Opinion / Blogs
Matopos Hills, the other Heroes' Acre
29 Apr 2011 at 00:26hrs | Views
THE month of September is very significant for Zimbabweans in general and for the Ndebele people in particular, not only because it is the month in which the annual Inxwala Reed dance is supposed to be held, but also because King Mzilikazi died on September 5, 1868.
The ongoing debate about the burial of heroes at the Heroes Acre and the refusal to consecrate others in that shrine coincides with the annual commemorations of King Mzilikazi. The historical significance of King Mzilikazi's death is paramount because his burial and the site of his grave provide an answer to the alternative shrine where heroes who have been snubbed by the powers-that-be in Harare could be laid to rest.
In this respect, one does not need to be a tsikamutanda to know that heroes like General Lookout Masuku, Ndabaningi Sithole, Makhathini Guduza, James Chikerema and numerous others should have been given the due honour of resting at a national shrine. But at the whims and caprices of a certain brood of individuals, these heroes were, at the stroke of a pen, declared non-heroes.
Consequently, the controversy about national heroes and their burial compels me to leap a bit into imagination and approach the debate dispassionately from a historical perspective.
When King Mzilikazi died, he was laid to rest by his warriors at the Matopo Hills. In 2003, UNESCO conferred the The Matobo Hills with the status of a World Heritage site.
Sir Robert Tredgold, the former Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia described the Matopo Hills as having an oracular attraction of their own:
"There is something about the Matopos that is quite distinctive. Scenes of unbelievable beauty and wildness. Moreover, an account of nearly every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos".
The peace agreement that ended the 1896/97 Ndebele and Shona rebellion against white settler rule was eventually reached at the Matopo Hills, which was presided over by Rhodes and the African indunas. The enigmatic oracular and Delphic attraction of the Matopos was felt by Cecil John Rhodes himself leading him to assert unequivocally in his will that:
"I admire the grandeur and loneliness of the Matopos in Rhodesia and therefore I desire to be buried in the Matopos on the hill which I used to visit and which I called a 'View of the World,' in a square to be cut in the rock on the top of the hill, covered with a plain brass plate with the words thereon: 'Here lie the remains of Cecil John Rhodes."
Pursuant to Cecil John Rhodes' death in Cape Town in 1902, his body was Waggoner all the way to the Delphic Matopos and on April 10, 1902, Rhodes was buried at the Matopos' 'View of the World'. His grave lies within a short distance from that of King Mzilikazi.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the remains of Major Allan Wilson and all those who took part in the barbaric pursuit of King Lobengula leading to the king's death on December 4, 1893, in the final battle across the Shangani River were eventually interred at the Matopos, next to Rhodes' grave.
Today, the major's epitaph reads: "Erected to the enduring memory of Allan Wilson and his men who fell in fight against the Matabele on the Shangani River, December 4th, 1893. There was no survivor."
It is also significant to note that there was no survivor in that ill-fated battle. Sir Robert Tredgold's remarks that "… nearly every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos" provides a spectacular clue as to the fate of King Lobengula.
When Allan Wilson and his savage battalion armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction, pursued King Lobengula, eventually shooting him to death at point blank range, after ordering him to "… step forward and surrender yourself", the response of the King's body guards was in typical kamikaze style, and as fate has it, no-one survived.
But what is significant is the fact that soon after that incident, Cecil John Rhodes soon appears alongside Dr Leander Starr Jameson. One would recall that Jameson had initially written to King Lobengula advising him to surrender or face bloodshed prior to the king's decampment from Bulawayo.
It is, therefore, without doubt that King Lobengula's burial was secretly supervised by Rhodes and Jameson fearing the political repercussions that were already taking place in London, where massive protests were being waged by the Aborigines Protection Society. There were more protests at the House of Lords led by Lord Labouchere and others who were calling for an inquiry into Allan Wilson's savagery that resulted in the sacrilegious assassination of King Lobengula.
The exact spot of where King Lobengula was buried is therefore contained in Tredgold's unwitting statement that "… every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos". A cursory look at the pattern in which King Lobengula's children were buried by Rhodes in particular, provides a lead as to where the Ndebele king was buried, i.e. at the Matopo Hills, not far from his father the legendary King Mzilikazi.
When King Lobengula's son Nguboyenja died and was buried at Matopo Hills. On July 13, 1960, Sidojiwe, another child of King Lobengula, died and was buried at the Matopo Hills.
