News / Africa
Mthwakazi groups to protest at Zimbabwe Embassy in South Africa
11 Jul 2016 at 12:51hrs | Views
Zimbabweans from Matabeleland who live in South Africa will stage a protest outside the Zimbabwe embassy on Tuesday to demand the restoration of Mthwakazi Kingdom.
The protest march has been cleared by the South African Police who said only 15 people will be allowed to hand over the group's demands.
The police said they could not allow a big demonstration as the city was still recovering from violent protests a few weeks ago where residents destroyed property and burnt shops and buses.
The protests were sparked by the ANC's choice of Thoko Didiza as the party's mayoral candidate for the capital,Tshwane.
The Mthwakazi exiles took the decision to march to the Zimbabwe Embassy on Sunday after a meeting attended by members of different political parties, organisations and Zipra veterans.
"We want to drive the message that we were never part of Zimbabwe.We want our country back and we are ready to die for our land," said one of the exiles who attended the meeting on Sunday.
He said the people of Matabeleland whose traditional name is Mthwakazi have had enough of abuse by the Shona people. He said the current generation of Matabeleland ethnic groups will not allow a repeat of Gukurahundi.
Gukurahundi often refers to the attempted genocide of ethnic minorities in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe soon after independence in 1980.
The protesters will hand over their demands to the Zimbabwe Ambassador, Isaac Moyo who comes from Matabeleland.
The government's ethnic cleansing operation was aimed at pacifying the region where the local inhabitants had traditionally backed the then opposition Zapu party of Joshua Nkomo.
The ethnic cleansing operation was carried out by the Five Brigade, a tribal army unit compossed exclusively of Shona speaking recruits who were motivated by their hatred of the Ndebele, Kalanga, Xhosa, Venda and Sotho tribes of Matabeleland and the Midlands.
Tensions have been rising of late between the Shona and Matabeleland ethnic groups over the deployment of Shona teachers in the province.
The protest march has been cleared by the South African Police who said only 15 people will be allowed to hand over the group's demands.
The police said they could not allow a big demonstration as the city was still recovering from violent protests a few weeks ago where residents destroyed property and burnt shops and buses.
The protests were sparked by the ANC's choice of Thoko Didiza as the party's mayoral candidate for the capital,Tshwane.
The Mthwakazi exiles took the decision to march to the Zimbabwe Embassy on Sunday after a meeting attended by members of different political parties, organisations and Zipra veterans.
"We want to drive the message that we were never part of Zimbabwe.We want our country back and we are ready to die for our land," said one of the exiles who attended the meeting on Sunday.
He said the people of Matabeleland whose traditional name is Mthwakazi have had enough of abuse by the Shona people. He said the current generation of Matabeleland ethnic groups will not allow a repeat of Gukurahundi.
Gukurahundi often refers to the attempted genocide of ethnic minorities in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces of Zimbabwe soon after independence in 1980.
The protesters will hand over their demands to the Zimbabwe Ambassador, Isaac Moyo who comes from Matabeleland.
The government's ethnic cleansing operation was aimed at pacifying the region where the local inhabitants had traditionally backed the then opposition Zapu party of Joshua Nkomo.
The ethnic cleansing operation was carried out by the Five Brigade, a tribal army unit compossed exclusively of Shona speaking recruits who were motivated by their hatred of the Ndebele, Kalanga, Xhosa, Venda and Sotho tribes of Matabeleland and the Midlands.
Tensions have been rising of late between the Shona and Matabeleland ethnic groups over the deployment of Shona teachers in the province.
Source - Thabo Kunene
