mbulelo smpofu
WE continue our interview with former freedom fighter and senior officer in the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services (ZPCS), Commissioner (Rtd) Claydon Seula pseudonym Cde Sizwe Ngcobo. During the armed struggle, Comm (Rtd) Seula worked as an intelligence officer attached to the ZPRA communications division. In our last instalment, he told our Assistant Editor Mkhululi Sibanda (MS) how he joined the armed struggle in Zambia from South Africa. In this week’s edition, he resumes the interview by talking about being deployed to the security unit of General Rogers Mangena aka Cde Alfred Nikita, who was the ZPRA commander then. Below are excerpts from the interview.
MS: For this week’s installment let us start from what happened when you finished your training at Mlungushi.
Comm (Rtd) Seula: The ZPRA commander, Nikita visited during our sixth month of training and was not happy with what he saw. He said we were still raw, we had not yet reached the level he wanted, so they should add another month. We ended up having our pass-out parade in November of 1977. Initially, the Commander-In-Chief, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo was supposed to come as the reviewing officer with Cde Nikita, but they did not grace the occasion. Instead, senior commanders Tjile Nleya (Ben Mathe), now National Hero Colonel Harold Chirenda who was known as Cde Elliot Masengo are the ones who attended our event. Also present were Richard Dube (Gedi), Marshal Mpofu and Cephas Khupe who were part of the command element at Mlungushi together with officers from the Zambian Defence Forces. After that, some comrades were selected to go for further training in countries such as the Soviet Union while I was picked by General Mangena to be part of his security team.
MS: Why did Mangena choose you?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: I do not know. I do not know what the commander saw in me. I was deployed to the intelligence unit where I worked under senior cadres such as now Brigadier-General (Rtd) Abel Mazinyane. I lived in the same house as Cde Mangena until his death in June 1978.
MS: Tell us about Mangena’s death, there is a theory that it was an inside job while others insist the landmine that killed him was planted by the Rhodesian forces. What is your take on that?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: General Mangena was killed by the enemy, the Rhodesian forces, there is no doubt about that. Mangena travelled to Kabanga with other senior commanders such as Cdes Enoch Tshangane (Jevan Maseko), Eddie Sigoge, Gedi and Jack Mpofu to go and assess the situation where our troops had been killed in an ambush by the Rhodesian forces. What made the situation worse was that one of the cadres killed there was a senior commander, Cde Assaf Ndida who was on a mission to deploy those comrades. I had also wanted to accompany Cde Mangena but he ordered me to remain behind. I was left at the ZPRA HQ with comrades such as Kenny Murwira (Jeffery Ndlovu), who was the Adjutant-General, that is the Chief Clerk of the army and now Brigadier-General Mpandasekwa Muzheri. It should have been on 28 June 1978 when Kenny was called to the Liberation Centre. After an hour-and-a-half he shared the sad news of the death of Cde Mangena.
MS: How was the news of the death of Mangena received among the troops and Zapu cadres, the non-militants?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: You probably cannot believe this. While some were shocked and mourning a gallant son of the soil and an excellent commander, some people openly celebrated the death of a fellow comrade at the hands of the Rhodesians. Some were overheard saying “utsotsi uze wafa”. Some people I will not mention by name even came to me and said “Since utsotsi is dead where are you going to go”.
His death came after Mangena had been shot and injured by some renegades among the ZPRA forces at the Freedom Camp (FC), which was our military headquarters then.
MS: With Mangena dead where were you deployed after that?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: Kenny Murwira one day came to me and said all along it had been Mangena’s wish that I be trained in military communication. So he advised that I had been selected to go for an aptitude test in Maths, Science and English. I did very well and was sent to the Soviet Union for training in military communication. Among the cadres I was sent with to the Soviet Union was Cde Benefit, Colonel Newo Nare who was killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Others were Mathias Moyo, Eric Nkobi, Nxele, Scariot, Jabu, Mbodla and Advance among others. We spent six months in the Soviet Union. Our training covered radio communication gadgets such as the Ultra High Frequency (UHF), which is what is called the R26. That one has a small range covering a distance of about 2km. It is usually used between platoons. There was also the VHF, which is the Very High Frequency, the R28.
This one has a range of 50km and is useful in a battalion.
MS: Alright, please go on.
Comm (Rtd) Seula: We also covered the R104, the Moscod that sends coded information only, so we were trained to decipher the coded messages. We were also trained in bush telephones, which our troops like the First Battalion that was commanded by Madliwa (Stanford Khumalo) when it fought in a battle that lasted almost a week near Kariba in October 1979 used them. Those bush telephones consist of hardened fibre glass, which is laid down in the bush to connect units.
MS: After your training in the Soviet Union where were you deployed?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: Myself and Nare were deployed to the ZPRA HQ where General Lookout Masuku had taken over the command. It was during that time when it was decided that the ZPRA HQ be moved from the Freedom Camp. This was because FC was also used as a transit camp for cadres who were going for training to different camps including abroad. Also, there was an agricultural enterprise that was being run by the Zapu Treasurer-General, Cde Amon Jirira. So it was difficult to instil proper military discipline in such circumstances, so we had to relocate.
MS: Where was the new HQ established?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: From FC we moved to Kasupe, which was on the western side of Lusaka, it was towards Mumbwa Air Base. Near the new HQ was a house referred to as koNkomo. That was because Dr Joshua Nkomo occasionally used that house when meeting the senior commanders to strategise about the execution of the armed struggle. Then early in 1979 Kasupe came under bombardment from the Rhodesians, that is when we lost the ZPRA Chief of Military Communications, my boss, Zvafa Moyo.
Zvafa was the elder brother of now former Airforce Commander, Chief Air Marshal (Rtd) Elson Moyo. Cde Timothy Mawire then took over on an interim basis. The post was eventually given to Cde Embassy, Tshinga Dube who all along had been based in the Soviet Union. We were bombed again, but at that time we had established the Communications Headquarters a distance from the main HQ. We were dug in, operating from a bunker with aerials protruding but well camouflaged by a thicket.
MS: How was the defence system there?
Comm (Rtd) Seula: It was well-defended with advanced anti-air pieces. However, when it was realized that the Rhodesians were bent on their agenda of crippling our headquarters we had to relocate again.
We moved to Lusaka specifically Kabatwa Flats. The facility was near the United Teaching Hospital and the Central Prison. We set up our equipment at that flat.
To be concluded next week with Comm (Rtd) Seula talking about the Battle of Kariba and explaining why it became difficult to reinforce and send supplies to the First Battalion when it came under heavy attack from the Rhodesian forces, including the Light Infantry Battalion.
Online Reporter
