News / National
Gukurahundi documentary launch set
27 Sep 2018 at 07:15hrs | Views
BULAWAYO journalist Zenzele Ndebele, who is also the director of an online streaming organisation, CITE, will showcase his documentary on Gukurahundi at the ongoing Intwasa Festival koBulawayo.
The documentary, Gukurahundi Genocide: 36 Years After, will be launched at Rainbow Hotel on Saturday.
"The documentary is about the Gukurahundi genocide. What has happened 36 years after independence? What is it that we know now which we did not know then? We talked to people involved at that particular time, telling us exactly what was happening," Ndebele told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday.
He said the documentary tells the story of what happened in a chronological way, adding that the government was not keen to talk about the subject.
"There are a lot of lies that have been said about Gukurahundi and most of the times when we talk about it, people think that it is the issue of the Shona versus the Ndebele, but it is not about that. It is about the genocide which was committed by the government then in power," he said.
"Of course, we know there are people from other tribes who died — Shona people who died, white people who died, but this was targeting mostly Ndebele-speaking people or Zapu supporters who happen to be predominantly Ndebele."
Ndebele said he was launching the documentary during Intwasa because the festival was a big event for Bulawayo which attracted many people.
He encouraged people to come to the launch and understand more about Gukurahundi.
"There are victims, there are people who were in Zipra at that particular time, Zipra's intelligence. There are people who were in the Fifth Brigade and those who were dissidents. All these people come in to give their own accounts of what happened," he said.
The documentary, Gukurahundi Genocide: 36 Years After, will be launched at Rainbow Hotel on Saturday.
"The documentary is about the Gukurahundi genocide. What has happened 36 years after independence? What is it that we know now which we did not know then? We talked to people involved at that particular time, telling us exactly what was happening," Ndebele told NewsDay Life & Style yesterday.
He said the documentary tells the story of what happened in a chronological way, adding that the government was not keen to talk about the subject.
"There are a lot of lies that have been said about Gukurahundi and most of the times when we talk about it, people think that it is the issue of the Shona versus the Ndebele, but it is not about that. It is about the genocide which was committed by the government then in power," he said.
"Of course, we know there are people from other tribes who died — Shona people who died, white people who died, but this was targeting mostly Ndebele-speaking people or Zapu supporters who happen to be predominantly Ndebele."
Ndebele said he was launching the documentary during Intwasa because the festival was a big event for Bulawayo which attracted many people.
He encouraged people to come to the launch and understand more about Gukurahundi.
"There are victims, there are people who were in Zipra at that particular time, Zipra's intelligence. There are people who were in the Fifth Brigade and those who were dissidents. All these people come in to give their own accounts of what happened," he said.
Source - newsday
