Sipho began his speech by telling a story of how Gukurahundi has engulfed his entire life and that he
considers himself a victim of Gukurhandi. He noted that his entire family was a victim of
Gukurahundi. He noted that his father, Mr Sydney Malunga, a veteran f the liberation war in
Zimbabwe was accused of treason at one point on allegations that he was aiding and abetting
dissidents in Matabeleland and that he was in the war Council for ZAPU. Sipho narrated how these
charges looked bizarre for reasons that one of the key witnesses in the trail was his father’s
compatriot. To make matters worse, the trial was held on a Sunday to ensure that there would be
no resistance on any other weekday.
Sipho went on to describe his difficult childhood wherein he was sent away from school for weeks
on end because his school fees had not been paid since his father was in prison. What surprised
Sipho in the end was that at any given time after being sent away from school, the school
headmaster would always call him back after a few weeks o school. He later found out that the
headmaster had been paying his school fees without Sipho knowing.
Sipho mentioned that after his father was released from prison, his grandfather died. One thing that
worried his father was that he had been warned that if he dared travel outside his hometown “things
would not go well”. He noted that it was then arranged that his older brother would attend their
grandfather’s funeral. His brother went to the funeral and for four days no one knew where his
bother was. The period at that time was an intense one because a lot of things had bene happening
including the killing of Jean Ntuta.
Gukurahundi came to define Matabeleland
With the narration of this story, Sipho noted that Gukurahundi came to define Matabeleland. He
however lamented that, what people failed to realise was that Matabeleland was just like any other
place in the country. Matabeleland “was the place to go” – for example places like Hope Fountain
had the most prominent business people even from the Shona. It was not just a place for the
Ndebeles.
Gukurahundi created a sense that Matabeleland was a place for Ndebeles. Sipho noted that “I don’t
believe that the intention of ZANU PF was to eliminate Ndebeles but to destroy ZAPU but
snice the political party was based in Matabeleland, the outcome was genocidal”. Sipho
noted that it was possible that no one knows the mission or instructions of the political
conspiracy”. He mentioned that Enos Nkala should have known about some of the issues and since
he was now deceased he could mention him.
What happened with Gukurahundi
Sipho noted that what happened was that a few people who intended to destroy the only political
institution that time is the most painful part. In his speech, Sipho narrated that he does not believe in
injustice and that he expects that justice must be seen to be done. He mentioned that because of his
beliefs he had defended someone wo had killed 200 people in 30 minutes in East Timor. What was
important was that the accused went through the process, witnesses came forward but he was still
found guilty. He noted that he was available to defend anyone in Zimbabwe. Sipho noted that for
now it was fortunate that no one had come forward to be tried in the courts as it left good chances
for other options to achieve justice in Zimbabwe for Gukurahundi victims. He mentioned the
following:
-
Prosecution
Truth processes
Apologies and forgiveness
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