I was born exactly 31 years ago in a thatch and mud hut in the sleepy village of Makhwatheni in the Chief Sivalo Communal Area of Nkayi District ,Zimbabwe.My peasant family would later relocate to Nzalikwa Village[Gomoza] Lupane District,the place I call my natal home today.
My birth {or so I am told} was greeted by the trademark booming sound of a Bazooka shell explosion,punctuating the end of what turned out to be a successful ambush on the Rhodesian Forces by guerillas of Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army[Zipra]....hence I was nicknamed 'Ngindi'!
Although I no longer respond to same these days.I must admit that 'Ngindi' was not only my first nickname.It was also the first record of some of the events which contextualised my birth and tender age.! Suffice to say that this was at the height of Zimbabwe's war of liberation against the racist Rhodesian government!
My parents being a sample from Zimbabwe's peasantry were caught up in this war too!.They found themselves divided between their loyalty to the liberation movement and fear.!.THE FEAR OF THE LAW OF THE GUN.
Whoever had a gun called the shots! The gunmen of the day decreed and cancelled 'laws' as they wished!.The gun was the LAW. The ordinary man was always at the mercy of whoever sprung from the nearest bush armed with a gun. Either side of the warring factions could change the law of the land as they wished....for they had guns!.....The poor peasants were the object and most of the times silent victims of the law of the gun.
Only they could do was to 'thamba'{soften up] for 'umthetho'[the law ]...hence 'Sithambelumthetho'!Obedience to the law of the day was the only defensive weapon these defenceless folks had against both their supposed liberators[who raped and brutalised] and the Rhodesian Security Forces[who also raped and brutalised]
That is the name my parents gave me.The name that inspired me to be a lawyer and human rights activist.The name that is a rare record of injustices suffered by ordinary men in a time of war!
The name that remains my tag today: SITHAMBELUMTHETHO!
An inspiring explanation to one's name. Even though iknew what it meant i always wondered why you had such a long name.
ReplyDeleteinteresting name...an epitome of the days gone. You're blessed to have lived up to your name by embracing the rule of law.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. And, yes, you are correct: all sides in the Liberation War committed atrocities. That's a well-known fact.
ReplyDeletewell done Sir.
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