Opinion / Columnist
Uchuku Olwenziwa ngoPasi Luzwisa Ubuhlungu Project #5
26 Aug 2016 at 21:07hrs | Views
Ngangileminyaka engu 21 ngoMbimbitho ngonyaka ka 1983. Saqala sisizwa ngokubulawa kwabantu ngamasotsha eSt Luke's eLupane. Kungensuku ngaki yatheleka iGukurahundi esikolo sethu seJotsholo Secondary. Kwangeniswa wonke umuntu eklasini eyodwa, abanye bafinqana ngaphansi kwamatafula. Sasesitshelwa ukuthi sizobulawa, omunye wabopasi wathi, "Arikupi S...? Ngaauye pano!" etsho eqamba ibizo lesibongo somfana esasifunda sonke. Ngenhlanhla ke wayengekho umfowethu lowo owayezafela ukuthi wayeke waba kwele Botswana njengesiphepheli njengami.
Sasuka lapho esikolo sasiwa ezitolo lapho esathola khona kubuthaniswe khona abantu bonke, betshaywa, beqakeziswa behlatsheliswa o'madisnyongoro' njalo benziswa amaslogan eZanu.
Kwakhethwa abantu munye ngamunye abantu besiwa eRest Camp ukuyahlukunyezwa baze bafe. Ijaha elalisebenza esikolo labulawa phambi kwenduna ngemva kokutshwaywa kwabo bobabili. Lelojaha labulawelwa egodini elazembela lona. Kanti enye indoda eyayingu nurse bayikhupha amehlo babukisa ngayo emgwaqweni anduba bayiyeke yophe ize ife.
Mina ngazama ukuthatha ibhasi ngiye koBulawayo, kanti sengizithelile. Ibhasi yayingavunyelwa ukuma ngaphandle kwalapho okule roadblock khona. Sesise Kenmaur eduze leSt Luke's Hospital sabathola bengama tshumitshumi opasi. Kwakhala ubhulo, ugodo, ucingo, isidindi kanye lenkemba (bayonet) yombhobho.
Ngamiswa duze lelinye ijaha elalihlaliswe duze lesihogo somlilo, amazinyo alo esekhumulelwe phandle kungathi zimpondo, ulimi lalo seludonselwe phandle selulude njengomchilo lugcwele igazi lenhlabathi. Lanxa baphosela unyawo lwakhe emlilweni kazange alususe ngoba lwaseluzimvava nje, amathambo ombala ethutshuze inyama avela phandle.
Kwenzeka konke lokhu opasi babehlabela, begida besidla inyama. Sengikhahlelwe ngabhuqwabhuqwa kwathiwa angivume ukuthi ngilidissident njalo babethi angichaze ukuthi umbhobho wami ungaphi. Ngatshelwa ukuthi ngivalelise osetshayiwe ngimtshele ukuthi lami ngiyalandela. Ngehluleka ukukwenza lokho ngoba ngangingaselavalo.
Omunye wabopasi weza lenkemba wamjuja esifubeni ujaha loya. Kwalandela ukuntshaza kwegazi elingaamahlwili, yena waqhwitsha kanye wafa. Ngahlaliswa phezu kwakhe kwathiwa ngiqakeze bona behlabela begida. Ngasukuma ngoba umlilo wawusungihangula. Basebesithi ngimdonsele eceleni kwawo - ngehluleka ngoba isidumbu sinzima njalo ngangingasakwazi ukuthi ngenzeni.
Bamhudula behlabela, kwathiwa ngilandele. Bamphosela phezu kwabanye ababefile ababeyinqumbi eceleni komgwaqo ngaphandle kocingo. Lapho kwasukuma uzhizhi lwempukane kwangathi ngumhlambi wenyosi. Kwakungabalesikhathi befile labo, lokhu phela ngabona izinja zidonselana ingalo yomuntu eyayilomkhono wejesi.
Ngazibona sengihluthunwa lipholisa lingifuqela ebhasini, yona eyayilokhu imi lapho. Ekufikeni kwami koBulawayo ngathola umbiko othi umama ubulewe kunye labanye abalitshumi nambili eTsholotsho.
