MDC DEPUTY secretary-general Moses Mzila-Ndlovu says people from Matabeleland should speak out when “acts of abomination” such as the “invasion” of the Njelele Shrine in Matobo by Zanla ex-combatants this year happen. The group bathed in the nearby Hovi River.
Report by Dumisani Sibanda Bureau Chief
Mzila Ndlovu — who is also Organ for National Healing, Integration and Reconciliation co-minister — told MDC supporters at Ntepe business centre in Gwanda on Saturday, that people should not be allowed to come into the region and “do as they please”, especially committing “acts of abomination”.
“About 700 former Zanla combatants went to Njelele to cleanse themselves of the sins of Gukurahundi and even bathed naked in the area,” Ndlovu said.
“That is an act of abomination. Njelele is our shrine and we conduct rain-making ceremonies there.
“Why should people be allowed to desecrate the place and we keep quiet?”
Traditional leaders from the area complained they were not consulted when ex-Zanla combatants performed their “rites” which they claimed were linked to the liberation struggle.
“What is even worse is that custodians of the shrine were forced to help these ex-Zanla combatants to carry out their unsanctioned rituals and I know of a woman who was harassed and is in hiding now,” said the MDC official.
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Mzila-Ndlovu said there was no need to be silent on such issues, including Gukurahundi.
“There are some people who say we should not talk about Gukurahundi, but we are saying they can go and hang,” he said amid applause from the audience.
He said it was necessary to have a constitutional commission which would look at Gukurahundi, which claimed an estimated 20 000 people in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands in the 80s.
“We only need to be brave and say these things out,” he said.
“People should be allowed to say if they want to rebury their relatives killed during Gukurahundi and dumped in mass graves in some cases.”
