Chronicle Editor
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter
THE late Mrs Zodwa Dabengwa, wife of the late national hero Dumiso Dabengwa, has been described as a kind, courageous and fearless woman who stood steadfastly behind her husband through thick and thin, supporting him emotionally and materially as he toiled to free his country from the brutal grip of colonial rule.
Mrs Dabengwa died in the early hours of Thursday in the United Kingdom due to a respiratory illness. She had left Zimbabwe following the death of her husband in 2019.
While mourners are gathered at 39 Diamond Street in Four Winds in Bulawayo, concrete funeral arrangements are yet to be announced as the family is not certain how long the process of repatriating her body will take.
In an interview with Sunday News, a close friend, Mrs Ntombizodwa Nkiwane, the widow of liberation stalwart and national hero, Cde Abraham Nkiwane, described Mrs Dabengwa as a courageous woman who had shown her mettle even in the brutal theatre of war, where they lost and buried many comrades and friends.
“She was a very brave lady. A very courageous woman that was also very giving and kind. A woman of strong and fearless character. Maybe, it is because they say the Khumalo people were soldiers, but she was never afraid. When women were asked to step up, she would do so. She was like Thenjiwe Lesabe, the type that would go anywhere when the occasion called for it. She was younger than me but when we were in Zambia she would say ‘mfan’ami, we are at war let’s do so and so’. Even the day when the camps were attacked, she was the one that came and took me from work to that scene of many deaths. What we went through together is very painful,” said Mrs Nkiwane.
Mrs Nkiwane said like most women married to men that had taken up arms to free their country from the yoke of colonial rule, Mrs Dabengwa had to shoulder the burden of providing for not only her children but her husband as well, as the war effort was his sole focus at the time.
“We worked hard and at that time we were the ones feeding them because they could not work. This goes for all of us and that is why Nikita Mangena’s widow said you cannot profile him without speaking about her. We didn’t have any money to our names because it went to feeding our families. We would try to do everything in our power, sell whatever we could to keep things moving,” she said.
Mrs Nkiwane said she had been close to Mrs Dabengwa since the 1960s, when she became her chief bridesmaid during her wedding to Cde Nkiwane. It was at that wedding that Mrs Dabengwa stole the heart of a man who would later on have a pivotal role in liberating Zimbabwe.
“I left for Zambia in the 1960s to live with my aunt. I went to school there and also ended up working there later on. I then got married to Mr Nkiwane and right around that time, Ms Dabengwa was working around the Copperbelt as a nurse while I on the other hand, was working in Lusaka. Before we got married, my husband was already working with Dabengwa. So, when the time came for me to get married, I needed girls that came from the Ndebele culture or those that were my friends to come because we were in a foreign land.
“I was told that there was this girl, MaKhumalo, who could be a part of my team. In the end, she became my chief bridesmaid and I got married. As you know, marriages bring even more marriages. Dumiso was related to Nkiwane through his mother so during my wedding, he saw Zodwa and went straight to my husband and told him that he was interested in her. My husband told him that he should be a courageous young man and approach her himself. He tried his luck and, in the end, he got into this pretty lady’s good graces,” said Mrs Nkiwane.
She said they had got closer as the war for the country’s liberation raged, bonded together by the knowledge that they were tied to men whose lives were in constant danger.
“They would visit and we would joke about how we were now both taken by guerillas. We would wonder what we would do with them but she was a very supportive woman but also very hardworking. These were men at war and they would disappear so when we lacked for something, she would come around and we would see what was available and eat whatever was there.
“Life would go on like that. They couldn’t marry because you can’t get married in the bush but they would make time for each other whenever they could. We supported the children as best as we could. When the Lancaster House talks started, they came and told us that we would be going back home. After that, they left for Zimbabwe and we stayed behind and joined them later,” she said.
Mrs Nkiwane said so strong was their bond that they planned to live together when Mrs Dabengwa returned from the UK later on this year.
“When Dabengwa passed on, she said that the children had asked her to get some air in the UK. When the Covid-19 came and it locked her down that side for three years we would communicate on the phone. She then got sick and I think that’s what stopped her from relocating back to Zimbabwe.
“Recently, she had told me she would come back home in September and when she did, we would live together on the farm or we would move to Four Winds and allow the children to continue working on the farm.
“However, the children started calling, saying that she was now sick and had been taken to hospital. I didn’t take it to heart because she had told me she would come back later this year and she would even buy a big bouquet of flowers for Nkiwane’s grave. I was saddened to hear she has passed away. I can’t even describe us as sister because sisters sometimes fight. Our relationship was something that I can’t describe,” she said.
Mrs Dabengwa was born on 6 November 1947 by Loncanda Samson Khumalo and Janet Ndiweni in Plumtree. She leaves behind five children, two of whom live in the UK, while the others are resident in the United States, South Africa and Botswana. She was also a devout christian and a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church where she also contributed to the growth of the church and the community around her.
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