Online Reporter
Chronicles from the 2nd Chimurenga
HE was a sectoral commander who took part in many battles, including the iconic Battle of Mavonde that marked a turning point in the fight for Zimbabwe’s independence. This week, our Political Editor KUDA BWITITI chronicles the liberation war experiences of CDE BATSIRAI GONDO, whose Chimurenga name was Cde Resistance Mawuto. Cde Gondo begins his account by revealing what motivated him to join the war for independence.
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Q: Cde, please commence by telling us about your early life.
A: My name is Batsirai Gondo. I was born at Nyadire Mission Hospital in 1957 to a single parent, Susan Gondo. She was a domestic worker. She worked in different countries, including Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, to provide for myself and my siblings.
During her time working outside the country, we remained in Nyadire, where we lived with our grandparents. While she was working in Maputo, Mozambique, she met a Scottish nurse, Sister Vie, who was interested in living in Zimbabwe.
So, Sister Vie and my mother came to live in the then-Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia, at Number 7, Livingstone Avenue. Sister Vie then asked us to move in, and we relocated from Nyadire.
Thus, I had a taste of the fairly affluent upbringing of that time, as I attended Gillingham Primary School. This was because Sister Vie was kind to us and treated us well. Later, I transferred to Dzivaresekwa Primary School, up to Standard Six.
I then proceeded to Highfield Secondary School. It was at this school that I first got the motivation to join the liberation struggle.
Q: What was it exactly that motivated you to join the war for independence?
A: I used to walk from Livingstone Avenue to my school in Highfield. Along the way, I passed through factories in industrial areas like Southerton.
Black workers were brutally beaten with sjamboks, and others were viciously attacked by dogs. My morning walks to school, therefore, made me a witness to the severe mistreatment of black workers.
I witnessed so much cruelty by white people on black workers that I asked myself: Is this what is going to happen to me when I finish school and start work?
At this time, many of my peers were also joining the liberation struggle.
A good number of my friends had left school to cross into Mozambique to fight. I was also a keen follower of radio, which gave regular updates about the war.
Highfield was also a breeding ground for nationalists and freedom fighters. It was the suburb where ZANU was formed, so going to school in the suburb made me politically conscious. All this motivated me to join the struggle.
Another crucial factor was that, when I visited my rural home in Nyadire, my grandfather had become a sad man. The Rhodesian system had forced him to sell his cattle for a song. Initially, he had a herd of more than 20 cattle, which he was forced to sell on the basis that he did not have sufficient grazing land.
The cattle were his entire wealth and he was left devastated. He confided in me how he was pained, and I was hurt. So, such injustices left me convinced that the Rhodesia colonial regime needed to be disposed of, and only young men like me would be able to do this.
Q: Tell us about the day you left home to cross into Mozambique.
A: I was in Form Three at Highfield Secondary School and I teamed up with my schoolmates, Shakespeare Magadu and Chiedza. It was sometime in August or September 1974.
We convinced ourselves it would be best to cross into Mozambique dressed in school uniform. We believed the Rhodesian police would dismiss us as harmless schoolchildren.
So, we boarded a bus called Zvine Mazuva Imbwa Yavakachuta. The bus was scheduled to travel from the then-Salisbury (now Harare) to the Mutoko border with Mozambique.
However, when we got to the KwaBhora area in Murewa, we encountered a Rhodesia police roadblock. Unfortunately, the bus conductor sold us out; he told the officers that we were headed for Mozambique.
As the officers inspected the bus, my colleagues Shakespeare Magadu and Chiedza somehow managed to flee. Although they made good their escape, I was captured. The police officers took me to a camp in the bush, manned by Rhodesian soldiers.
Next week, Cde Gondo tells us about the harrowing experiences he faced in captivity at the hands of the Rhodesia security forces.
