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Local customs and cultural norms (there is at times a stance that the family will sort it out)
and this is at times is not easily understood by outsiders be it from Zimbabwe or abroad.
Perpetrators must step forward for they left a horrible legacy of ethnic hatred
Sipho noted that there are so many other possibilities but the truth of the matter is that the
perpetrators must step forward. Sipho argued that there was no doubt that the perpetrators
decided in 1981 to finish off ZAPU by removing the 20 reserved seats and in that process left a
horrible legacy of ethnic hatred. Sipho contended that the people who committed Gukurahundi are
known and should come forward.
The process was never just about the Ndebeles alone
He also noted that he believes the agenda was not to exterminate Ndebeles alone because there are
clear examples of people from other tribes that were hounded by the Gukurahundi perpetrators
such as Nziramasanga. However, the unfortunate part is that the hatred sown has gone to a social
level where for example even if football teams Highlander and Dynamos are playing in Barbourfields,
Bulawayo you will hear Ndebeles saying “shayi Shona”. Sipho lamented that the situation was never
like that before. The ethnicization of politics into Karanga, Zezuru etc in Zimbabwe is what he
lamented.
Crimes and guilt cannot be collective
Sipho noted that those who commit crimes must personalise and take ownership of their deeds and
not ty to collectivise their guilt. Sipho implored the participants in the meeting not to misdirect their
anger lest it consumes them.
The quest for Never Again
Sipho noted that Zimbabwe must get to a point where as a people we say [These lines can never be
crossed again]. He observed that Zimbabwe has continued to suffer from policies of impunity
stretching from Ian Smith’s era into all the other epochs of violence in Zimbabwe. He noted that
some of the amnesties had pardoned some of Zimbabwe’s people who had raped and killed their
own people and that could not be condoned. He gave examples of the murder of a white man by
Edgar Tekere and his immediate pardon.
Pain cannot go away unless addressed
Sipho mentioned that victims generally hold on to their pain until their grievances have been
addressed. He noted that the pain for the people in Matabeleland is never going to go away until
addressed. He observed that it is more alive now than ever as the grievances pass from one
generation to another. Sipho noted of a phenomenon that had struck him when one of his colleagues
had mentioned that at least 68% of children in the Matopos area did not have birth certificates and
thus could not access government services.
Is it possible to have healing led by the state?
Sipho observed that he understood the scepticism that people have that the same people who
perpetrated violence could not be party to resolving the same conflict. He mentioned that there are
days when he is on that same line of thought.
He however noted that the state cannot be avoided for many reasons:
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