“THE death of our esteemed chief is a blow to the country and the traditional leadership institution.….we all are aware that he was an ex-detainee who fought for the emancipation of this country,” said Public Works and Local Government Minister, July Moyo at the passing on of Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu on February 13 2021.
Last week we wrote about Chief Jim Maduna Mafu, the father of Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu.
Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu succeeded his father Chief Jim Mafu. He was also a warrior of unparalleled heroism.
He did not fear the whiteman.
His grandfather and father had fought and defeated the whiteman — he was going to do no less.
He was born in 1935 and studied at Moeng College in Botswana where he qualified in clerical and medical studies.
In 1960, he was only 25 when the whiteman arrested him for a cocktail of offences under the Law and Order Maintenance Act and for his work in the National Democratic Party.
He did not seek the services of a lawyer, but defended himself and was acquitted.
He joined ZAPU at its formation, and when it was banned in 1962, he left for Zambia where he stayed in exile until 1964 when he returned to Zimbabwe.
Despite his unmitigated anti-white stance, despite the history of his grandfather, a First Umvukela/Chimurenga warrior par-excellence, and his father whom they had to depose because there was no other way of defeating him and his people the whiteman was compelled to appoint him chief in 1969.
It seemed the people of Insiza would not be governed by any other except their chief.
The Maduna Dynasty would not be bypassed.
Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu, like his grandfather Chief Maduna Mafu, and father Chief Jim Maduna Mafu, used the throne to defend the liberation of his people, his nation.
The moment he was appointed chief, he immediately began a programme of non-co-operation with the whiteman:
He refused to:
- attend official meetings
- implement conservation measures
- support the establishment of a council
He would not relent because the whiteman had no place among his people, and had no right to govern him and his people.
In 1972, he led the people of Insiza in a successful rejection of the Pearce Commission which sought to ratify Ian Smith’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) –quite a magna victory.
When freedom fighters began infiltrating the country through Filabusi, he gave them all the material and moral support at his disposal.
His home was an important base for their operations.
The whiteman, however, got wind of it and descended on him with a hammer.
In 1976, they arrested him on charges of failing to report the presence of ‘terrorists’ and ‘aiding and abetting terrorists’.
He was convicted, detained and deposed.
Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu was detained in 11 jails and kept mostly in solitary confinement.
He was first detained at Gwanda Prison, then transferred to Colleen Baum Prison, and then West Nicholson and Hwa-Hwa prisons consecutively, and then to many other prisons.
Rhodesians feared him and his influence and they were desperate to break him.
His family and relatives were blocked from visiting him while he was in custody.
At Hwa-Hwa, he met other stalwarts of the struggle, such as Elliot Mapendhuka, Welshman Mabhena, Makhathini Guduza, Walter Mhambo and Thengani Guduza, among others.
He remained in jail until 1979 when he was released because of the success of the liberation struggle which led to the December 1979 ceasefire.
The people of Insiza contributed 13 head of cattle to celebrate his release and 12 of them were slaughtered for the celebrations.
Chief Vezi Maduna Mafu did not go on holiday after independence; he continued to work tirelessly for the building of a liberated Zimbabwe.
Said Minister Moyo: “He was very instrumental in the development of the province as he facilitated the implementation of various projects in the sectors of health, education and infrastructural development.”
In 1984, he was the first chairman of the Insiza Rural District Council.
In the same year, he was elected to the PF ZAPU Central Committee, a post he held until the signing of the Unity Accord when he became a member of the Joint Central Committee.
Subsequently he served as Senator Chief for Insiza, member of the National Consultative Assembly for ZANU PF, as well as chairperson of the Matebeleland South Provincial Assembly of Chiefs.
He successfully and faithfully walked in the footsteps of warriors of the First Umvukela/ Chimurenga; in the footsteps of his grandfather who commanded the Godhlwayo regiment, and those of his other grandfather, Mahlabeni Mafu, who was executed for being a chief warrior in the Godhlwayo regiment.
Indeed, he walked in the footsteps of Mphotswana and his Nyamandlovu regiment; Ntini and his Ngoba Regiment; the indunas of the Amakandeni regiment; Nkomo and his Jingeni forces; Nyamanda, Lobengula’s anti-white son who commanded the royal family (Lozikeyi, Lobengula’s widow, his other queens, Lobengula’s other sons, nephews and relatives).
Jocelyn Alexander, a Professor of Commonwealth Studies at Oxford University summarised the role of the three Maduna chiefs as follows:
“The three Maduna chiefs can be credited with creating an extra-ordinary tradition under Rhodesian rule, they served in officially recognised Government positions but used them to undermine exploitative policies, wringing concessions from a hostile administration, and made alliances with the most radical groups of their era, from the ICU (Industrial Commercial Union), the Voice to the NDP (National Democratic Party) and ZAPU.
Two of them were deposed, two of them supported armed insurrection against a powerful racist state.”