Joshua Nkomo started off as a trade unionist

The late Vice-President Dr Joshua Nkomo, one of the luminaries who founded this country started off as a trade unionist.  

He played a key role in the 1948 general strike, Zimbabwe's first mass job action which paralysed the whole country.  After years of black opposition to white colonialism, the unionists, most of whom were nationalists as well, decided to adopt a more confrontational stance, calling the general strike, which brought industry and commerce to a standstill.  Then he was working for the Rhodesia Railways as a social worker, a top post for blacks in that era when professional and economic success were based on race.

One of the prominent figures he worked with was the late Grey Mabhalane Bango.

The 1948 strike was essentially a labour protest, in which black workers protested  against poor salaries and appalling working conditions they were forced to work under.  But there was no way one could really divorce such a national protest from the politics of the time, for it was because of the colonial politics of the day that blacks were paid poor salaries while whites, some doing exactly the same jobs like blacks earned higher wages.  It was also because of the oppressive and racist politics of the day that blacks were not allowed to advance their education.  Blacks were supposed to stop going to school once they attained a Standard Six certificate.  Only a lucky few went past that stage to enrol at teacher training institutions or nursing training institutions.

It was also because of the colonial politics of that time that blacks were barred from taking certain professions simply because of their skin colour, not the level of education they had.

Blacks could  never dream of working as medical doctors, lawyers or journalists in their lifetime.

Their professions were supposed to be in teaching, agricultural demonstration, driving, clerical work, carpentry and so on. The idea was to ensure that blacks took up low-paying jobs so whites could dominate them economically, and by extension, politically.

Dr Nkomo had acquired decent educational qualifications during his time in South Africa in the early 1940s.  He was a respected figure as a result.

By virtue of his decent job, Dr Nkomo had managed to save enough to buy a vehicle, one of his contemporaries; Bango told Chronicle a few years ago.

In an interview shortly before he died, Bango told Chronicle that as the general strike took hold, the trade unionists, needed to travel to the Njelele Shrine in Matobo to seek spiritual guidance.

But, said Bango, none of the union leaders of the time had a vehicle.

So, said Bango, they had to look around for a car to hire or simply asked for someone to lend them one to enable them to travel to the shrine.

They then approached Dr Nkomo, who gladly agreed to help them with the vehicle.

Together, they went to the shrine where they got the guidance they needed to prosecute the nationwide strike.

So apart from being a nationalist, Dr Nkomo was also a trade unionist of note.

The more confrontational strategy that Dr Nkomo, Bango and their fellow black unionists used to address their workplace grievances was to transform into a more robust effort to fight for the political independence of the country in later years.