy detection by the enemy. However, the 30 comrades who were going to Nkayi left with Cde Lameck who was operating there. Others who also left were those going for urban warfare.

MS: Take us through what happened while in Lupane.
Cde Sibasa: Andrew and his group went and laid a landmine and for sure a big enemy truck with more  than 20 soldiers and huge supplies drove towards Msimanga Stores. The truck hit the landmine and because the comrades  had done a good job of it there were no survivors. All the enemy forces perished there. After some time the Rhodesians arrived in helicopters and collected the bodies. For about three to four days the situation was quiet.  We were then split into groups of four and the comrades who were in charge of us the new arrivals were veterans Mphathisi and Pepetsha.

MS:  Do you think the enemy was restrategising after the landmine attack and what about your mission to Mberengwa?
Cde Sibasa: Yes, the enemy was re-grouping because on the fifth day after we had just had lunch at a certain homestead and Cde Pepetsha was addressing us near a cattle pen the enemy pounced.  Cde Pepetsha liked to use gestures while talking and during his address he gestured with his hand towards where  the enemy was approaching from and it panicked and started firing at us. We were just four, but we fought back and managed to make a breakthrough. But unfortunately after that we fell into an ambush and fighting started again. The enemy pinned us along a path that separated two fields. However, I managed to give cover to my comrades as they were at the front  and I was the last man and they broke through. But I could not cross as there was no one covering me and so I was trapped. But I jumped into a nearby field and hid in a pool of water. The Rhodesian soldiers realising that the person who had given his comrades cover had remained behind, they started combing the area.

MS: So you were now left alone and your comrades did not come back to rescue you?
Cde Sibasa: It was not possible for them to come back because at that time helicopters had also started encircling the area giving cover to their colleagues. The enemy soldiers combed the area and twice they passed near the pool and they did not locate me. At that time I had told myself that if they spotted me I would die with some of them. But I did not panic and after searching for sometime they gave up and left. I emerged from the pool and started looking for other comrades, but I only met them the following day. When I met them we were immediately attacked at a certain homestead and this group was under the command of the famous Mafutha Ncube (Sydney Saul Dube). We managed  to break free without any casualties. Now for more than a week there were contacts with the enemy twice or three times a day in the Lupane area and that delayed us from moving to our operation area in Mberengwa.

MS: So how long did you stay in Lupane and what were your impressions of those who were operating there?
Cde Sibasa: We stayed there for about a month but that one week when we were constantly under attack seemed like three years. Some of the comrades there were very brave while some like Andrew Ndlovu and his close colleague who was known as Sekuru lightened a tense situation with their naughtiness. Those two were very daring.  I remember one day after a heavy battle they convinced us to sleep less than two kilometres from the enemy. They said there was nothing to worry about because the enemy soldiers were also tired and needed their sleep. They woke us up at 4am and we went to harass the enemy.

MS: So when did you finally leave Lupane?
Cde Sibasa: We left after more than a month and I remember it was during the Easter Holidays of 1978. We were hardened by our stay there and after inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy forces, they called off their area ambush. In fact, by the time we left we had fought many battles and managed to create the corridor that was necessary for groups of comrades to pass through to various operation zones. Lupane was a semi-liberated zone. We left the veterans of that area like Andrew, Mafutha, Sekuru, SaZiqondiso and many others holding the ground. Some of the comrades in our group of 30 were left in Lupane while some guys we found there joined us. When we left we split into two with 26 deciding to go along the western direction while four of us, Magic, Kenias and Dlodlo went through Nkayi and Bubi.

MS: How long did it take you to reach your destination and when did you meet?
Cde Sibasa: We had identified Dolo Range as the gathering point and we had agreed to meet after three months. So the four of us took less than a month to reach Mberengwa but we could not locate the other 26. On the way we had a contact with a Police Anti-Terrorist Unit, which we wiped out at a farm in Kombo area in Filabusi. We killed eight enemy forces on that day.

MS: Then take us through what happened in Mberengwa?
Cde Sibasa: In Mberengwa we carried out sporadic attacks on the enemy and because we were a small number we decided to go to Botswana to take a brief rest. That was after three months without meeting the 26 comrades. We then decided to abandon the mission, but when we got to Gwanda we met other comrades such as Mahefu, Nyoka, Exactly and Lovemore and they told us that our group was now operating in Kezi. We then moved there and spread our operations. More comrades arrived in Kezi and we fought many battles with the enemy and inflicted heavy casualties.

MS: Any battles you still remember.
Cde Sibasa: There were many, but there was one where we found the Rhodesian forces destroying property at the homestead of Obadiah Mlilo in the Sontala area, who was a prominent educationist but is now late. We surrounded the enemy and wiped all the 12 soldiers and burnt its truck. Others that we fought were in Malaba, Mkuwa, Zamanyoni, Donkwe-Donkwe, Sankonjana, Lingwe, Ratanyana and many others where we emerged on top of the situation. At times we also lost comrades but our casualties were not heavy. By 1979 some parts of Kezi were no go areas for the enemy and by that time I had been promoted to be the area zone commander of Kezi. I was now in charge of more than 250 men. Kezi was now a corridor where comrades going for operations in Gwanda, Beitbridge, Mberengwa were passing through. At times we would carry joint operations with members of Umkhonto Wesizwe who were passing through either going to South Africa or Beitbridge where they also operated from. I stayed there until the ceasefire and our assembly point was at Brunapeg.

MS: After the attainment of independence did you join the army?
Cde Sibasa. Yes, I joined the army and I was stationed at 4:9 in Masvingo, but I left in 1983.

MS: Why so early?
Cde Sibasa: I was frustrated because I was attested as a private and could not stand the sight of being under the command of my juniors during the war. The problem was that our senior commanders in Zipra did not recommend field officers who had been at the front for senior ranks in the ZNA. It looks like they did not like us. The situation was different in Zanla where they seconded people to be officers who had seen it all during the war, but from our side it was those who had been at the rear at the expense of cadres who had been at the front. Because of this scenario I felt there was no reason to remain in the army. We were overlooked by the very people who were supposed to be proud of our exploits during the war.

MS: After the army what did you do in life?
Cde Sibasa: We tried to run a service station with some of my colleagues in Bulawayo, but it did not take us anywhere. I then started buying and selling spare parts. I lived a difficult life and it was only during the land reform that I got a plot in Shangani and that is where I am doing a bit of farming where I keep cattle and do cropping. I married in 1990 and my wife Tracy Nkomo has given me four children.

MS: As a parting shot Cde Sibasa any advice to the young generation about the dangers of war.
Cde Sibasa: I have heard people saying it is better to go to war when they encounter problems be it economically or politically, but my advice to them is that war is not a picnic. War means death. They should get this from some of us who saw a lot during that period.