Filabusi family still searching for its patriarch
CDE Jabulani Petshu Sibanda is a brawny and steely war veteran whose mere mention during the country’s fast track land reform programme at the turn of the century either sent shivers down the spines of many or evoked feelings of excitement depending on which ideological side one stood on.
However, beyond that veneer of steel, Cde Sibanda has a softer side and this comes to the fore, just by the mere mention of his father, Petshu Sibanda who on 15 June 1979 was abducted from his plot and business premises at the sprawling farming area of Gwatemba, an African Purchasing Area in Insiza District, Matabeleland South Province by unidentified armed men. His whereabouts have not been ascertained even up to now.
Forty-one years on, the Sibanda family, having come to terms that their patriarch aged 61 then is no more, is praying day and night that at least they locate his remains so that they could give him a decent burial. The identity of his killers are also still shrouded in mystery.
“My father was a businessman who was Zapu through and through having started in the structures of the National Democratic Party (NDP) in Pelandaba together with Dr Joshua Nkomo, but at the height of the armed struggle he found himself supporting both Zipra and Zanla. The reason simply being that in his family, four of his sons left the country to join the armed struggle. Two joined Zipra, that is myself and my elder brother, Douglas while those who fought on the Zanla side were Kipro and Ndabaningi,” narrates Cde Jabulani Petshu to Sunday News week.
“It so happened that in our home area there was a heavy presence of both Zipra and Zanla, so guerillas from both sides frequented our businesses both here in Gwatemba and nearby Mberengwa District in the Midlands Province and my father treated them equally despite being a staunch Zapu supporter. I’m told that his feeling was that guerillas from both sides were his children as he had sons on either side of the nationalist movement.”
In Mberengwa, Petshu Sibanda had grinding mills, bottle stores and grocery shops in areas such as Mataruse, Rengwe and Murongwe and that is where his sons, Ndabaningi who unfortunately died in the Chimoio bombing during the armed struggle and Kipro were recruited by Zanla forces. In the Filabusi area or Insiza District he also owned similar enterprises in Gwatemba and nearby areas. He was also into cattle ranching as well as bought, pen fed and sold cattle to butcheries in Bulawayo. One of his key customers was William Sivako Nleya who was also a staunch supporter of the nationalist movement and a prominent businessman.
“Although it is difficult to pinpoint on who killed him, there is a strong feeling that the Rhodesian Selous Scouts could have taken advantage of the situation and killed him so that they could put the blame on the door step of both Zipra and Zanla in the process causing confusion among the freedom fighters from both sides,” said Cde Jabulani Petshu.
“As a family we have tried to locate his remains to no avail and you might be aware how important such issues are in our African side. The family is desperate to locate his grave if there is one and at one point we went on a digging spree on some site with the hope that we might locate his remains. When he was taken away from home, some villagers said in hushed tones that he was seen being led by armed people in the Malole area, about 15km from our plot.”
The Zanu-PF Director for Administration at the party headquarters in Harare, Cde Dickson Dzora whose pseudonym was Cde Obey Dicks Marxims and operated in Matabeleland South under Zanla also remembers Petshu Sibanda very well.
“In Matabeleland South although a Zapu stronghold villagers did not discriminate against us because there were cases where you would find that in a family, some of the children would have joined Zipra while others had crossed to Mozambique to join Zanla, so the people there supported the two forces equally. A case in point is Mudhara Petshu Sibanda, the father of Jabulani Petshu. Mudhara Petshu had children on both sides and he supported the struggle and he was outstanding in that regard,” said Cde Dzora in an interview under our Lest We Forget column.
The abduction of Petshu Sibanda could have been an example of such confusion as suggested by Cde Dzora and one of the old man’s sons, Mr Freddy who was about 18 when his father disappeared, agrees. He said both Zipra and Zanla forces were affected by the calamity that befell his family. Mr Freddy Sibanda vividly remembers with much sadness the night his father was taken away.
