OUR cattle heritage is inextricably bound with our socio-political history and culture.
While cattle owners were still recovering from the main disasters of the 1890s — the seizure of their cattle by the Chartered Company and settlers after the 1893 War, the drought, locust and rinderpest pandemic of 1896 — indigenous people witnessed large herds decimated by diseases.
The indigenous herd that at one time was estimated between 450-500 000 was reduced to a mere 25 000 in two years.
The European settlers who had imported the disease, via ship and veld routes, knew little about the diseases and could not treat or prevent them from spreading.
In the minds of the people, their misfortunes were to do with the arrival of the white settlers.
Much ill-feeling was generated against these new invaders; grievances which led the people to rebel against the settlers.
Following the outbreak of cattle diseases in Southern Rhodesia, veterinary officials and officers in the native departments were instructed to: “Teach Africans within your districts the proper methods of curing livestock scab… to personally superintend such operations conducted for such purposes… as object lessons for natives … and to obtain the co-operation of missionaries, farmers and traders in teaching, inducing and aiding natives to take proper steps to eradicate scab.”
Paradoxically, the Director of Agriculture in Southern Rhodesia, in 1927, overtly admitted that: “Africans possessed an intimate knowledge of the medicinal vir­tues of herbs, roots and bark which were ‘similar in action to corresponding materials known to us, and in use are in more convenient form whether it be as purgatives, laxatives, diuretics, emollients, as stringers and so on….”
Prior to colonisation, it was known that indigenous Zimbabweans kept a variety of domesticated animals including cattle, in good health, since before Munhumutapa.
This is evidenced in written accounts by the early Jesuit missionaries who visited the region as early as 1560 who reported: ‘There is much poultry, very many fine cows … goats and sheep’ in the region and were in a ‘…fit and healthy condition…’.
Similarly, Father Gonçalo da Silveira, the Portuguese Jesuit missionary who reached maDzimbahwe in 1561 and converted the Emperor, was given on various occasions cows and oxen as presents from ‘the King of Monomatapa’.
The ‘many fine cows’ observed by the Jesuit were undoubtedly the result of the indigenous cattle’s natural immunity to pestilents and to indigenous pharmacological knowledge.
Further verification was given by Francisco Barreto who, with a force of 1 000 men, reached the interior in 1568, who affirmed: “… This land (Monomatapa) bears rice and Indian wheat, has abundance of all sorts of cattle, fowls and gardening. Their chief care is pasturage and tillage.”
I well recall my great-grandfather Chikambi-Zvimba, explaining: “…the active ingredient in plants and leaves in traditional pharmacology is extracted in a variety of ways and administered as analgesics, palliatives, purgatives, philtres, laxatives, diuretics, emollients, astringents and elixirs…”
Like man, some indigenous cattle are able to cure their own illness by eating certain plants and grasses.
Rulers in Africa viewed land, cattle and slave ownership as a major source of an individual’s status, power and wealth as evidenced by the cattle herds of the Medieval Kingdom of Munhumutapa.
South-eastern Zambia, northern Botswana, north-western South Africa, West of Mozambique, all the way up to the middle of Tanzania – states that form the SADC region today — took their cattle pedigree from the ancient capital of Munhumutapa, where cattle were a socio-religious, economic and political mainstay.
Our elders venerated and respected the earth they lived on, hence teachers and educationalists need to be duty-bound to bequeath our children with the knowledge of their rightful heritage — the land, livestock and all the sources of life.
Reclaiming control of Zimbabwe’s land and space is one victory; the second victory should be the command acquisition of knowledge of the management, cultivation and preservation of the land and the husbandry of livestock.
Anecdote, vernacular expressions and folkloric songs are central to the history of change and continuity as the indigenous Shona intrepidly and resourcefully tackled their changing social and environmental landscapes and confronted an elitist intruder who threatened to dispossess them of their cattle herds.
All the wars of Chimurenga were fought to regain our sovereignty, land, livestock, wildlife, water bodies, fish and fowls; this, the knowledge of land and livestock is the ‘suum cuique’ of every child, and must be their cultural, legal and educational birthright – before pledging allegiance to the land.
Cattle are so ingrained in the Shona psyche that even young Zimbabwean Urban groovers of the day, such as Nox, makes reference to his grandfather’s cow ‘Majumbe mombe yayi tunga’. This is from Zaka, traditionally a cattle ranching area in the south-east of the country, where cattle farming was still commercially practised.
This song makes reference to the indigenous breed which is prevalent to the area, known for its distinctive sabre-like horns.
Many past ditties sung in villages made reference to cattle.
Today, the memories of these songs resonate in our pop music culture as in Bob Nyabinde, The Headmaster’s ‘Mombe yaSamaniyka’ and Caiphas Simenya and Letta Mbulu’s ‘Ziph’iNkomo zama lobola’ are examples of songs that articulate the importance of cattle as lobola payment.
Thomas Mapfumo’s ‘Nyamutamba nemombe abayiwa’ which translates to “He who teases the bull is gored by the bull”, alluding to the saying: ‘He who lives by the sword dies by the sword’.
According to Catholic Father Emmanuel Ribeiro, a renowned Zimbabwean historian and musicologist, the lyrics, verse and chorus of the song ‘Mombe mbiri ne madongi mashanu’ (Two beasts and five donkeys), where the chorus sings: ‘Sevenza Nhamo ichawuya’ meaning ‘we need to till the land or find work because more troubles are coming’ was actually a popular protest folk song, sung in response to the particularly detested forced seizure of indigenous African cattle by the European colonial administrators of the time.
The lyrics of the song explained how the settler-Government imposed laws to confiscate their cattle; taking away the cattle for themselves and leaving African people with more donkeys than cattle.
In light of Command Agriculture, and the indigenous reclamation exercises of land and livestock by the Government of Zimbabwe, I found it necessary to outline the history of the laws, looting and losses of cattle from indigenous African farmers and ranches in colonial times.
The socio-political discontent in pre-colonial Zimbabwe arose from the decimation of the indigenous national herd due to imported infected cattle that spread diseases hitherto unknown to the indigenous.
The various legal acts, ordinances and laws were passed to the advantage of the foreign settler-brigandage over local indigenous inhabitants.
They did not just conquer foreign lands, but looted and disrupted socio-agrarian patterns of life and cultural ways to the determent of the indigenous people.
It was a heritage disrupted, dislocated and subsequently discontinued.
Zimbabwe and its indigenous people have never been compensated for the decimation of their livestock by military invasion, confiscation and the numerous imported cattle viruses, some which continue to affect Zimbabwean cattle herds today.
The question of restitution of our cattle breeds and indigenous herds that were seized and some burnt/destroyed during the wars of liberation should be legally challenged in international constitutional courts and the Rhodes Trust Fund in Britain and those of his co-conspirators and cohorts be asked to compensate Zimbabwe with immediate effect.
African countries deserve compensation for the empire’s greed, but more so, for their untethered rampaging and wilful destruction of a long-grown heritage.
In conclusion, Zimbabwe’s historical cattle heritage and the future trajectory of commercial animal husbandry needs to take into account both our indigenous knowledge of animal husbandry and Occidental agro-scientific technology which need to be combined to capitalise on beef and milk production through an amalgamated scholarly knowledge base.
Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) and Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, lecturer, musician, art critic, practicing artist and corporate image consultant. He is also a specialist art consultant, post-colonial scholar, Zimbabwean socio-economic analyst and researcher. E-mail: tonym.monda@gmail.com