The Sunday Mail
Ambassador Cain Mathema
Cde Naison Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu was a highly principled and dedicated revolutionary.
He was in the liberation struggle from the days of the African National Congress of 1957 to the National Democratic Party, Zapu, PF-Zapu and the Unity Accord which created today’s ruling Zanu-PF party. Arrested several times and detained at Gonakudzingwa, Cde Ndlovu was evidently prepared to die for Zimbabwe.
He was one of the highly educated Africans at the time. In those days, Rhodesian regulations only allowed Africans to be educated to a certain level. As such, he was one of the few well-educated Africans. He didn’t hold a degree, but was highly educated by any standard then. His profession was leather tanning, but decided to abandon everything to fight for his country.
He hated tribalism and racism. I remember him saying, “Zimbabwe is for all of us. What we were fighting was not the colour of the skin, but a system that treated mankind unfairly. “As Africans, whether Shona, Ndebele, Venda or Tonga, we should remain united against a common enemy.” In Zambia, he was in the team that fed guerillas and also a member of the revolutionary council.
He once owned a shoe factory in Bulawayo which was a de facto Zapu intelligence centre. All information regarding the struggle was stitched together at that factory right under the Rhodesians’ noses. Two years ago, I spoke to him about writing a book on that shoe factory, and he laughed about it as he urged me to proceed with the plan.
Some of us benefited from his leadership which saw us leave the country in 1968 to join the struggle. Of course, we left with General Solomon Mujuru who later joined Zanla in 1972. It was, however, all because of Cde NK that we went to fight. People like President Mugabe, Vice-President Joshua Nkomo, Cde NK and others cleared the way for us to fight for this country as young women and men.
Our young people must follow that road which we were shown by Cde NK who sacrificed his life for the independence and development of Zimbabwe. His legacy is organising people. He and others started organising way back through the Bulawayo Residents Association. At the time, our political parties were banned, so people like him organised soccer matches and meetings where political discussions took place.
His generation taught us that we should, after Independence, use our political power to own the economy as black people. Cde Ndlovu was Chairman of PF-Zapu and contributed in negotiations that led to the Unity Accord of 1987. He played a pivotal role in organising people right across the country.
Umdhala NK also helped mould our Parliament, and worked with the President and others to ensure land was returned to its rightful owners. He was the first black Mayor of Bulawayo; Deputy Senate President and a Member of Parliament for many years.
During his stint as mayor, Cde Ndlovu worked closely with National Hero and the then Local Government Minister Edson Zvobgo. Together, they built houses in different parts of Zimbabwe. All his successors at Bulawayo City Council have benefited from the foundation he laid in the early days of our independence. I worked with Cde Ndlovu closely, drawing a lot from his deep pool of knowledge.
He was a historian par excellence. Though he never authored a book, he could tell you the histories of all our peoples – every one of them. The man remained steadfast right up to the end, never deviating from principle. He remained humble despite having held several top posts in the party and State. That was him: He never boasted about who he was.
You wouldn’t know about his achievements unless you knew him personally. So, really, we have lost a great man. We are one nation and that’s what he fought for many years. Some fly-by-night political parties want to use tribalism to divide our people.
Umdhala NK was against that. Ambassador Cain Mathema is Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister. He shared these views with The Sunday Mail Reporter Tinashe Farawo in Harare last week
