Ronald ‘Gidiza’ Sibanda

Where are they now

Ronald ‘Gidiza’ Sibanda is arguably the country’s most decorated midfielder since independence.

 

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With 89 senior national soccer team caps, he won four COSAFA Cup winners’ and two runners-up medals, the Thabo Mbeki Inauguration trophy and Namibia 10th Anniversary Cup with the warriors.
He scooped two Independence Cup runners-up medals, a Castle Cup runners-up medal, and Champions of Champions trophy with Zimbabwe Saints and the Madison Trophy and Madison trophy runners-up medal with Amazulu.
The lanky midfielder, considered one of the best passers of the ball after the Moses Chunga era, made his debut for Zimbabwe Saints as a 17-year-old, in a league match away to Hwange in 1994.
“I played my debut match as a striker in a Saints outfit that was professionally run back then,” he said.

Famous midfielder

With such immense talent, Sibanda did not take long to establish himself at the Bulawayo-based then-PSL club, cementing his role in the attacking midfield. He later went on to represent all junior national teams, as he marched on to become the country’s most sought-after midfielder.
His ability to well-time runs, support the man on the ball, switch play within a second and pass well troubled many opposition team. By 1998, he was already one of the PSL’s best midfielders, alongside Butholezwe Mahachi, Blessing Makunike, Siza Khoza and Desmond Maringwa.
His combination with Mahachi and Solani Hlomulo is well-remembered for the manner in which Saints single-handedly handed back the championship to city rivals, Highlanders.
As the championship race headed to the wire, Bosso players wept at missed chances, after the Bulawayo giants had drawn 0-0 with a Benjani Mwaruwari-inspired Air Zimbabwe Jets and needed slightly more than a miracle to get back on track.
Saints provided just that and hammered Dynamos 3-1 at Barbourfields Stadium to put Bosso back on the even-keel that saw them win the first of their historic four championships on the trot.
Whenever Gidiza played, the whole of Chikwata became untouchable. It came as no surprise that Saints ended that season occupying third position on the log.
“Whenever I donned that blue and white shirt, I played with great honour. We easily tormented the big teams with more followers, including Dynamos and Highlanders. I always made sure that even in games they won, their midfielders got the humiliation they would always talk about against us,” said the Bulawayo-born Sibanda.

Talk of the town

His performance was always the talk of town and Gidiza soon became the most sought-after player in Zimbabwe with Highlanders, Dynamos and Amazulu queuing up for his signature.
“I played for the national Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23 sides, I made my national team debut in 1997,” said the 35-year-old former kingpin.
In 1999, Sibanda was loaned out to Harare giants Dynamos in 1999, to bolster their squad for the African Champions League, after they had lost the final to Ivory Coast’ Asec Abidjan 4-2 in the previous year’s final.
“We reached the mini-league phase of the tournament, but fell short of our goal of winning the trophy. We also did well in the domestic league, but Bosso and Saints gave us a torrid time and the former ended up being crowned champions again.”

Amazulu relegated

He returned to Saints in the 2000 season and after playing for two more years, Sibanda left for Chikwata’s big-spending neighbours, Amazulu.
“I moved alongside former Saints team mates, Muzondiwa Mugadza, Matambanashe Sibanda, Mlungisi Ndebele, Sikhumbuzo Banda and Nkosana Gumbo,” he added. “Our great unity and hard work at Amazulu finally paid off in 2003, when we successfully wrestled the championship by ending Highlanders’ dominance of the league. We really deserved it because we had worked hard throughout the season.”
Amazulu went down the following season after Lupepe’s religious beliefs meant that Usuthu failed to fulfill seven Saturday fixtures.
“I think the PSL sabotaged Amazulu by trying to force us to play on Saturdays despite knowing about the club owner’s religious position. It was a sad thing for us to get relegated in that manner. No PSL team has ever been run so professionally.”
In 2006, Sibanda joined Dynamos again, but things turned nasty due to infighting.
“I stayed for only six months at Dynamos, before the infighting forced my move to Njube Sundowns, where I spent another six months before moving to Botswana’s Flamengo Santos. I left them in 2008, again due to internal problems, and joined FC Windermere in the local first division. I finally quit the game when we failed to gain promotion to the PSL at the end of my first season.”
With his Level Two coaching certificate, Sibanda is currently coaching a family juniors’ football club in Lobengula. By MkhululiChimoio

Ndebele people not happy with Njelele invaders

 

The 568 caused a stir on Thursday when they descended on Matopos National Park and conducted rituals without the knowledge and approval of the traditional leadership from Matabeleland South province.

