. . . and the rise, decline of Byo street gangs

pen to destroy you.”

Mukwazo went on to document Star Force’s various escapades in the 90s. He remembers the one day when they forced teachers at Nketa High School, including one Wellington Takavarasha, now the CEO of the Zimbabwe Mining Federation, to line up and sing the national anthem. He remembers the day he met them, after they had been released from prison, sleeping on the road near Munyoro, blocking all traffic. When asked why they were doing this, they simply replied that they were celebrating their release.

“Star Force was a terror gang, pure and simple. At one time they beat up a police officer and took his cap and came to Munyoro. They were dancing around wearing the cap. When the riot police came they beat up everyone there, including me, but those boys had already left. It was like they could smell police coming their way and they would always disappear before the officers got there,” he said.

Mukwazo, using the old adage that it takes a thief to catch a thief, had convinced law enforcement bosses in Nkulumane to use members of Star Force as crime busters. The measure worked for a while, as the crime rate dropped in Nkulumane. However, the officer in charge, an Assistant Inspector Clever Gwenzi, returned from leave and as an old school law enforcement agent, reportedly preferred a heavy handed approach. He fired the Star Force and they immediately went on another crime wave.

“There were others like Andrea Mutonono who was against the idea of becoming a part of the police force. They were resistant. I remember they had a hideout in Pumula and that is where he was hiding after one of their jobs and police found out about the hideout. They found him but he escaped and he ran all the way to Mpopoma and that was where he was shot,” said Mukwazo.

While Star Force was the most notorious of the street gangs in the 90s, it was not the only one. Nkatha was a smaller rival while Bulldogs and Amandebele operated in Lobengula West and Magwegwe North respectively. Pelandaba had its own fair share of a group called Masakura ninja.

“It was just plain territoriality,” said Philani Nyoni who saw the later two groups in action. “It was a means of organising the local boys into a group that could defend the neighbourhood from ‘invaders’ which usually meant one would just beat you up for living on the wrong side of the road.”

However, these groups were also not the first. For Cont Mhlanga, Star Force, Terror 10 and other street gangs that mushroomed in the 90s were a watered version of the real gangster they saw growing up in Makokoba.

“I think a lot of people might point to the 80s and 90s as a time of great street gangs but for those who know the old Bulawayo, the period from the 50s to the 70s is when there were a lot more gangsters. There was a noticeable decline in the gang life in the 70s because that was when the war was now at its peak. Those same guys that were on the streets also went to join the war effort,” he said.

Mhlanga remembers such notorious names as Zandla Ezibomvu and Green Bomber, gang leaders who doubled as boxing promoters. This was during the era when people could still challenge each other in fights at township square. The fights had no referees or breaks and even weight divisions were done away with.

“You can’t talk of the gangsters of that era without talking about the sport that natured that gangster culture. That sport was at the centre of gang activity and when that sport went into decline so did the gang culture. That was the sport of boxing. During colonial times that was sort of legal for black people. So that is why Stanley Square became the centre of all activities.

“One thing that people need to understand is that gangsters just don’t come from nowhere. There have to be social conditions and a culture that makes it possible for gangs to be born. So the gangster culture in Makokoba started in Makokoba because you had the Vundu Flats which were an all male hostel and there used to be a place called Ezinkabini which also made Iminyela a hotbed for gangsters. So crime sparked in those places because it was all men in one place and if one wanted to be a boss amongst the gangsters and earn the respect of their peers they needed to be able to prove that they could put people down with their fists hence the popularly of boxing,” he said.

While for Mhlanga Star Force, which some allege started as a karate club, was an offshoot of Makokoba’s gang culture, Mukwazo said that they were a different proposition altogether. With the passing of Mutonono, Star Force, and gang culture in Bulawayo, went on a steady decline. Casper Maphosa is now a man of God while fellow leader Godfrey Mlalazi is also now reportedly a pastor. With their leaders either dead, in prison or born again, Star Force has not been a factor on Bulawayo streets for two decades. The gang’s name however, lives forever in infamy.

“Star Force was a terror gang. They weren’t like gangs like Spoilers who came before them. Spoilers took advantage of the Rhodesian situation to undertake their operations. Those guys were straight killers and were not afraid to murder which was a bit different from Star Force. Those guys wanted to just cause chaos and instil fear among people,” he said.