Another Gukurahundi memorial on cards

BULAWAYO-based pressure group, Ibhetshu Likazulu, said it has organised a memorial service for Gukurahundi victims at Stanley Hall on Unity Day, as part of efforts to lobby government to bring about restorative justice to the matter.

Ibhetshu LikaZulu co-ordinator, Mbuso Fuzwayo told Southern Eye the commemorations were jointly organised by his organisation, the clergy and civic society groups from Matabeleland region. "We will have a justice and peace march from the (late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo) statue to Stanley Hall, where the main activity will take place. We recognise the holiday as a day which marked the end of genocide in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces.

"We will be remembering the sons and daughters of Matabeleland and Midlands, who were killed and maimed during Gukurahundi atrocities," he said.

In October, police in Kezi blocked the pressure group from holding a memorial service at a disused mine in Bhalagwe, Matabeleland South, where victims of the Gukurahundi mass killings lie buried in mass graves.

The Matabeleland Institute for Human Rights recently urged the government to stop police from barring Matabeleland-based civic society organisations from holding Gukurahundi memorials.

Gukurahundi remains an emotive issue in the southern part of the country, with opposition parties and Matabeleland-based civic groups calling for restorative justice or a peace and reconciliation exercise to put closure to the issue.