Meanwhile, political leaders in Matabeleland South yesterday condemned the group saying its visits were disrespectful.

Governor Angeline Masuku said the Njelele shrine was not a cemetery where bones of dead people are dumped, as doing so was tantamount to polluting an important place used by traditional leaders to ask for rain.

 

"Njelele is not a place where bones should be dumped. Kambe izulu siyabe sizalibona njani (how can we receive rains) if people pollute the shrine with bones of dead people? Now I am not surprised that there is drought, it is because of such misconduct," she said.

 

Governor Masuku castigated the chiefs that were involved in the visits, saying they had angered the region and showed no respect for the chiefs in the province.

"Those chiefs should take stock of themselves to see whether they were doing that for the good of the nation. Now we are wondering if those people really have the interests of the nation or they have a certain agenda. They should come out in the open and say what their agenda is and who they are working for and what exactly they are looking for," she said.

 

The Governor said church leaders should help the nation through prayers to contain such malpractice.

Zanu-PF provincial chairman Andrew Langa said the province was not happy with the group's behaviour.

While Njelele is a national shrine, it would be nice that those who want to go there should first consult the leadership in the province. We were not informed and we are not happy at all," he said

"It is wrong for chiefs from other provinces to walk into our province without the knowledge of the chiefs in this province. Let us not use the national shrine for our personal issues. There is a need for the higher offices to intervene so that this problem is stopped."

 

The group of war veterans made headlines early this year when it visited Njelele shrine twice without approval and reportedly conducted unsanctioned rituals.

 

War veterans, chiefs and political parties have roundly condemned the unsanctioned visits.

The group had said their visit had the blessing of senior Government officials and said Ministers Kembo Mohadi and Francis Nhema were aware of their visit and that Minister Nhema gave them game meat for consumption during their cleansing ceremony.

 

Minister Mohadi has distanced himself from the group and accused it of trying to bring him into their "stupid" activities.

The President of the Chiefs Council, Chief Fortune Charumbira, is on record as saying the issue, if not handled properly, had the potential of fuelling tribal hatred and destroying the unity in the country.

 

He said the group was corrupting the country's cultural values and misleading the nation and his organisation did not condone that.

The custodian of Njelele shrine Mr Solifa Ncube (81) popularly known as Khulu Thobela has described the group's actions as uncultural and provocative.

 

Zanu-PF National Chairman Cde Simon Khaya Moyo also distanced the party from the saga. (Njelele is one of  Matabeleland's most scared shrines )

Future land wars in Zimbabwe?

 

 

The real issue about the land is we are seating on our own time bomb at our risk, at our own peril like our neighbours South Africa. When we consider South Africa’s simmering land issue, yes, it’s easy to assume that South Africa might be at a worse position than Zimbabwe. I would not say Zimbabwe is at a better position, but we are both on the edge, seated on a time bomb, the difference being the gravity and the nature of the explosions. We might say we have seen the worst and have crossed the bridge but it might not be when we look at and study events in the build up to Burundi and Kenya violence.

 

Equally worrying on land issue is the silence and seemingly disinterest by political challengers to Zanu PF, to confront, engage and debate fully the land grab and redistribution consequences. So much energy and talk has been directed at challenging the merits and application of the Indigenization program, to the detriment of the real issue: the LAND and violence.

At the moment political parties gunning for control of government seem to scatter the land issue, burying their heads in the sand, but truly not far from now, the sound of voices of the affected people will travel faster and deeper than their heads are buried with devastating consequences.

Previous land redistribution need to be revisited to reverse the injustices and avert potential black land wars. If the incoming governments after Zanu PF choose to remain silent or turn a blind eye on land grabs and unjust distributions, I would say, not taking action to effect required change for the benefit of the people is equally as corrupt as those who participated in land grabs for self aggrandizement because both ends, inaction Vs action are extremes equally apart and perpendicular to the required solution which is midway.

