Opinion / Columnist
Does Mugabe speak Ndebele or not?
04 Nov 2013 at 10:10hrs | Views
If there is anyone out there who knows for real and without any equivocation whether or not president Robert Mugabe speaks Ndebele, can that person kindly confirm this fact during Mugabe's lifetime so that such a benign but significant issue is not relegated to future historians to ponder upon.
It is an indubitable truism that, notwithstanding his so-called "moments of madness" Mugabe is an erudite president. Arising from this assertion is the corollary question as to how president Mugabe's supposed learnedness could have been exclusive of a national language like Ndebele that has been all over his face dating back to his birth way back in 1924.
In Mugabe's close circle of friends has invariably always included a coterie of Ndebele luminaries, not least among them Dr Joshua Nkomo, and, of course his [Mugabe's] best friend, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo who served as Mugabe's best man at his wedding to the late Sally Mugabe in the 1970s. It baffles and befuddles the mind how such an individual cannot be fluent in a language that has been part and parcel of his struggle life since birth.
To leap a bit into historical imagination, in 2002 when Dr Nkosana Moyo resigned from cabinet, president Mugabe harshly reprimanded him asserting that he needed "amadoda sibili" (strong men). There is the president making an important government principle in the Ndebele language. Another long standing term in his party which refers to new leaders who happen to join his party is "omafikizolo" (those who have just arrived).
The late Zanu-pf leaning historian, Dr Stan Mudenge, speaking at the Lupane State University's (Matebeleland North) inaugural graduation ceremony unambiguously stated without any equivocation that Mugabe had Ndebele ancestry, as his grandfather served King Lobengula adding that the President had fascinating roots in Matabeleland that were not always known to the general public.
"His grandfather, was in the service of King Lobengula in the 19 th Century, during which he acquired and absorbed the Ndebele culture and language," [Mudenge].
According to Dr Mudenge, when the President's grandfather returned to Zvimba, the colonial native commissioners (noting his Ndebele cultural traits) began calling him "Matibili," the colonialists' pronunciation of Matebele. The "Matibili" is now officially part of Mugabe's totem, albeit with the "l" having been conveniently twisted to "r" to Shonalise it, according to Mudenge. Moreover, it is a well known historical fact that the president's father went on to marry a Ndebele lady, MaTshuma as his second wife, mother to some of the president's siblings who therefore have both Ndebele and Shona DNA.
It is also a matter of public record that president Mugabe taught at a number of schools in Matebeleland inclusive of Empandeni Mission near Plumtree, Hope Fountain Mission outside Bulawayo, inter alia. Some of her students at Hope Fountain went on to become political luminaries, e.g. former provincial Governor Angeline Masuku, struggle hero Mrs Thenjiwe Lesabe (who was head girl), and MaDlodlo, wife of the late struggle icon Welshman Mabhena.
The question about whether president Mugabe can speak Ndebele or not is also given impetus by his recent landslide victory in certain Matebeleland provinces. Just a few days ago, he was reportedly expressing his gratitude to the people of Matebeleland South, telling that that "..sanqoba" (we won), adding that Morgan Tsvangirai has been to "America, UK ....angazi (I don't know where else). To cap it all, every hour the ZBC broadcasts the news in Shona and repeats these verbatim in Ndebele meaning that a person at head of state and commander in chief levels would be expected to be conversant in such an important language like Ndebele which can enable him to have conversations in vernacular with his peers from South Africa, Swaziland, etc etc.
Mugabe's ritualistic and perennial independence day "Amhlophe" (Makorokoto) congratulatory messages are also cases in point where the president uses Ndebele words selectively. Whenever he addresses a South African audience, his trademark "simunye" or "siyabonga" are always conspicuously present, which are all Ndebele phrases. The several years that president Mugabe spent in the Eastern Cape in South Africa's Fort Hare University also are significant since that is the region where words like "siyanqoba" originate from alongside Highlanders FC's emblematic "Siyinqaba" that was originally imported by Highlanders FC's founder Rhodes Lobengula Khumalo who was born in the Eastern Cape near Fort Hare.
