Thousands of people, mostly from Matabeleland and Midlands provinces are on Saturday expected to converge at the site in Ntabazinduna, where Ndebele warriors fought a bitter battle with the colonising British South Africa Company (BSAC) in 1893.
BY KHANYILE MLOTSHWA
In 1893, the Ndebeles fought a series of battles against the BSAC army in what has become known as the War of Dispossession or Conquest, which culminated in the fleeing of King Lobengula Khumalo and the colonisation of Matabeleland.
This was three years after Mashonaland had fallen to the BSAC.
One of the battles, known as Gadade, was fought on the plains in Ntabazinduna along the Bulawayo-Harare highway. Greater Sibanda Vodloza, the deputy chairperson of Umhlahlo, the organisers of the event, confirmed the commemorations of the Gadade battle.
“We have invited the traditional leadership, cultural organisations in Matabeleland and Midlands and all the political parties,” he said.
“Importantly, we have invited all the people of Matabeleland and Midlands. The commemorations will start at 8am, when we will gather at the monument stone on the side of the highway. We will then have a tour of the area, where the battle was fought. We will then return to the monument, where we will have the main events of the day.”
Vodloza said during the main event, there would be talks on the history of the battle and “the heroes who fell in that battle”.
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“There will be singing and dancing as well. There will be a lot of meat and beer, which is part of our culture,” he said.
Vodloza said 10 000 people were expected to attend the event, up from last year’s 5 000.
The battle of Gadade marked the beginning of the occupation of Bulawayo by the colonising BSAC.
Most of the white soldiers, who fought in the battle, were mercenaries, who had been promised claims of land, cattle loot and other material gains.
The battle was sparked by the attack of Amajaha regiment on a chief in Masvingo, who had allegedly used King Lobengula’s cattle to pay a fine to the white administrators in Fort Victoria.
The white occupiers took the attack on the chief as a direct attack on their authority.