It now remains to be seen if the next government will act to reverse the unjust land redistribution imbalances in accordance with terms of Chapter 2 of draft constitution if adopted, which states that on Development and empowerment, all State and governmental institutions and agencies at every level must endeavour to facilitate rapid and equitable development, and in particular must take measures- To redress imbalances resulting from past practices and policies; The State must ensure that, where appropriate and practicable, the people of an area benefit from the resources in that area.

It is relevant at this point to note that Zimbabwe’s recent history is all but about LAND, and when those in authority now and in future governments deal with the land issue, they should do so in a manner that in retrospect, 5, 25, 75, 100 years from now they would say, ’We did not plant a seed of destruction in the country.”

Clement Moyo writes in his own capacity and views expressed here are his, and do not represent any organisation or group. Thanks to some online publications!

NJELELE: OUR SHRINE TOGETHER

NJELELE: OUR SHRINE TOGETHER
By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa

I am a direct descendant of EMPEROR Netjasike, the last King of the Lozwi/Rozvi/BaNyai[Kalanga]. My greater grandfather Ntinima/Mutinhima was his first son. I have taken interest in the continuing debate about Njelele, a shrine that we are traditionally linked with but that have unfortunately become the centre of immature tribal bickering. Essentially it was and is a Kalanga shrine, we have always been the custodians but it was and is always a shrine for everyone. Religious shrines do not serve the priests and their families; they serve the religion and its followers as one whole. I must rush to say I am not oblivious of the sensitivities surrounding the issues here but seek to correct misconceptions for the good of the nation of Zimbabwe.


Is Njelele a holy Shrine and according to whom?

 The question that needs to be asked first is whether Njelele is a Holy Shrine. The answer to that seems a resounding “Yes”. Njelele is the holiest of the shrines of the Mwali Religion. However it is not the only such shrine. Other Shrines are to be found at at Mahwemanyolo, Domboshaba in Botswana, Mapungubwe in South Africa, Domboshava in Mashonaland East in Zimbabwe, at Khami, at Nzhelele among the Venda in South Africa, etc. The next question is “Whose shrine is it?” The answer is it is clearly a shrine for people who were at one time part of the Lozwi Empire and these include parts of South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and the whole of what is now Zimbabwe. It has never been personalised or tribalised. It is our Njelele together, as a people. When Mzilikazi settled in what is now Matabeleland he found the shrine there and also worshipped and respected everything he found there. I am in no doubt that his respect for Njelele extended to its inclusiveness and this is why Mashonaland based prophets such as Chaminuka continued to have access to Njelele even under Mzilikazi and Lobengula’s rule. He never closed Njelele to anyone and this is why at no point did Njelele become an issue surrounding Ndebele-Shona relations.But yes Njelele like any other holy shrines, has rules that must be observed. Njelele has its own custodians and traditionally it is the Moyo, Ncube, Mpofu and Dube people that have leadership and prestine roles at Njelele. The question to ask at this point is “has this been observed”?

Chiefs Nematombo, Chivero, Nyajena and Marange

I have picked the above for a reason. Does their entrance into Njelele breach anything? Do they have the locus standi to be in Njelele? The answer is “Yes”. In fact all the four chiefs are originally from Matabeleland which is popularly referred to as “Guruuswa” or “Butwa” in pre-colonial Zimbabwe. The founding ancestor of Chief Nematombo is Ntinima/Mutinhima, my ancestor and Emperor Netjasike’s first son. History has it that he left Matabeleland after a quarrel with his father, passed through places such as Buhera and ended up in Mhondoro in Mashonaland West. Apart from the name Ntinima/Mutinhima he was also known by the code names “Nyakuvambwa” and “Nevanji” which simply meant first born. He had another shine at Nharira. His brothers were Basvi, Luzani (also known as Ruzane/Rozani) and Rovanyika [who settled in Wedza], Lukuluba[ also known as Huruva, Mukuruva and Washayanyika], Dlembeu [also known as Mashonganyika], Tohwetjipi [also known as Sibumbamu]. They had several sons among them Mhepo [also known Mawachini [what have you heard], Mutyambizi [also known as Kaseke/Kasekete], Chigavazira [also known by the names Tumbale and Chitomborwizi], Dzumbunu, Tandi, Chimombe, Matibenga, Gumunyu, Malisa, Mangena, Bidi etc. Some of their sons were Kadungure, Mapondera, Kunaka, Chitate, Chikumbirike, my grandfather Munemo etc.