Given the foregoing, my humble guess is that the president is perhaps fluent in Ndebele. Angazi. But as the opening paragraph begs: if there is anyone out there who knows for real whether or not President Mugabe speaks Ndebele, can that person kindly confirm this without any equivocation.
It is an indubitable truism that, notwithstanding his so-called "moments of madness" Mugabe is an erudite president. Arising from this assertion is the corollary question as to how president Mugabe's supposed learnedness could have been exclusive of a national language like Ndebele that has been all over his face dating back to his birth way back in 1924.
In Mugabe's close circle of friends has invariably always included a coterie of Ndebele luminaries, not least among them Dr Joshua Nkomo, and, of course his [Mugabe's] best friend, Jason Ziyaphapha Moyo who served as Mugabe's best man at his wedding to the late Sally Mugabe in the 1970s. It baffles and befuddles the mind how such an individual cannot be fluent in a language that has been part and parcel of his struggle life since birth.
To leap a bit into historical imagination, in 2002 when Dr Nkosana Moyo resigned from cabinet, president Mugabe harshly reprimanded him asserting that he needed "amadoda sibili" (strong men). There is the president making an important government principle in the Ndebele language. Another long standing term in his party which refers to new leaders who happen to join his party is "omafikizolo" (those who have just arrived).
The late Zanu-pf leaning historian, Dr Stan Mudenge, speaking at the Lupane State University's (Matebeleland North) inaugural graduation ceremony unambiguously stated without any equivocation that Mugabe had Ndebele ancestry, as his grandfather served King Lobengula adding that the President had fascinating roots in Matabeleland that were not always known to the general public.
"His grandfather, was in the service of King Lobengula in the 19 th Century, during which he acquired and absorbed the Ndebele culture and language," [Mudenge].
It is also a matter of public record that president Mugabe taught at a number of schools in Matebeleland inclusive of Empandeni Mission near Plumtree, Hope Fountain Mission outside Bulawayo, inter alia. Some of her students at Hope Fountain went on to become political luminaries, e.g. former provincial Governor Angeline Masuku, struggle hero Mrs Thenjiwe Lesabe (who was head girl), and MaDlodlo, wife of the late struggle icon Welshman Mabhena.
The question about whether president Mugabe can speak Ndebele or not is also given impetus by his recent landslide victory in certain Matebeleland provinces. Just a few days ago, he was reportedly expressing his gratitude to the people of Matebeleland South, telling that that "..sanqoba" (we won), adding that Morgan Tsvangirai has been to "America, UK ....angazi (I don't know where else). To cap it all, every hour the ZBC broadcasts the news in Shona and repeats these verbatim in Ndebele meaning that a person at head of state and commander in chief levels would be expected to be conversant in such an important language like Ndebele which can enable him to have conversations in vernacular with his peers from South Africa, Swaziland, etc etc.
Mugabe's ritualistic and perennial independence day "Amhlophe" (Makorokoto) congratulatory messages are also cases in point where the president uses Ndebele words selectively. Whenever he addresses a South African audience, his trademark "simunye" or "siyabonga" are always conspicuously present, which are all Ndebele phrases. The several years that president Mugabe spent in the Eastern Cape in South Africa's Fort Hare University also are significant since that is the region where words like "siyanqoba" originate from alongside Highlanders FC's emblematic "Siyinqaba" that was originally imported by Highlanders FC's founder Rhodes Lobengula Khumalo who was born in the Eastern Cape near Fort Hare.
Given the foregoing, my humble guess is that the president is perhaps fluent in Ndebele. Angazi. But as the opening paragraph begs: if there is anyone out there who knows for real whether or not President Mugabe speaks Ndebele, can that person kindly confirm this without any equivocation.
Source - Colls Ndlovu
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