The GuardianÂ
By David Smith
5 October 2011
Remains thought to belong to victims of 1980s Gukurahundi massacre discovered after football pitch caves in.
A mass grave containing up to 60 victims of a massacre by President Robert Mugabe’s troops has reportedly been discovered by children playing football at a Zimbabwe school.
The pupils stumbled on human bones sticking out of the ground after their football pitch caved in during a game, according to New Zimbabwe.com. The remains are thought to belong to victims of the 1980s Gukurahundi massacre, in which an estimated 20,000 civilians were killed by Mugabe’s feared Fifth Brigade in the western Matabeleland province.
Moses Mzila Ndlovu, the minister for national healing, reconciliation and integration, reportedly visited the site at St Paul secondary school in Lupane last Friday.
He was quoted by New Zimbabwe.com as saying: “Villagers told me that St Paul and several other local schools were used as detention points by the Fifth Brigade. Dozens of people were detained, interrogated and executed before their bodies were dumped in mass graves dug up by the detainees.”
He added: “The grave is roughly 5×5 metres and locals told me there could be anything between 30 and 60 people buried there.”
School authorities have temporarily refilled the graves and the minister said he would be asking the cabinet to agree on a programme of reburials on a wider scale across Matabeleland and the Midlands.
The Gukurahundi massacre followed a bitter power struggle between Mugabe and his rival Joshua Nkomo. The Fifth Brigade, which received training in North Korea, was accused of indiscriminate killings and torture of Nkomo’s supporters while the world turned a blind eye. Gukurahundi – a Shona word for the spring rains that sweep away dry season chaff – remains an open wound of Mugabe’s 31-year rule.
David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s education minister, said: “It is inevitable that these types of revelations will occur as there are numerous mass graves throughout Matabeleland. It does underscore the need for a meaningful process of truth telling and reconciliation.”
Coltart warned against a repeat of an incident earlier this year when hundreds of skeletons were found in a remote mine shaft in Mount Darwin, 100 miles from Harare. Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party claimed the dead were victims of white colonial-era soldiers and were accused of using state media to turn their fate into election propaganda.
“It is important that these discoveries are not politicised,” added Coltart, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change. “These are the remains of loved ones of people who still live in the areas the remains are found in. It is important that we do not repeat the shameful actions which occurred when remains were found in Mount Darwin.
“It is important that professional archaeologists and anthropologists are engaged in the process of the recovery and reburial of the remains. It is also important that the local community be involved to ensure that local customs, traditions and rites are complied with.”
The sentiment was echoed by Mzila Ndlovu, the local MDC MP, who told New Zimbabwe.com: “The local community must say where and how they want the reburials to occur. But first I would wish that the cabinet can reach an agreement on a national programme that can be put in place to deal with the specific crimes of the Fifth Brigade.”
But Ndlovu warned that it may be impossible to get Zanu-PF to permit a programme of mass exhumations and reburials. “We need to reach agreement to move forward. I want to say the attitude of Zanu-PF people is shocking. The attitudes are hostile, which shows a lack of willingness to deal with Gukurahundi.”