But as a King he never moved alone. The Lozwi had spies, known as “gwanangwa” and their chief spies where the Mpofu, who were known by the titles Tjibelu and Mundambeli, meaning those who were the advance party in military terms. Chief Chivero [Shonalised version of Tjibelu] was tasked with this. Up to now the praise lines of Chief Chivero’s people are: “Shava[Mhofu], Chivero [Tjibelu], Mwendamberi[Mundambeli]; gwenzi rakaviga Mambo[the one who hid the King] and this meaning the one who was with Mutinhima/Ntinima as he escaped from his father Netjasike. Nyajena and Marange are also of the same line as Chivero. Mutinhima had many sons with different women and this led to so many chiefdoms in Mashonaland that are directly descended from him and through him, Netjasike. These are Negomo, Nematombo, Nyamweda, Samuriwo, Kasekete, Chimombe, Tandi, Chiduku etc. Chivero has other related chiefdoms such as Chirau.

 I haven’t mentioned Makumbe, Goronga, Makoni as I am not so sure what roles they were playing but I believe Makoni’s presence may have been due to his relationship with Chiduku, another of chiefdoms that have a direct links with Mutinhima[Ntinima] and through him, Netjasike. Nyajena neighbours Samuriwo and Marange neighbours Tandi and both Njajena and Marange may have played the same role that Chivero played on Mutinhima to Samuriwo and Tandi, being his advance party as both are Mhofu. One thing is clear, all these chiefs have their recent roots in present day Matabeleland. Everyone in present day Mashonaland whose isithemo/chidawu/praise title is Vakabva Guruuswa [those who came from Guruuswa] has his or her origins in present day Matabeleland and they left that area in the late 19th century. All of them are clearly permitted as a matter of their bloodline to take part in rituals in Njelele.

 If Chief Nswazi could return to Botswana I do not see how the above chiefs could be blocked from entering Matabeleland and taking part in holy rituals there. Their attendance at Njelele has clearly been blown out of proportion to gain political mileage which is unfortunate. Matabeleland is their homeland, and Njelele is their shrine. We cannot hide behind political correctness in these matters. These chiefs are Kalanga by all accounts, and going back simply is retracing their roots. We can’t be more direct than that. Father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo was given his treasured emblem by a Mashonaland Chief, Chinamhora following rituals that had started at Domboshava which is in Chinamhora’s area. The Longwe people of Malawi still have connections to this day with their Swazi cousins and they conduct joint rituals even to this day. As Ndebeles discuss the possibility of restoring their Monarchy some point at Nkulumane’s family, and they are based in South Africa and have never been in Matabeleland. Obvious if the Lozwi[Kalanga] start discussing about the possibilities of restoring their own Monarchy they may also have to discuss the possibilities of someone based in present day Mashonaland or even Botswana or Malawi as they trace Netjasike’s family.

Consulting other traditional leaders

Respect is always important and has always been the cornerstone of healthy relationships. Chiefs of the area should have been contacted. This do it alone mentality is really defeatist and it is what should be criticised. But the Chief’s must be able to discuss these issues in the Chief’s council. I am sure Chiefs Bango and Tshtshi can bring the issue forward. I don’t see how politics should then become seized of a matter that can easily blow out of hand if in the hands of politicians. We have systems that can be used and this is why we have a Chiefs’ Council. This is a sensitive area which demands responsible approach as at the centre of it are historical issues that politics has been unwilling to discuss. Had issues of accountability and the powers of traditional leaders including the return of monarchs been addressed without the influence of political correctness we wouldn’t be where we are. Uganda has several kingdoms, any people that ask for it and can justify it have been given the go ahead. The UDI-era atrocities and Gukurahundi are long overdue we should have done with them already and moved the country forward.



