The Sunday Mail
The liberation struggle drew participation from people of diverse backgrounds who were inspired to fight for Zimbabwe by a variety of factors. This week, we publish an earlier interview that our Deputy News Editor Levi Mukarati had with Cde Hamunakwadi Mukundadzviti, whose nom de guerre was Cde Maveji. Cde Maveji talks of how his role as a mujibha saw him attract problems and it was inevitable that he was forced to skip the country for training in Mozambique.
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Question: Can you briefly tell us who you are and what led you to join the liberation struggle?
Answer: Whenever I reflect on my war life, I think of one Cde Survivor.
He was killed by the Rhodesian soldiers after he disregarded my advice to use a certain route to go to where the other comrades were. Had I followed him, I probably would not be talking of my war life today.
I feel pain today because I saw Cde Survivor’s body being paraded and kicked by the Rhodesian soldiers, in the village, in the most degrading manner. I will talk about that later, let me first say who I am.
I was born Hamunakwadi Mukundadzviti in 1949, here in Chipunza area, Rusape.
My father, David Mukundadzviti or Munengiwa, was one of the first people to settle in this kraal. He then left his wife before marrying my mother Elis Makotsi, who came from Nyanga. I did Sub A to Standard 6 at St Peter’s Tokoyo in the nearby Mutungagore area.
As I went to school, I used to accompany my parents to surrounding farms which were run by whites, to provide labour. When I finished Standard Six, I did not proceed with my studies.
I used to move from one farm to the next offering labour in the tobacco fields that were popular in this area and this was in the early 1960s.
I managed to secure full-time employment, one time, at Rangeni Farm in Odzi and later at Kambeva Farm Nyazura. The money I earned would be used to fend for the family as well as provide my siblings with school fees.
Question: What were your working conditions like?
Answer: During that time, there was a lot of farm labour saka waiti ukangoita sewatadza basa you would be fired and in no minutes there would be a replacement.
As such, we used to work very hard to keep our jobs. The whites were enjoying the cheap labour and exploited us as we worked long hours. It was not easy, but there was no choice as I had parents and siblings to take care of.
I was to work at Meikles Timber Yard in Gweru in 1966. That same year, I moved to Bulawayo where I was employed as a tree cutter by a white man, Mr Biddulphs, who had a contract to prune or cut trees along the roads in Bulawayo. I later ended up at Mashaba Mine in Zvishavane where I worked for a white couple as a cook. It was in Mashaba that I had a problem with my boss.
I used to double my duties and would assist my white boss, who was into jack hammer repairs. So during one of the repairs, we had a misunderstanding. He had attempted his usual habit of trying to project me as a lazy person.
He called me “kaffir” and we started to fight.
We were restrained and that is when I packed my bags and ran away fearing the police would arrest me. I came back, here to the rural areas, in 1971.
That same year, there was a wedding in Mbiriri area and in the evening a group of comrades came and joined the party.
We had a good time with them as they drank and ate with us. That is when I had a conversation with one of them as I sought to understand more about the liberation struggle. I remember him asking where I came from and I gladly provided my details.
After two days, the comrades came here at our homestead. They included Cdes Mbada, Chinoruma, Sakandiwonde, Simbi Mago, Chovha Dhuze, Mahlatini, Shakespeare and Spider. That is when I had an opportunity to get details of what was happening in the war. I was told of how the whites had taken our land, ill-treated our fathers at work, forced us to work under hard conditions and that there was a need to stand up against them.
Question: Sorry to interrupt, when these comrades visited you, what time was it and how were they dressed, did they have any guns?
Answer: Initially, only Cde Mbada and Sakandiwonde came here at the homestead. The rest of the comrades were hiding in the nearby mountain.
They were dressed in civilian clothing.
It was in the afternoon, but I noticed that they had pistols tucked at the hip in their trousers. After a while, that is when the others emerged. Since our homestead is on the edge of a mountain they just appeared one after the other to join us.
After they had left, a group of Rhodesian soldiers later came to the area and met me as I was coming from a beer drink. They asked for my identification particulars, but I didn’t have them on me.
The soldiers said they had information that I was helping the comrades. I denied the allegations and that saw me being beaten severely.
Vainditi ndirigandanga. Ndakarwadziwa nekuti ndairohwa nemasoja echitema, varungu vakatarira havo. Macomrades akazoita base mugomo repamusha pedu ravaiti Vietnam Base.
So each time they needed any information about what was going on in the area they would look for me. I became a mujibha up to 1976.
The comrades would change bases and at one time while based near my uncle Supren’s homestead, I went to see them.
