KEY NOTE ADDRESS: The Matabeleland Question By Siphosami Malunga The keynote speech for Day Two was delivered by Mr. Siphosami Malunga, the Executive Director of the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA). He opened his speech by noting that he was going to address three key issues, and these were outlined as below: Ÿ That Gukurahundi and the Matabeleland question is a continuing atrocity Ÿ Understanding the bitter truth of state involvement in healing Ÿ The limitations of the NPRC and the alternatives to accountability Sipho’s personal experience with Gukurahundi Sipho began his speech by telling a story of how Gukurahundi has engulfed his entire life and that he considers himself a victim of Gukurahundi. He noted that his entire family was a victim of Gukurahundi. He noted that his father, Mr Sydney Malunga, a veteran of 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 of school. He later found out that the headmaster had been paying his school fees without Sipho knowing. 19 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 brother 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. 2018 TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE POLICY SYMPOSIUM REPORT