'Hero' Philemon Ncube Mabuza laid to rest

The Dumiso Dabengwa led ZAPU member of the National People's Council Philemon Mabuza who died on Tuesday has been laid to rest.

Mabuza a veteran of the liberation struggle of Zimbabwe's independence was buried at the Lady Stanley Cemetery in Bulawayo on Saturday with no official state recognition for his heroism. Mabuza, joined the liberation struggle in 1966 from Zambia where he was posted to Cuba for military training under ZIPRA the ZAPU armed wing.

He was involved in several heroic contacts with the regime forces in the Hwange and Zambazi areas earning him several accolades in the revolutionary army. At one time he was detained in Zambia by the Zambian Government under instruction of the settler international relations.



At independence, Mabuza worked for the National Railways of Zimbabwe rising to the position of station manager in Bulawayo. He served in the Joshua Nkomo led PF ZAPU executive before its unification into ZANU PF in 1987. When ZAPU led by Dabengwa pulled out of the unity accord, Mabuza was one of the people who immediately joined the renewed liberation movement earning him a position in the NPC.

Speaking at his burial, the ZAPU President, Dabengwa describe Mabuza as a true revolutionary and a real hero of the struggle for Zimbabwe's independence. In a very moving obituary, Dabengwa described how Mabuza gave his life to the cause of the liberation of the country at times even refusing to listen to authorities who he felt were against his zeal to push forward.

He narrated unrecorded history how Mabuza at one time led a group of guerillas that wanted to rise against the ZIPRA commanders when he felt things were not moving. Dabengwa demanded that such history must be recorded to show how some comrades were committed to the struggle even to defy authority for the sake of progression.

Dabengwa lamented at how ZANU PF government was disregarding committed heroes of the struggle of liberation simple because they do not subscribe to ZANU PF. He said as a party they have given up applying to the ZANU PF politibro for hero status for their cadres as it was a waste of time.

Several of Matabeleland and ZAPU liberation war stalwarts are buried at Lady Stanley Cemetery with no government hero recognition to an extent that the populace of Bulawayo now refer to the shrine as the Bulawayo Heroes Acre. Mabuza joins amongst others heroes like Lookout Masuku and Thenjiwe Lesabe who were denied National Heroes Acre burial by the ZANU PF government because they belonged to ZAPU.

Born in Ratanyane Village of Matobo, Mabuza is survived by his wife Thandi MaMnkandla and five children. In a statement the ZAPU National Spokesman Mjobisa Noko described Mabuza's death as a huge loss to the Mabuza and ZAPU families and indeed the entire Devolution Of Power proponents especially from Matabeleland Region.