When I got there, I found only Cde Survivor as the rest had gone to Chitenderano area. Cde Survivor was preparing to follow his colleagues and asked me to accompany him. I told him we should take a different route from that which had been used by the other comrades, but he wouldn’t listen.
We used separate routes, but before I had walked for more than a kilometre, I heard gunfire. I immediately turned back and ran towards the direction I had heard the gunshots. When I got there, many villagers had gathered and I discovered Cde Survivor had been killed by the Rhodesian soldiers.
I feared for my life. While I was devastated by the death, I also thought of what could have happened to me had I followed the comrade. The events after the death of Cde Survivor are still traumatising me.
Cde Survivor vakatorwa nemasoja aSmith vakanonanikwa paruware paRukweza zvichinzi vanhu ngavauye vaone kwaurairwa gandanga.
I went there and it was not a good sight how the soldiers would whip he body and at times pump it with bullets.Munhu haadi kuitwa zvakadero. Chainyanyorwadza ndechekuti masoja echitema ndiwo aiita izvi. The body was then taken away.
Ini semunhu ndaizivana nema comrades, the following morning I went to St Peter’s Tokoyo School where I asked Benedict Tokoyo to transport me to Chitenderano where the comrades were.
Benedict gave an excuse that he could not accompany me and instead, asked his son Bernard to drive me. Little did I know that Benedict was a sellout, he had a two-way radio receiver to communicate with Rhodesian soldiers in the area.
He had told them of my mission and the soldiers mounted a roadblock at Mutungagore. But before I got into the car, my instincts told me it was not safe.
I told Benedict – who was my nephew – that I had decided to walk home first and travel to Chitenderano the following morning.
Then unusual manner in which Benedict tried to convince me to get into the car made me suspicious. That is how I survived either arrest or elimination because I then came back home on foot before walking to Mbiriri area.
I found the comrades had arrived in Mbiriri and they organised us to return to their base in Chitenderano to get ammunition. They were not happy with Cde Survivor’s death, especially how the body had been paraded.
The comrades had instructed us to move individually or in pairs. I was alone and had been given a bicycle by the comrades to cycle to Chitenderano. As I approached the shops at Chitenderano, I discovered the area had been sealed off by white soldiers.
I have never been scared like that in my life. I stopped cycling and got off the bicycle.Kuti ndidzoke kumashure, kana ndirambe ndichienda mberi ndakaona hazvisikuita. Ndakabva ndakotama kuita kunge ndirikutarisa vhiri rebhasikoro. Ndakabudista mweya kuvhiri rekumashure kuti ndiite sekunge raponja. Ndakabva ndatendeuka zvinyoronyoro ndokunzwa mheterwa asi handina kumira. Munhu akanga aridza mheterwa haana kuramba achindishevedza. Ndakabva ndasunda bhasikoro kusvika kumaruzevha kwana Kufa where I slept.
There was word that members of the Rhodesia Police had got to our homestead looking for me. My mother, father and brother had refused to provide information on my whereabouts and they were arrested.
I feared for my family and went to Mbiriri base the following morning and told the comrades what had happened. That night I sneaked home, packed my clothes, and left to join the liberation struggle with five other people from our area who included Weddy and Gandiya. We were accompanied by Cdes Sakandonde, Shakespear and Gurura at the end of July 1976 to cross into Mozambique. We passed through Neshena, Musarigo, Mt Jenya and avoided Ruda Camp until we got to Kairezi.
When we got there, it was around August and Nyadzonia had been bombed.Takasvikira mumaoko emakamaradha eFrelimo. Ndipo patakazotorwa kuenda kuManica. From Manica, we were taken to Doroi Camp.
From there I went to Chimoio for training. Our commanders included Cdes Bethume, Martin, Tonderayi Nyika. I was trained for six months, we were at the same base with Teurai Ropa (Joice Mujuru) and Fungai Mapira,who died at Chimoio bombing.
After training, our commander was Cde (Josiah) Tongogara and we were deployed to the front. I operated in Bocha and Buhera areas.
My sector commanders included Cdes Manyanyure and Dzatsudza.I was also to operate in Mhondoro with Sachiweshe as detachment commander while Serious Revenge was political commissar. We also had Cde Seguranza. From Mhondoro we would move into Chivhu and Sadza areas. That was from mid-1978 until the end of the war.
Question: Any battles that you still remember?
Answer: We launched a surprise attack at Sadza camp. We had scouted the area and vana mujibha gave us the information we needed. We attacked at night and left the area. But as you know, it was a war and vamwe vakomana vakasara ipapo. It is now a long time, so some of the names of the comrades have escaped me.
But I would like to say the death of Cde Survivor made me realise how brutal the Rhodesian soldiers were.