English translation
I was 21 years in March of 1983. We started off hearing of people being killed by soldiers in St Luke's. Before long the gukurahundi soldiers got to our school of Jotsholo Secondary. Everyone was put in one class with some having to find room under the desks. We were told that we are going to be killed. One of the fifth brigade soldiers asked where is So and so? He was asking him to come to the front. He said this mentioning the name of one guy we were in the same class with. It was by luck that he wasn't there. They wanted to kill him because like me he had been a refugee in Botswana during the war of liberation like I also had been.
We were moved from the school and taken to where there are shops where where we found even more gathered. They were being beaten while being made to clap hands and being made to sing songs one of which was titled o'madisnyongoro'. They were also made to chant Zanu slogans.
From those gathered some were selected to be taken to Rest Camp to be tortured till they died. One young man who worked at the school was killed in front of the local Chief after both him and the Chief were severely beaten. The young man was killed inside a grave he himself had been made to dig. Another guy who was a nurse had his eyes gorged out and the soldiers made a spectacle out of him and they let him bleed until he died.
I tried to get onto a bus to Bulawayo not knowing that i was getting myself into more trouble. Buses were no longer allowed to stop at any bus stop, only where they were roadblocks. When we got to Kenmaur near St Luke's we found a lot of the fifth brigade soldiers. We were beaten by sticks, wires, gun butts and bayonets.
I was made to stand near this other guy who was standing near a bonfire. His teeth were out like horns and his tongue had been pulled out it was full of blood and soil. Even when they put his leg into the fire he made no effort to take it out as it had been crushed to the point of having bones show.
All this happened with the fifth brigade soldiers singing, dancing and eating meat. After I had been kicked and made to roll on the ground the soldiers said i should admit I was a dissident. They said they wanted to know where my gun was hidden. I was told to say goodbye to the person who had been severely beaten and tell him that I too was next. I couldn't do that because I was no longer afraid.
One of the soldiers came with a bayonet and stabbed the person who had been beaten senseless on the chest. Blood shot out and he twitched once and died. I was made to sit on top of him while they continued clapping hands, singing and dancing. I stood up because the fire was now too much. They said i should put him into the fire. I couldn't because a corpse is heavy and I was also at my wit's end.
They dragged him singing and they said i should follow them. They threw him on top of a heap of people who were dead that was next to the road. Flies like a swarm of bees went up. It was apparent it had been sometime since these people had been killed I saw dogs fighting over someone's arm that still had a jersey on it.
Next thing i knew a police officer grabbed me forcefully and pushed me towards the bus that was still by the roadblock. When i got Bulawayo i got news that my mother had been killed with twelve others in Tsholotsho.
To share your stories about what happened during gugurahundi horrors email veapndlovu@gmail.com or Whatsapp +27824407756. Anonymity guaranteed if requested.
Sasuka lapho esikolo sasiwa ezitolo lapho esathola khona kubuthaniswe khona abantu bonke, betshaywa, beqakeziswa behlatsheliswa o'madisnyongoro' njalo benziswa amaslogan eZanu.
Kwakhethwa abantu munye ngamunye abantu besiwa eRest Camp ukuyahlukunyezwa baze bafe. Ijaha elalisebenza esikolo labulawa phambi kwenduna ngemva kokutshwaywa kwabo bobabili. Lelojaha labulawelwa egodini elazembela lona. Kanti enye indoda eyayingu nurse bayikhupha amehlo babukisa ngayo emgwaqweni anduba bayiyeke yophe ize ife.
Mina ngazama ukuthatha ibhasi ngiye koBulawayo, kanti sengizithelile. Ibhasi yayingavunyelwa ukuma ngaphandle kwalapho okule roadblock khona. Sesise Kenmaur eduze leSt Luke's Hospital sabathola bengama tshumitshumi opasi. Kwakhala ubhulo, ugodo, ucingo, isidindi kanye lenkemba (bayonet) yombhobho.
Ngamiswa duze lelinye ijaha elalihlaliswe duze lesihogo somlilo, amazinyo alo esekhumulelwe phandle kungathi zimpondo, ulimi lalo seludonselwe phandle selulude njengomchilo lugcwele igazi lenhlabathi. Lanxa baphosela unyawo lwakhe emlilweni kazange alususe ngoba lwaseluzimvava nje, amathambo ombala ethutshuze inyama avela phandle.