History, geography and genotype, not contemporary demography that is largely a design of colonialism and irresponsible politics means Zimbabwe was, is and ought to be a united country. Anyone thinking otherwise unnecessarily plays into a very sensitive matter and risks being judged harshly by the future. What happened in Rwanda is not a play, not even a real life drama. We lost people there. What happened during Gukurahundi is not a campaign matter; we lost people then. Maturity is very important and this is why I condemn in equal measure those who are attempting to block people from Mashonaland from accessing Njelele as if it’s in Europe and also those who went to Njelele without the clearance of the local traditional leadership. Inventing no go areas that never happened in our country is cheap. So is the defeatism portrayed by the traditional leaders from Mashonaland. Real leaders would have sat down together and mapped the way as all the traditional leaders of Zimbabwe and done the cleansing rituals for everyone who took part in the liberation struggle and that includes both ZANLA and ZIPRA. Without any doubt and judging with the behaviour of some of the war veterans, a cleansing ceremony is long overdue. But doing it alone will not benefit anyone.
By Julius Sai Mutyambizi-Dewa

The Shona people's dangerous sense of entitlement

The recent events regarding the invasion of Mthwakazi’s important spiritual Njele shrine in Matopo by the so called ZANLA war veterans under the leadership of 25 Shona chiefs from Mugabe’s country is symptomatic of a delusional and misplaced sense of entitlement to anything Mthwakazi by the Shona. The Mthwakazi people are rightfully enraged by these public acts of disrespecting their culture and indeed a demonstration of the lack of ubuntu on the part of our African Shona brothers and sisters. While these people have attempted to show that they have no respect for Mthwakazi people and their culture and customs, they have invariably demonstrated that they have no respect for themselves as Shona people. They are equally demonstrating that they do not deserve any respect from other fellow Africans.

The bedrock or platform for this dangerous form of misplaced entitlement to abuse and disrespect Mthwakazi people at will started with a misplaced entitlement to rape, beat, arrest, displace and physically eliminate Mthwakazi people using the North Korean trained 5^th Brigade in the 80s under the instruction of the then Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Over 20 000 people were killed in the 80s due to this misplaced entitlement to rape, beat, arrest, displace and kill them in their thousands. Thousands now live in neighbouring countries and some in western countries due to this misplaced and dangerous sense of entitlement by the Shona to abuse and ethnically cleanse Mthwakazi people in a bid to create a purely Shona state post the existence of Rhodesia.

This misplaced and dangerous form of entitlement to abuse Mthwakazi also extended to an attempt to liquidate Mthwakazi’s languages by forcing every Mthwakazi person left behind in Mthwakazi after the Gukurahundi genocide to speak in the Shona language. Since the 80s there has been a concerted effort to deploy civil servants including teachers and government officials to Mthwakazi who only spoke Shona, a strategy that has always been aimed at forcing Mthwakazi people to speak Shona, not out of their own choice but out of the need to get services that they are rightfully entitled to.

It has been a trend since 1980 that those Mthwakazi people who fail to speak in Shona have always been denied their right to health, education, documents, business opportunities and other services that they rightfully deserve. This misplaced and dangerous sense of entitlement on the part of the Shona to practice tribal hegemony and to force everyone to speak in Shona has led to every ordinary Shona man and Shona woman to expect every Mthwakazi person to speak in Shona as well as a misplaced and mischievous sense of an entitlement to be spoken to in no other language other than Shona in Mthwakazi.

We have observed with great amazement that this misplaced sense of entitlement to abuse Mthwakazi people has also been supported by a very mischievous and concerted effort to distort the authentic presentation of the history of that colonialist created country. Mthwakazi has been bombarded with distorted and fabricated history narrative that says that the 1^st war of rebellion in that colonialist created country was carried out in 1896. This war is popularly referred to as the 1^st Chimurenga by Zanu PF, ZANLA, MDC-T and its supporters as well as the Shona media mouthpieces. But we all know that the first war that was waged against the imperialist forces under the leadership of Cecil John Rhodes was waged in Mthwakazi in 1893. This is a war that is not recognised and publicly celebrated in that country. We know for a fact that the 1896 war was the 2^nd war to be waged against that country by both the Mthwakazi people and the Shona people after King Lobengula had prodded the Shona people into resistance against the colonialists.

It must be noted that the Shona had been colonized by the whites in 1890 and that it took them 6 years to be able to participate in a rebellion war against the colonizers and yet they cry foul that our great and illustrious King sold our Mthwakazi country and their Mashonaland country to the whites. It is their expectation that King Lobengula should have sent his impis to Mashonaland to resist the colonialist invasion of their country in 1890 without them daring to throw a mere stone to the settlers. The settlers raised their flag in Mashonaland in 1890 without any form of resistance from our brothers and sisters. How then King Lobengula sold their country to the whites still amazes many people from Mthwakazi. It is part and parcel of the Shona people externalising their weaknesses as a people to resist invasion to the Mthwakazi people and ducking any form of responsibility for letting the settlers walk into their country without any form of resistance. Mthwakazi people should continue to punch holes in such warped and twisted historical narratives that are being narrated as the authentic history of the post Rhodesian Shona state.