“Those people came for my father on 15 June 1979, but I would be lying to say I saw them because they arrived at our
on Friday last homestead between 12am and 1am when we had retired to bed. I was in my bedroom which was separate from the main three-bedroomed house which was occupied by my parents,” said Mr Freddy Sibanda, now a farmer in the commercial farming area of Shangani.
“Those people went straight to the main house despite the heavy presence of our dogs, which were barking incessantly. In fact, on that day I had travelled with the old man to make some orders for the shop which was a stone throw from our homestead. We had brought soft drinks, cigarettes and beer as we also had a bottle store there. When those people got to the main house, as I was later told by my mother, they knocked on the door and my father who had woken up went to open. My mother had also woken up and saw one man dressed in coffee coloured attire, those similar to the fatigues that were worn by amadzakutsaku kaMuzorewa.”
Mr Freddy Sibanda said his mother remained in the bedroom while his father spoke to the armed men, who at first they believed to be guerillas. He said his father then returned to the bedroom and said the armed men were asking for cigarettes and drinks.
“My father left his bedroom dressed in a short, an overcoat as on that night it was very cold being June and some slippers, thinking that he would not take time. My mother could have relaxed as she was also used to seeing guerillas visiting our home where they were treated lavishly by my parents. My father was loved by both Zipra and Zanla because he treated them the same. Back to that night my father went to the shops and opened for those people, but he never returned home. The following day we were taken aback when my mother raised alarm that my father left for the shops at night and had not yet returned home. Word was sent to relatives and neighbours and we found many empty beer bottles under a nearby marula tree where those people had been drinking throughout the night,” said Mr Freddy Sibanda.
“I followed the spoor to Gwatemba Bottle Store which was owned by the Nkomo family and that is where I was told that some Zipra guerillas had been sighted but had gone koSithole. I then went there to find out whether they were knew anything about the whereabouts of my father. I found about 30 guerillas in a relaxed mood, some were playing football, others drinking while some were listening to the radio. When I brought the issue to them, they were all visibly shocked and commiserated with me.
“The Zipra guerillas suggested that maybe he was taken by Zanla forces. I then went where there was a Zanla pungwe and found comrades like Farai Magorilla and Mangondo, they were about 40 of them. They also expressed sadness and also said maybe he was taken by Zipra forces. Although I was not sure who might have abducted my father, I gave the two sets of freedom fighters the benefit of doubt, their faces and their tone were of people who were affected. My father spent a lot of money on both Zipra and Zanla, we would drive to Bulawayo and bring the guerillas from both sides clothes, jeans and amaSting as well as radios whenever they asked for them.”
Mr Freddy Sibanda said when both Zipra and Zanla guerillas expressed ignorance on who might have abducted his father, his suspicions zeroed on “three suspicious guerillas.”
“There were three men who would appear from time to time dressed like Zipra guerillas and they were called Mhlanga and Ngwenya. I can’t remember the name of the third but whenever they were around they would ask for the whereabouts of Zipra guerillas such as Dladla and Fingers. However, after the disappearance of my father we never saw them again, now I believe they were Selous Scouts and they are the ones who might have abducted him,” said Mr Freddy Sibanda.
“Those three, Mhlanga and Ngwenya and their colleague, we never saw them in the company of any Zipra fighter whom we knew. It was always the three of them.”
The two Sibanda brothers, Jabulani and Freddy said they would only find closure if they locate the remains of their father, emphasising that for all his efforts in supporting the liberation struggle, he deserves a proper burial befitting a hero.
The two brothers paid tribute to the late national heroes, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo and Dumiso Dabengwa who assisted the family in the mid-90s to get a burial order, which they said allows them to bury the remains of their father in case they locate them.
“We are children of the revolution and our family has unflinchingly supported the State in many ways up to now. But failure to locate the remains of our father is giving us sleepless nights, so we are appealing to anyone with information on where his remains are to contact me on 0712789206 or Freddy on 0774681978. Those who know can do so anonymously, we are confident that somewhere there is someone who knows where he was killed and buried,” concluded Cde
Jabulani Petshu.