By Cain Mathema

IN July 1890, Cecil John Rhodes’ Pioneer Column, made up of policemen, invaded Zimbabwe. The Column avoided direct confrontation with King Lobengula’s army by going to Masvingo. On the September 13, these invaders raised the British flag in Harare, which they named Salisbury after one of the British prime ministers. Very soon it became clear to Rhodes and his invaders that the eastern part of the country which they called Mashonaland did not have as much gold as they had thought. They envisaged that King Lobengula’s seat of power which they called Matabeleland had the gold they were after. They plotted to overthrow King Lobengula. In October 1893, Rhodes and his people sent their army to overthrow King Lobengula. Troops were sent from Harare (Salisbury), Chivhu (Fort Charter) and Masvingo (Fort Victoria). The commander of Fort Victoria column was Major Allan Wilson (it consisted of over three hundred white soldiers); the column from Salisbury was commanded by Major Patrick Forbes. The third military column commanded by Lt Col. Gool-Adams came from Botswana (Bechunaland). These columns were supported by local blacks who sided with Rhodes, and included Mucumbatha’s grandson, Mnyenyezi and Ntenente. The white column from Fort Victoria was accompanied by over three hundred black recruits. Thus divide and rule was always at the centre of Rhodes’ strategy in colonising the country. The Salisbury-Fort- Charter-Fort-Victoria columns met at Mine Hill. Rhodes’ forces were intercepted by Ndebele soldiers at the Shangani River. The Ndebele forces were made up of the iNsukamini, aMeva, Usaba, uMujo, iTtlathi, iSiZiba, and iNxa requirements. Some of the Ndebele commanders at the Shangani battle were Manondwana Tshabala (iNsyukamini), Mazwigumede (aMeva) and Mluba Thebe (aMcijo). The Ndebele forces were pushed back at the Shangani battle because of the weapons (like the Maxim gun) the white soldiers were using. The Ndebeles were defeated. The next engagement between the two forces took place at Gadade in the Ntabazinduna area. The Ndebele forces of Gadade were the iMbizo (the crack force) and iNgubo regiment commanded by Mtshana Khumalo and Fusi Khanje respectively. Again because of better military technology, the Ndebele force was pushed back towards Bulawayo. Once the King heard that the iMbizo and iNgubo had been defeated at Gadade, he ordered that his capital, Bulawayo (where State House in Bulawayo today is) be burnt. The King left Bulawayo towards the north-west where he disappeared, never to be seen again in Zimbabwe. Leander Starr Jameson (Rhodes’ administrator of the country) sent three hundred troops to follow and capture King Lobengula. These troops were commanded by Allan Wilson with Patrick Forbes as his second-incommand. However, the Rhodesian and British history books say only 38 white troops were sent to capture the King. This was done to mystify the power of the white man. The Ndebele army that accompanied the King was made of the iMbizo, iNsukamini, iNgobo, iHlathi, iSiziba and iNgubo regiments with Mtshana Khumalo (the commander of the iMbizo) the overall commander. The troops were defeated at Pupu along the Shangani River. The white troops divided themselves into two units, with Allan Wilson leading a column of 38 soldiers. Allan Wilson and his soldiers were wiped out. The rest of the Forbes soldiers lost some their horses and were forced to walk eating some of their horses meat and drinking their horse’s blood. They were only able to retreat towards Bulawayo at night as the people’s soldiers were everywhere. The white troops were forced to hide their maximum gun in blankets. Their clothes having been reduced to rags, they cut up their saddles to make sandals as they were harassed by the people’s soldiers all the way. King Lobengula was never captured; his troops protected him right up to the end when he disappeared in the forests. Some Zambian in that country’s Eastern Province told Ambassador Cain Mathema that the King crossed the Zambezi and settled and died in that part of Zambia with white pigeons visiting his grave site once a year. The overall commander in the battles at Pupu along the Shangani, as we said, was Mtshana Khumalo. The other commanders included Gample Sithole and Sivalo Mahlangu.