On November 26, 1917, Dr Leander Starr Jameson died in London. Jameson was the first Administrator of Rhodesia, former president of the British South Africa Company (later Anglo American), and also former prime minister of the Cape Colony (1904-1908). Because the First World War was still raging at the time of his death, his body was reportedly laid in a vault at Kensal Green Cemetery where it remained until the end of the war.
After the First World War, Jameson's body was carried to the Matopo Hills and on May 22, 1920, was buried in a grave at 'The View of the World', next to Cecil John Rhodes. It is worth pointing out that Jameson had been knighted by Queen Victoria with the Order of the Bath being bestowed upon him in 1894 after his savage massacre of the Ndebeles.
It is perhaps a curious or tragic historic irony that a certain Robert Mugabe was also knighted with the same Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth after his Gukurahundi "moment of madness" that left over 20,000 Ndebeles dead.
When the first Prime Minister of Rhodesia, one Charles Patrick Coghlan died on August 14, 1930, he was buried at the Matopo Hills' 'View of the World'. On July 3, 2010, Dr Joshua Nkomo's son, Sibangilizwe Nkomo, announced that prior to his death, Dr Joshua Nkomo had confided to his family that he wanted to be buried at the Matopo Hills near King Mzilikazi's grave, a fact confirmed by James Chikerema and Ndabaningi Sithole at the time of Nkomo's burial.
Given the aforesaid, it is clear that the Matopo Hills, in particular the World's View, which was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO is the rightful place where national heroes' bones should be interred. The sooner the remains of the likes of Lookout Masuku and others are re-buried at the Matopo Hills next to King Mzilikazi, the better.
Gibson Sibanda, who died recently and was hailed by all and sundry as a figure befitting a hero status, should have been buried at the Matopo Hills shrine. The remains of Prince Nkulumane, whose grave is still under the custodianship of the Royal Bafokeng King in Rustenburg, South Africa, need to be exhumed and re-buried at the Matopo Hills shrine since he was the first Ndebele king in Zimbabwe in 1837-1839, prior to the arrival of his father King Mzilikazi.
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Colls Ndlovu is a South Africa-based history researcher currently writing a book about the assassination of King Lobengula. A royal enthusiast, Ndlovu's professional background is in banking and finance
The ongoing debate about the burial of heroes at the Heroes Acre and the refusal to consecrate others in that shrine coincides with the annual commemorations of King Mzilikazi. The historical significance of King Mzilikazi's death is paramount because his burial and the site of his grave provide an answer to the alternative shrine where heroes who have been snubbed by the powers-that-be in Harare could be laid to rest.
In this respect, one does not need to be a tsikamutanda to know that heroes like General Lookout Masuku, Ndabaningi Sithole, Makhathini Guduza, James Chikerema and numerous others should have been given the due honour of resting at a national shrine. But at the whims and caprices of a certain brood of individuals, these heroes were, at the stroke of a pen, declared non-heroes.
Consequently, the controversy about national heroes and their burial compels me to leap a bit into imagination and approach the debate dispassionately from a historical perspective.
When King Mzilikazi died, he was laid to rest by his warriors at the Matopo Hills. In 2003, UNESCO conferred the The Matobo Hills with the status of a World Heritage site.
Sir Robert Tredgold, the former Chief Justice of Southern Rhodesia described the Matopo Hills as having an oracular attraction of their own:
"There is something about the Matopos that is quite distinctive. Scenes of unbelievable beauty and wildness. Moreover, an account of nearly every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos".
The peace agreement that ended the 1896/97 Ndebele and Shona rebellion against white settler rule was eventually reached at the Matopo Hills, which was presided over by Rhodes and the African indunas. The enigmatic oracular and Delphic attraction of the Matopos was felt by Cecil John Rhodes himself leading him to assert unequivocally in his will that:
"I admire the grandeur and loneliness of the Matopos in Rhodesia and therefore I desire to be buried in the Matopos on the hill which I used to visit and which I called a 'View of the World,' in a square to be cut in the rock on the top of the hill, covered with a plain brass plate with the words thereon: 'Here lie the remains of Cecil John Rhodes."
