News / National
Gallant former Zipra cadre laid to rest
11 Oct 2013 at 02:06hrs | Views
Cde Victor Maphosa aka Joshua Zulu
One of former Zipra Forces' finest cadres was laid to rest in South Africa recently after succumbing to an illness at Tambo Memorial Hospital in Johannesburg.
The burial at Rodenbult Cemetary in Boksburg was attended by a number of former Zipra and Umkonto Wesizwe war veterans of Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively.
Popularly known by his nom de guerre "Joshua Zulu," Cde Victor Maphosa was born in August 1960, the fifth child in a family of seven sons and one daughter of Mzanywa Maphosa and Tlale Ndlovu of Gohole, Maphisa in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe.
He completed his primary education in his home area before joining the liberation struggle in Zambia in the late 1970s.
In Zambia, he was placed at ZAPU's Jason Ziyaphapha Camp just outside Lusaka where he studied diligently and completed his secondary school.
Upon completion of his secondary education, Cde Maphosa was one of a number of cadres that were recruited into the ranks of ZAPU's former military wing, the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA and sent to Libya for specialized training in conventional desert warfare at Sebastian Military Academy in Tripoli.
The group graduated and returned to Zimbabwe in 1981 after the attainment of independence. Some of the cadres including Maphosa were recruited into the structures of the Zimbabwe National Army where Maphosa served as a Lieutenant. He and other former Zipra cadres were subsequently detained, tortured and finally dismissed from the army during the period when the former Zipra Commander Lookout Masuku and Intelligence chief and current Zapu President Dabengwa were arraigned.
Following the death of his first wife in the 1980s, Cde Maphosa relocated to South Africa and has been working and living in the Johannesburg area since. He also had six additional children, three boys and three girls.
Cde Maphosa will be remembered for his penchant for collecting cars but above all, his love for his country and the respect he commanded among his colleagues. He is survived by his eight children, five boys and three girls.
The burial at Rodenbult Cemetary in Boksburg was attended by a number of former Zipra and Umkonto Wesizwe war veterans of Zimbabwe and South Africa respectively.
Popularly known by his nom de guerre "Joshua Zulu," Cde Victor Maphosa was born in August 1960, the fifth child in a family of seven sons and one daughter of Mzanywa Maphosa and Tlale Ndlovu of Gohole, Maphisa in the Matabeleland South Province of Zimbabwe.
He completed his primary education in his home area before joining the liberation struggle in Zambia in the late 1970s.
Upon completion of his secondary education, Cde Maphosa was one of a number of cadres that were recruited into the ranks of ZAPU's former military wing, the Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army, ZIPRA and sent to Libya for specialized training in conventional desert warfare at Sebastian Military Academy in Tripoli.
The group graduated and returned to Zimbabwe in 1981 after the attainment of independence. Some of the cadres including Maphosa were recruited into the structures of the Zimbabwe National Army where Maphosa served as a Lieutenant. He and other former Zipra cadres were subsequently detained, tortured and finally dismissed from the army during the period when the former Zipra Commander Lookout Masuku and Intelligence chief and current Zapu President Dabengwa were arraigned.
Following the death of his first wife in the 1980s, Cde Maphosa relocated to South Africa and has been working and living in the Johannesburg area since. He also had six additional children, three boys and three girls.
Cde Maphosa will be remembered for his penchant for collecting cars but above all, his love for his country and the respect he commanded among his colleagues. He is survived by his eight children, five boys and three girls.
Source - Byo24News
