Newly-appointed South African Minister of State Security
Ayanda Dlodlo has said liberation icon and ex-Cabinet minister Dr Dumiso
Dabengwa ranks high among the region’s liberators.
Dr Dabengwa affectionately known as “The Black Russian” died
in Nairobi, Kenya last Thursday enroute to Zimbabwe from India where he had
gone to receive medical treatment.
He was 79. In an interview with Chronicle, Minister Dlodlo,
a veteran of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the African National
Congress (ANC), revealed how they used to sing about Dr Dabengwa and other
leaders of the liberation struggle as motivation in the fight to end apartheid
rule.
“I know ubaba uDabengwa. I was not in his generation, I did
not come from the Luthuli detachment that fought alongside Zipra, (but) I was
generations later in the 80s. In Umkhonto we Sizwe, we used to sing about ubaba
Dabengwa, Joshua Nkomo, Samora Machel and other leaders of the struggle,” said
Minister Dlodlo, who joined the liberation struggle at the age of 17.
“I’m not confused about his contribution towards the
liberation of both Zimbabwe and South Africa. He stands out in the top of the
list of the prominent liberators in our region.”
Minister Dlodlo, who, like Dr Dabengwa, also received training
in Moscow, Russsia, recalled the collaboration between Zipra and MK and the
famous Wankie and Sipolilo operations of 1967 and 1968 respectively.
“The Luthuli detachment fought alongside Zipra in the
Wankie and Sipolilo battles, some of the famous battles in the war to liberate
both countries. The umbilical cord between Zipra and MK is very strong and it
is difficult for some of us to shake off that umbilical cord,” she said.
A Zapu report to the Central Committee to the party’s 1984
congress, the late liberation founding father Dr Joshua Nkomo said of the two
campaigns: “One of the most important experiences of the armed struggle was
contained in the Wankie/Sipolilo.
Campaigns of 1967 and 1968. Using the experiences of the
1960s these became the first large scale operations ever launched in Zimbabwe,
which involved several men. These campaigns were planned and jointly led by
ZPRA and MK commanders.
“Their full history is yet to be told like so much of our
rich history of the liberation struggle. But we would like to mention two
important aspects of these campaigns. In the first place, because of the scale
of the fighting and the outstanding courage of our fighters, these battles had
a profound effect on the people of Zimbabwe,” said Dr Nkomo then.
“They showed that it was possible to tackle the enemy on
our own soil with modern weapons and inflict serious damage on the regime. They
showed that the racists were not as invincible as they claimed.”
Minister Dlodlo said she got to know Dr Dabengwa in the
1980s as the MK had a safe house opposite the Zipra intelligence supremo’s
farm.
“I got to know him later in life; we had a safe house in
Bulawayo opposite his farm. When he was arrested in the 1980s, our safe house
was raided too, but I had travelled to Harare to get some money. It was at that
time that I got to know more about Dabengwa,” she said.
On a personal note, Minister Dlodlo said over the years,
she and the Dabengwa family established a strong relationship.
“When I got to South Africa I made it a point to get to
know him and we eventually met later when he visited the country. We developed
a friendship and I also got to meet his family, including his wife (Zodwa) and
his children,” said Minister Dlodlo.
She said because of the friendship with the family, she
personally assisted the family when the body of Dr Dabengwa arrived in South
Africa from Kenya in arranging logistics that it be flown to Zimbabwe.
Minister Dlodlo was one of the first high profile people to
send condolence messages following the death of Dr Dabengwa on Thursday last
week. Chronicle
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