Pursuant to Cecil John Rhodes' death in Cape Town in 1902, his body was Waggoner all the way to the Delphic Matopos and on April 10, 1902, Rhodes was buried at the Matopos' 'View of the World'. His grave lies within a short distance from that of King Mzilikazi.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the remains of Major Allan Wilson and all those who took part in the barbaric pursuit of King Lobengula leading to the king's death on December 4, 1893, in the final battle across the Shangani River were eventually interred at the Matopos, next to Rhodes' grave.
Today, the major's epitaph reads: "Erected to the enduring memory of Allan Wilson and his men who fell in fight against the Matabele on the Shangani River, December 4th, 1893. There was no survivor."
It is also significant to note that there was no survivor in that ill-fated battle. Sir Robert Tredgold's remarks that "… nearly every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos" provides a spectacular clue as to the fate of King Lobengula.
When Allan Wilson and his savage battalion armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction, pursued King Lobengula, eventually shooting him to death at point blank range, after ordering him to "… step forward and surrender yourself", the response of the King's body guards was in typical kamikaze style, and as fate has it, no-one survived.
But what is significant is the fact that soon after that incident, Cecil John Rhodes soon appears alongside Dr Leander Starr Jameson. One would recall that Jameson had initially written to King Lobengula advising him to surrender or face bloodshed prior to the king's decampment from Bulawayo.
It is, therefore, without doubt that King Lobengula's burial was secretly supervised by Rhodes and Jameson fearing the political repercussions that were already taking place in London, where massive protests were being waged by the Aborigines Protection Society. There were more protests at the House of Lords led by Lord Labouchere and others who were calling for an inquiry into Allan Wilson's savagery that resulted in the sacrilegious assassination of King Lobengula.
The exact spot of where King Lobengula was buried is therefore contained in Tredgold's unwitting statement that "… every incident of historical importance in Matabeleland seems to lead back to the Matopos". A cursory look at the pattern in which King Lobengula's children were buried by Rhodes in particular, provides a lead as to where the Ndebele king was buried, i.e. at the Matopo Hills, not far from his father the legendary King Mzilikazi.
When King Lobengula's son Nguboyenja died and was buried at Matopo Hills. On July 13, 1960, Sidojiwe, another child of King Lobengula, died and was buried at the Matopo Hills.
On November 26, 1917, Dr Leander Starr Jameson died in London. Jameson was the first Administrator of Rhodesia, former president of the British South Africa Company (later Anglo American), and also former prime minister of the Cape Colony (1904-1908). Because the First World War was still raging at the time of his death, his body was reportedly laid in a vault at Kensal Green Cemetery where it remained until the end of the war.
After the First World War, Jameson's body was carried to the Matopo Hills and on May 22, 1920, was buried in a grave at 'The View of the World', next to Cecil John Rhodes. It is worth pointing out that Jameson had been knighted by Queen Victoria with the Order of the Bath being bestowed upon him in 1894 after his savage massacre of the Ndebeles.
It is perhaps a curious or tragic historic irony that a certain Robert Mugabe was also knighted with the same Order of the Bath by Queen Elizabeth after his Gukurahundi "moment of madness" that left over 20,000 Ndebeles dead.
When the first Prime Minister of Rhodesia, one Charles Patrick Coghlan died on August 14, 1930, he was buried at the Matopo Hills' 'View of the World'. On July 3, 2010, Dr Joshua Nkomo's son, Sibangilizwe Nkomo, announced that prior to his death, Dr Joshua Nkomo had confided to his family that he wanted to be buried at the Matopo Hills near King Mzilikazi's grave, a fact confirmed by James Chikerema and Ndabaningi Sithole at the time of Nkomo's burial.
Given the aforesaid, it is clear that the Matopo Hills, in particular the World's View, which was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO is the rightful place where national heroes' bones should be interred. The sooner the remains of the likes of Lookout Masuku and others are re-buried at the Matopo Hills next to King Mzilikazi, the better.
Gibson Sibanda, who died recently and was hailed by all and sundry as a figure befitting a hero status, should have been buried at the Matopo Hills shrine. The remains of Prince Nkulumane, whose grave is still under the custodianship of the Royal Bafokeng King in Rustenburg, South Africa, need to be exhumed and re-buried at the Matopo Hills shrine since he was the first Ndebele king in Zimbabwe in 1837-1839, prior to the arrival of his father King Mzilikazi.
-----------------------
Colls Ndlovu is a South Africa-based history researcher currently writing a book about the assassination of King Lobengula. A royal enthusiast, Ndlovu's professional background is in banking and finance
Source - Colls Ndlovu
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