Heroine Gazi replays Mkushi attack: Part One
MKUSHI, an exclusively ZPRA camp in Zambia for women cadres was raided by the Rhodesian forces on 19 October 1978, killing hundreds of recruits and trained female combatants. Hundreds were injured. The raid was supported by helicopter gunships, paratroopers and ground enemy forces. In his autobiography an ex-Rhodie, Peter J H Petter-Bowyer titled Winds of Destruction: The Autobiography of a Rhodesian Combat Pilot says on that fateful day six Dakotas dropped 120 Special Air Service (SAS) paratroopers in a semi-circle around the western and northern flanks of Mkushi Camp with K-Cars patrolling the Mkushi River which formed the eastern and southern boundaries of the camp. Fortyfour SAS were landed by 11 G-Cars behind the cover of a small feature in the camp’s eastern corner.
Although the Rhodesians were armed to the teeth the ZPRA female guerillas, that golden generation took the bull by its horns and fought back tenaciously despite the odds staked against them. That resistance stunned the Rhodesians with Petter-Bowyer admitting: “The women looked just like men in their camouflage uniforms and they bore their weapons with efficiency. Although some attempted to hide and take advantage of grass fires initiated by the air strikes and heavy firing, most fought back. The SAS could not help but be impressed by female aggression and fighting ability that kept the soldiers busy till late afternoon.”
Those who survived the raid continue to live with memories of that traumatic experience, 44 years after the incident. Last week on Wednesday marked 44 years since that attack and our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) spoke to one of the heroines and survivor of that brutal attack Cde Moratiwa Valentine Gazi (nee Ndlovu). A teary Cde Gazi said she still had vivid memories of that day flooding her mind from the moment she woke up. Cde Gazi said it was through sheer luck coupled with the military training she had received that she survived. Below are excerpts of the interview. Read on . . .
MS: Let’s start our conversation by you giving us your background.
Cde Gazi: I was born on 10 February 1960 at Mpilo Central Hospital here in Bulawayo but my family is from Mawaza under Headman Hwadalala that is in Chief Mathe area of Gwanda District in Matabeleland South Province. So for my education I started off at Mawaza Primary School until Grade Five. Then for Grade Six I came to Bulawayo where I enrolled at Robert Sinyoka in Pumula. I later transferred as I did my Grade Seven at Mpumelelo Primary in Mpopoma. For my secondary education I enrolled at St James Girls High in Nyamandlovu. I was at St James up to the first term of my Form Two as I did not return to school for the second term as I had left to join the armed struggle. I left for the war in April of 1977.
MS: Take us through how it happened.
Cde Gazi: We closed for the first term and as usual went to Bulawayo and from there to my rural home in Mawaza. It was routine for us to spend our school holidays at our rural home. When I got home in Mawaza I found out that the situation had changed, the revolutionary spirit was in the air. Guerillas led by Cde Mdubane were on a serious recruitment drive where they were sort of rounding up people especially the youngsters and taking them to Botswana en route to Zambia. They were even raiding weddings where even the groom and other people found there would be taken to join the armed struggle.
There was also the Manama Mission incident where pupils had also been taken by the guerillas and escorted to Botswana en route to Zambia to join the war. So I was at home for just three days as the guerillas led by Mdubane came and took us to Botswana. In fact the guerillas had come to our homestead many times but I would run away and hide. On that particular day Mdubane left others who had been rounded up at a thicket and approached our homestead. Although at that stage my understanding of the political situation was limited, I was very much aware of the political climate in the country. My father Daniel Nkola Ndlovu had been arrested on numerous occasions and thrown into prisons such as WhaWha, Gonakudzingwa and Khami. In other words my family was at the frontline of the political activities of fighting the Smith regime.
MS: That means a number of your family members were involved in the liberation struggle.
Cde Gazi: Besides myself my brothers, Buikano Walter Ndlovu and Boitsepelo David Ndlovu were guerillas. Also there were my cousins Aggrie Ndlovu, Shadreck
Ndlovu and Sithabile Moyo. From my aunties were Thokozani Ndlovu, Federal Ndlovu, Thandiwe Ndlovu, Morgan Nyathi, Mfanyana Nyathi, Jeniffer Ndlovu who died at Mkushi, Jane Nyathi who also fell at Mkushi and Jester Dube, another warrior to fall at Mkushi.
MS: Let’s go back to the day you left for the war. Take us through your journey.
Cde Gazi: I left home carrying a plastic bag kuphela with a few items. I joined 22 other recruits who had also been recruited by the guerillas. I had a little bit of fear, in fact I was anxious. My mother could not take it but my father who like I said had seen the inside walls of Rhodesian prisons because of his political activities understood everything. So we walked under the escort of Mdubane, the guerilla who was in the company of another freedom fighter whose name I can’t remember until we reached the Kafusi area.
At that point we were very hungry and we got to a homestead where we were asked to grind grain, ukuchola to make mealie-meal. They then slaughtered a chicken for us. Imagine a chicken for 23 people. At night the two guerillas slept outside the homestead while we all put up in the kitchen hut. The guerillas had reconnoitred the area. At night the Rhodesian soldiers on horseback passed through the area but did not see the guerillas.
The two guerillas monitored their movements and after being satisfied that the situation was safe ordered us to continue with our journey. That was around 4am. We crossed the Shashe River into Botswana without any incident. The two guerillas handed us over to their colleagues whom we found across in Botswana, in the Gobajango area and returned to Rhodesia to resume their recruitment activities and operations. The guerillas we found in Botswana were in civilian attire.
It was at Gobajango where a beast was slaughtered for us and food cooked in drums. From Gobajango we were moved to Bobonong where we stayed briefly. However, during our time there I saw someone who connected me with my relatives in Botswana. My relatives tried their best to dissuade me from joining the armed struggle but I made it clear that I had made up mind to proceed to the war. From Bobonong we proceeded to Selibe-Phikwe where we were taken to the prison. One had to adapt to the conditions quickly. In fact one had to dance to the tune. We spent two weeks in Selibe-Phikwe before we were taken to Francistown from where we were flown to Lusaka.
MS: Tell us about your experience in Zambia when you got there.
Cde Gazi: From Lusaka International Airport we were driven in Russion Kraz trucks to the Victory Camp (VC) which was a facility for women. We found a lot of people there and the conditions were very tough. The commander of VC was Cde Cecil, a tough and short guy. Also there was Makanyanga, a bespectacled man and Qhude. Other trained personnel comrades were women guerillas such as Jane Ndlovu, Grace Noko, Audrey, a nice and pretty woman, these had trained at Morogoro in Tanzania.
The sight of those women comrades calmed us down, we felt at ease on seeing other women. It gave us hope and we felt a little bit comfortable. There were tents there but myself I was accommodated into a large room which comrades called Big Bhawa.
Before VC had been a camp for our sister liberation movement, MPLA of Angola. That large room called Big Bhawa I believe had been used as a warehouse. It was at VC that I had contact with lice, intwala. It was my first time to have lice and as time went by we started calling them comrade as we realised that we had to live with them, feeding on our bodies.
MS: Did you regret going to war faced with such conditions?
Cde Gazi: I never, instead my resolve to fight the Smith regime grew. I never regretted my decision. I should also mention that VC was teeming with both young and the old. There were old women there, girls and crawling babies. It was at VC that we were introduced to the basics of military life. We were made to do military drills.
To be continued next week