Takura Zhangazha

Remembering Samora Machel this October

Takura Zhangazha

This October should be Zimbabwe’s Samora Machel Month.
By Takura Zhangazha.
We all cried on October 19, 1986. I was nine, my brother was eleven and my sisters were seven and three years old.  It had just been announced that Samora Moises Machel, President of the Republic of Mozambique, had died in an aeroplane crash in an area close to the border between his country and then apartheid South Africa.  Too young to be knowledgeable on the extent of how Zimbabwe grieved, I experienced the impact of the death of Samora via my family and the black and white Phillips television set. The Mutare based ‘Run Family’ musical group brilliantly composed two songs that forever remind us of Machel (one of the songs has since been self appropriated by Zanu Pf when it commemorates its heroes). Even though I was too young to be politically conscious, I have since been told by my elder brothers, sisters and friends that that year on October 19 and 20, the whole of Zimbabwe wept. They wept for Samora and they wept with Mozambique. Our then Prime Minister in what I remember to be a visibly emotive speech promised that Zimbabwe would ‘never-ever allow the MNR (Renamo) to take over Mozambique’.
In the years that have passed since, Samora Machel is revered by those that knew him and vilified by those who argue that his socialist leadership of Mozambique was a failure. In Southern Africa, it is the South African government that regularly demonstrates commitment to the memory of Machel.  Presidents Mandela, Mbeki and Zuma (when he was still vice president) have given moving speeches at the cite of the plane crash in Mbuzini, South Africa. Zimbabwe’s government has done no such thing to remember Machel even though our liberation history with Mozambique is more direct. This in itself is not to take away the significance of the solidarity that was demonstrated by the people and government of Zimbabwe during the civil war in Mozambique which also affected parts of our country. The big issue is how our government (inclusive or otherwise) has opted for amnesia as regards the political legend that is Samora Machel and the historical triumph that is the solidarity between our two countries. This article is therefore meant to be a reminder to those in government and those that care for our collective history of the necessity of remembrance.
Whereas some of my peers have expressed misgivings about seeking to remember Machel in a country that is still struggling for full democracy, I have insisted on doing so for three primary reasons. The first reason being that we, as citizens of Zimbabwe and Mozambique, must avoid falling into the trap that academics have called, ‘organised forgetting’. Governments have a nasty tendency of wanting to determine what is to be remembered as ‘history’ by citizens that they preside over. In Zimbabwe’s case our collective history is beholden to what our past and current government want us to recall. Be this in relation to the liberation struggle or to post independence struggles for full democratization of our societies. They even tell us who to call a hero and who not to call a hero.
The second reason why we must remember Samora Machel is because of the fact that in him we had a great and committed African amongst us. And such individuals are rare. Other countries/regions will celebrate their Bolivars (Latin America), Lincolns (North America), Maos (South East Asia), Churchills (Europe) based on what they perceive to be the historic contributions of these individuals. Machel’s leadership role in the Frontline States together with his insistence that Mozambique cannot be free until Zimbabwe and South Africa are free is the stuff of legends. Machel was a liberator without an equal in Southern Africa. And he deserves specific recognition beyond having his name evoked by our ageing nationalists. In fact, if I was in government I would insist on making October 19 an officially recognized Samora Machel Day.
The third and final reason why it is necessary to remember Machel is that of posterity and the passing on of knowledge from one generation to a successor one. The particular solidarity between the people of Zimbabwe and Mozambique is something not only to be celebrated but to be told to those that have come and will come after us. This is in order that they continue with a solidarity that is organic and grounded in positive historical experience. Where we fail to do this, we will be witness  the horrific and ahistorical xenophoibic attacks that are similar to those we have seen in South Africa over the last two years.
To conclude, it is imperative that we, from the Southern African region, and in particular from Zimbabwe and Mozambique, continue with the solidarity of yesterday. It must become a solidarity that is grounded in our shared histories of the struggle for freedom, democracy and justice. And this October, it begins with us recognizing and remembering Samora Moises Machel of Mozambique, Southern Africa, Africa and of the World. 