The war of liberation that swept the white settler regime of Ian Douglas Smith out of power was internationalized by a Mthwakazi son, Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo long before Robert Gabriel Mugabe came into nationalist politics. We also know for a fact that the demand for land redistribution in that colonialist created country was started by the Mthwakazi Inqama settlers in Matopo between 1995 and 1998. This genuine demand for land redistribution was later bastardized and corrupted by the Shona and its government through its violent land reclamation exercise led by the ZANLA infamous war veteran Joseph Chinotimba.

The dangerous and misplaced entitlement to abuse Nkomo and his great work was to be demonstrated in the 80’s when he was called the Father of dissidents and a cobra whose head needed to be hunted down and crushed. Nkomo’s status in politics had to be destroyed by all means necessary and those who shared the same ethnic index as his were to be murdered for being Mthwakazi. They were entitled to do so because this was their country, so goes the narrative!

This misplaced and dangerous form of Shona entitlement to the great history of that country allows Zanu PF, the former ZANLA forces, MDC-T and the ordinary Shona man and woman to distort and abuse history to try and punch above their bulimia nervosa weight in terms of the authentic narration of the great history of that colonialist created country. It presents the Shona nation as a victorious nation that fought gallantly to liberate Mugabe’s Mashonaland country and Nkomo’s Mthwakazi country in 1980. The authentic historical narrative of that colonialist created country tells a different historical story to that propagated by Zanu PF and MDC-T. It does punch a lot of holes into the self-inflated Shona historical narrative.

The other dangerous and mischievous sense of entitlement to abuse Mthwakazi and grab all that belongs to Mthwakazi has been carried out during the chaotic and violent land reclamation exercise from white farmers to supposedly all black Africans in that country. While the propaganda machinery was focused on the white person as the enemy of the state during the land reclamation exercise, just like it was once violently focused on the Mthwakazi people as the enemy of the colonialist created state in the 80s, it must be noted that the Mthwakazi people never stopped being perceived as the enemy of post Rhodesian state. The land dispossessions that were directed at the white farmer were equally directed at the Mthwakazi people as part of this grossly misplaced sense of entitlement to Mthwakazi and her resources including land.

Thousands of Shona people flocked to Mthwakazi and grabbed Mthwakazi land and her resources as part of the fulfilment of their dangerous and misplaced entitlement to Mthwakazi at the expense of her people. A number of Mthwakazi’s farms and rich animal conservancies in Hwange areas were grabbed by the Shona elite at the expense of Mthwakazi. Timber in parts of Nkayi and Lupane is being harvested by the Shona at the expense of Mthwakazi all because they have this misplaced and dangerous sense of entitlement to exploit Mthwakazi’s resources at her own expense.

All this misplaced and dangerous sense of entitlement to all things Mthwakazian has been incremental and recently manifested itself in the continuous invasion and the defiling of Mthwakazi holy sites such as the Njelele shrine found in Matopo Hills. The dangerous and misplaced Shona narrative says that Mthwakazi belongs to the Shona. There is this senseless and hollow claim that the Shona are the original inhabitants of Mthwakazi and Mashonaland while evidence points to the contrary. It is this claim that fuels this misplaced and dangerous entitlement to the holy shrines of Mthwakazi such as the Njelele shrine found in the Matopo Hills.

It is no secret that the San people, abaThwa are the original inhabitants of Mthwakazi and Mashonaland. The San people are still found in Tsholotsho areas of Mthwakazi and some in Botswana, having been violently displaced by the Shona during their migration to Southern Africa from the Great Lakes region in central Africa. The San people’s artistic expressions are still found in Matopo Hills painted out on huge rocks and boulders found there. We are yet to discover such artistic expressions on the rocks and boulders of the Matopo Hills that can make the Shona claim to this site credible. It is therefore disingenuous for the Shona people to fuel and feed their sense of entitlement to Mthwakazi on the basis of a mischievous claim of being the original owners of Mthwakazi.