Kwenzeka konke lokhu opasi babehlabela, begida besidla inyama. Sengikhahlelwe ngabhuqwabhuqwa kwathiwa angivume ukuthi ngilidissident njalo babethi angichaze ukuthi umbhobho wami ungaphi. Ngatshelwa ukuthi ngivalelise osetshayiwe ngimtshele ukuthi lami ngiyalandela. Ngehluleka ukukwenza lokho ngoba ngangingaselavalo.
Omunye wabopasi weza lenkemba wamjuja esifubeni ujaha loya. Kwalandela ukuntshaza kwegazi elingaamahlwili, yena waqhwitsha kanye wafa. Ngahlaliswa phezu kwakhe kwathiwa ngiqakeze bona behlabela begida. Ngasukuma ngoba umlilo wawusungihangula. Basebesithi ngimdonsele eceleni kwawo - ngehluleka ngoba isidumbu sinzima njalo ngangingasakwazi ukuthi ngenzeni.
Bamhudula behlabela, kwathiwa ngilandele. Bamphosela phezu kwabanye ababefile ababeyinqumbi eceleni komgwaqo ngaphandle kocingo. Lapho kwasukuma uzhizhi lwempukane kwangathi ngumhlambi wenyosi. Kwakungabalesikhathi befile labo, lokhu phela ngabona izinja zidonselana ingalo yomuntu eyayilomkhono wejesi.
Ngazibona sengihluthunwa lipholisa lingifuqela ebhasini, yona eyayilokhu imi lapho. Ekufikeni kwami koBulawayo ngathola umbiko othi umama ubulewe kunye labanye abalitshumi nambili eTsholotsho.
English translation
I was 21 years in March of 1983. We started off hearing of people being killed by soldiers in St Luke's. Before long the gukurahundi soldiers got to our school of Jotsholo Secondary. Everyone was put in one class with some having to find room under the desks. We were told that we are going to be killed. One of the fifth brigade soldiers asked where is So and so? He was asking him to come to the front. He said this mentioning the name of one guy we were in the same class with. It was by luck that he wasn't there. They wanted to kill him because like me he had been a refugee in Botswana during the war of liberation like I also had been.
We were moved from the school and taken to where there are shops where where we found even more gathered. They were being beaten while being made to clap hands and being made to sing songs one of which was titled o'madisnyongoro'. They were also made to chant Zanu slogans.
From those gathered some were selected to be taken to Rest Camp to be tortured till they died. One young man who worked at the school was killed in front of the local Chief after both him and the Chief were severely beaten. The young man was killed inside a grave he himself had been made to dig. Another guy who was a nurse had his eyes gorged out and the soldiers made a spectacle out of him and they let him bleed until he died.
I tried to get onto a bus to Bulawayo not knowing that i was getting myself into more trouble. Buses were no longer allowed to stop at any bus stop, only where they were roadblocks. When we got to Kenmaur near St Luke's we found a lot of the fifth brigade soldiers. We were beaten by sticks, wires, gun butts and bayonets.
I was made to stand near this other guy who was standing near a bonfire. His teeth were out like horns and his tongue had been pulled out it was full of blood and soil. Even when they put his leg into the fire he made no effort to take it out as it had been crushed to the point of having bones show.
All this happened with the fifth brigade soldiers singing, dancing and eating meat. After I had been kicked and made to roll on the ground the soldiers said i should admit I was a dissident. They said they wanted to know where my gun was hidden. I was told to say goodbye to the person who had been severely beaten and tell him that I too was next. I couldn't do that because I was no longer afraid.
One of the soldiers came with a bayonet and stabbed the person who had been beaten senseless on the chest. Blood shot out and he twitched once and died. I was made to sit on top of him while they continued clapping hands, singing and dancing. I stood up because the fire was now too much. They said i should put him into the fire. I couldn't because a corpse is heavy and I was also at my wit's end.
They dragged him singing and they said i should follow them. They threw him on top of a heap of people who were dead that was next to the road. Flies like a swarm of bees went up. It was apparent it had been sometime since these people had been killed I saw dogs fighting over someone's arm that still had a jersey on it.
Next thing i knew a police officer grabbed me forcefully and pushed me towards the bus that was still by the roadblock. When i got Bulawayo i got news that my mother had been killed with twelve others in Tsholotsho.
To share your stories about what happened during gugurahundi horrors email veapndlovu@gmail.com or Whatsapp +27824407756. Anonymity guaranteed if requested.
Source - Veap Ndlovu
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