5 responses to “Remembering Samora Machel this October”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    My current research project focuses on the relationship between ZANLA and FRELIMO in the 1970s. I spent the whole of August and part of September conducting interviews with senior ZANU PF and former ZANLA cadres about their relationship with Frelimo in the 1970s and post independence. “Zimbabwe’s government has done no such thing to remember Machel even though our liberation history with Mozambique is more direct” and “the big issue is how our government (inclusive or otherwise) has opted for amnesia as regards the political legend that is Samora Machel”, you write. What I have found – so far – in my interviews is that failure to remember Machel is not down to “amnesia” but that the history between Machel and ZANLA/ZANU PF is not uncomplicated. Episodes such as Machel's role in the purging of ZIPA cadres; his ordering of ZANU leaders to sign the Lancaster House Agreement despite the fact they did not want to because they thought it was a bad deal (which, objectively speaking, it was); tensions and mistrust between Machel and certain ZANU PF politicians over education levels, military credentials, ideology, etc, are recurring themes in my interviews. They remember him and recognise how crucial Moz-Zim solidarity was to Zim's independence. But they also remember the very real cracks in that solidarity. I think this has contributed to their failure to revisit and celebrate that complicated history. It opens up a can of worms. All is not what it seems on the surface, that is flowing tears on TV and all…..

    Reply
  2. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Thanks for that Miles. I am also familiar with the 'very real cracks' as you put them. These have also been highlighted in the writings of Wilbert Sadomba and Wilfred Mhanda both of whom I am sure you have read. i think that formerly (in relation to the state, and in relation to the formal united Zanu Pf processes) there has been convenient 'amnesia' probably for the reasons that you cite. This does not however prevent us from remembering/ or at least trying to recollect the popular memories that the generality of Zimbabweans and Mozambicans have of Samora. The complexities of the history of Zanla/ZIPA/ ZIPRA with Frelimo under Machel's leadership are indeed 'complex' particularly in relation to academic studies. This would be true of the relationships between ZIPA cadres themselves, or alternatively as would be the complex relationships in any political movement. The tears I mention however were not shed for the complexities that you mention given the fact that this was a moment in history that affected all that were old enough to understand the goings on in the region, or at least to share the anguish of their parents.And it being a moment in history where the region lost one of the liberation struggles leaders in tragic circumstances, the onus remains on us to at least keep the memory of Samora's life and work alive in the general political lexicon. And this without taking away anything from the complexities of any history, or even Zimbabwean history.

    Reply
  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Point taken. It does not “prevent us from remembering/ or at least trying to recollect the popular memories that the generality of Zimbabweans and Mozambicans have of Samora”. Sadomba and Mhanda set out those cracks well, but I often saw their views as those of the 'aggrieved' (in Mhanda's case particularly). But the August-September interviews altered my thinking as I discovered that those the likes of Mhanda describe as having made political gains as a result of Machel's intervention actually harbour some remarkable and strong grievances against their perceived benefactor. The more I dug deeper the more contradictions and grievance I found…. You know Takura, the selective “amnesia” you point out reminds me of how difficult it is for them to celebrate Josiah Tongogara's history. Thats another complex history, which opens up divisions. The memory and history of Rex Nhongo may very well fall into the same bracket over time. The “simple”, usable and politically beneficial history is preferred. Anything that will make Zimbabweans face up to contradictions, history in its pluralistic form and unpalatable legacies is best left untouched. Amnesia as you call it. If it is touched then a simplistic and 'pure' episode is the primary reference point…..

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    True that. I'm always struck by the fact that we are 'close' to our history where it comes to our liberation from minority rule, and how the same said main actors in it, still alive today are bequething us very little in relation to remembrance. And we are generally not asking for a perfect remembrance of struggle or history, but at least one that is more objective than it is partisan. And this has now crossed the political divide, where some histories are not objectively analysed or in some instances are over dependent on the lives of personalities more than institutional memory/remembrance. And even where they talk of the personality, they over emphasise more the personal than the political..

    Reply
  5. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I can't look beyond the schools. I mean a thorough going revision of history teaching curricula in schools and to some extent universities. A new history that extols pluralism, competing accounts of the past….it will be a hard fight to get that done though…..And yes, “it has crossed the political divide”, which is disconcerting to say the least…..

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Takura Zhangazha