The long and short of it is the indisputable fact that the current owners of Mthwakazi and Mashonaland are in essence all settlers save the San people found in Tsholotsho. The Shona person is a settler just like the white person next to him is a settler. The Mthwakazi person is a settler just like the next Shona person to him is a settler. A settler is a settler! Period! The people with a just claim to the Njelele shrine and a just cause to invade the shrine are the San people and not the Shona!

But then what feeds and fuels these claims and the dangerous and misplaced form of entitlement on the part of the Shona to a great history that they do not possess and to a misplaced sense of entitlement to the land and the shrines in Mthwakazi? What makes this nation have a dangerous and misplaced entitlement to rape, beat, arrest and kill Mthwakazi at will without an expectation of a response from Mthwakazi? Are the people of Mthwakazi guilty of nurturing this dangerous and misplaced form of entitlement on the part of the Shona to do as they please to them without any form of reaction? Could another reason be that the Shona nation is ravaged by poor self-esteem and psychological inferiority and hence these machinations to behave in this ill-disciplined and un-African way? They seem to have a penchant for anarchy and chaos. How long is Mthwakazi going to go along and nurture this dangerous and misplaced form of entitlement by the Shona to rape, arrest, beat, kill, disrespect Mthwakazi’s culture and customs, grab her land and exploit her resources without a reaction?

The time has come for Mthwakazi to regroup and resist as well as challenge all these forms of abuse and exploitation by the Shona system. The resistance should however begin with resisting and challenging our own puppets of the system headquartered in Harare. These puppets are in the shape and form of Prof. Jonathan Moyo, Lovemore Moyo, Simon Khaya Moyo, Gorden Moyo, Thabitha Khumalo, Thokozani Khuphe, John Nkomo, Cain Mathema and all those agents bent on cleaning the boots of their masters day in and day out at the expense of Mthwakazi. It is the very reason that I always argue that Zanu PF and MDC-T are the dangerous political entities that are built on the anti-Mthwakazi template and whose plans are to subjugate and exploit Mthwakazi for eternity!

Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, the leader of MDC-T is as dangerous to Mthwakazi as the leader of Zanu PF and president of the post Rhodesian state, Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Our Mthwakazi elements found in Zanu PF are as dangerous to Mthwakazi as the Mthwakazi elements found in MDC-T.

Story by Khumbulani Moyo.

Ncube (MDC) Warns Of Tribal War In Zimbabwe

Bulawayo, August 11, 2012- The Welshman Ncube led Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has condemned war veterans and ex ZANLA members for undermining Ndebele traditional customs, values and culture, saying this will spark a tribal war.

This comes after more than 500 war veterans’ last Wednesday descended at Matobo Hills in Matabeleland South to conduct their cleansing ceremonies at the sacred Ndebele shrine in Njelele.

“The MDC is disturbed and condemns the continued violation of the culture of the people of Matabeleland by some war veterans’ elements led by some Chiefs from Mashonaland who on Wednesday invaded Njelele to conduct an unexplained cleansing ceremony.

“The MDC stands by the position taken by the traditional leadership in Matabeleland that this action clearly undermines their authority and is a cause for a serious national conflict.

“Such kind of actions has a potential of creating national instability and will certainly undermine the efforts of national healing and reconciliation,” Nhlanhla Dube, the MDC national spokesperson said in a statement released on Friday.

The war veterans were reportedly in the company of 10 traditional leaders from Mashonaland, among them Chiefs Marange, Chivero, Zimunya, Mugabe, Makoni, Makumbe, Nematombo, Chundu, Goronga and Nyajena.

Dube said the MDC has “since asked members of our party at senior government level to take this issue up to the relevant authorities.”

ZANLA war veterans have from last year been forcibly visiting Njelele shrine to bath naked at nearby rivers as part of their cleansing ceremonies and have also threatened to grab land at Matobo to settle their children to appease the spirits of their departed comrades.

The visits have angered Matabeleland traditional leaders, civic groups, cultural activists and Zanu-PF leadership with ZIPRA ex combatants taking the lead to bar the ZANLA former liberation fighters from continuing with the visits.

ZANLA ex-combatants have also been attempting to dig up Cecil John Rhodes grave in Matopo Hills to pave away for the reburial of the remains of their departed comrades that are at Chimoio burial site in Mozambique. Online reports