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Compiled by Zimpapers Knowledge Centre 

 They are the matriarchs of the revolution who were also married to the liberation struggle.

 In their own right, they wrote their own historical narratives of Zimbabwe’s and Southern Africa’s struggle against settler colonialism.  

Although they separated from their nationalist husbands under the old adage, “until death do us part”, it was a painful separation. But they did not give up as they continued their fight as “widows of the struggle.” 

 That is how best to describe Cdes Victoria Fikile Mahamba-Sithole Chitepo and Sunny Ntombiyelanga Takawira.   

 

Victoria Fikile Chitepo

 (1927-2016)

Cde Victoria Chitepo had a sibling called Vivian, who predeceased her, and on the day she passed on, another gallant cadre of the struggle, Cde Vivian Mwashita also died. 

She passed on at her Mount Pleasant home on April 8, 2016. The two made history when they had a twin burial at the National Heroes Acre on April 13.  

Cde Chitepo was the widow of national hero and Zanu national chairman Cde Herbert Wiltshire Hamandishe Chitepo.  

 The late heroine was born on March 28, 1927 in Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She was the third child in a family of six children: four girls and two boys.  

 She grew up in a religious family. Her father was a graduate of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland where he trained as a Minister, while her mother was a good communicator and teacher.  Cde Chitepo’s father was one of those nationalists that joined the African National Congress early as an activist and this inspired her to participate in resistance politics. 

She showed leadership qualities at a tender age as she was appointed Deputy Head Girl at Adams College in Natal in 1946, at the age of 19. 

 Cde Chitepo obtained a diploma in teaching from Adams College and taught at Inanda Seminary between 1946 and 1952. From 1951 to 1952, she studied social sciences at the University of Natal, and later enrolled for a post-graduate degree in social work at Birmingham University.  

 Cde Chitepo was shocked to discover that on campus, white people did not talk to black people because of entrenched racism, and this heightened her desire to fight the institutionalised racism. She visited several communities in Birmingham preaching about human dignity, equality and freedom of association. 

She later undertook three months of specialised studies in social psychology at London University.  During the period when Cde Chitepo qualified as a teacher, and later a social worker, Africans were not allowed to be employed full time in South Africa. 

On her return to her country of birth, she consequently got employed by the Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), and became its first Secretary-General in 1954.

 As Secretary-General, she did a lot of social work, and created self-help associations for women, such as the Zenzele Club, which sought to uplift the livelihoods of African women.  Cde Chitepo met national hero Cde Herbert Chitepo when they were studying at Adams College, and established a fantastic love relationship. They later got married on October 29, 1955 — a development that saw her relocating to Southern Rhodesia.  

Although Cde Chitepo had been initiated into political activism in South Africa, she became deeply involved in politics upon coming to Rhodesia. 

Owing to her upbringing, and the influence of her husband, she became involved in nationalist politics, and was present when the Zimbabwe African People’s Union was formed in 1961.

 She also continued with her work with women’s organisations, and led many protests by women. She was also instrumental in supporting and visiting Zapu detainees, and giving them books to read while in detention. 

 Cde Chitepo hid political activists like Cde James Dambaza Chikerama at their house in Highfield to avoid arrest. 

Her advantage was that she was well networked as she always had access to transport and a telephone, since her husband was a lawyer, and this proved to be very handy and effective in supporting nationalist organisational needs. 

She was arrested and detained several times in Highfield as the settler regime sought to instil fear in her, but she was not deterred. 

 Cde Chitepo later moved to Tanzania where she helped her husband to set up the Liberation Office in Dar es Salaam, and undertook many assignments in support of his duties. 

She also assisted many cadres that were returning from military training, including President Emmerson Mnangagwa. 

 Because of her passion for education, Cde Chitepo helped cadres that had been selected for further studies by securing scholarships for them.  

 In Tanzania, Cde Chitepo taught at several schools, which included Ilboru, Assumpta (Weru Weru), Arusha and the International School in Moshi. 

 Following her husband’s assassination in 1975 by the Smith regime, Cde Chitepo continued to support the struggle, based in Tanzania until 1980.

 After Independence, she held a number of Government portfolios, which included: Deputy Minister of Education and Culture; Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism; Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications; Minister of Local Government. 

 She also served as Member of Parliament in Manicaland’s Mutasa and Buhera West Constituencies between 1980 and 1995.

Cde Chitepo was appointed member of the Commonwealth Observer Group to observe the 1992 Kenyan national elections. She became a member of the Commonwealth Mission to South Africa (COMSA III) in 1993.

 Cde Chitepo was also a United Nations Eminent Person and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros Ghali, during preparations for the Fourth World Conference on Women held in the Chinese capital Beijing in 1995. During the same year, she was also elected chairperson of the Women Voters Association of Zimbabwe. 

Cde Victoria Chitepo was also a member of the Zanu-PF Central Committee and Politburo until the very end. She was unanimously declared a national heroine in recognition of her dedicated service to the nation.  

 Describing her as a graceful peacemaker, full of love and humility, the late President Robert Mugabe eulogised at her burial: “She has gone now, but she has written her own page or book of the struggle. She had quite a difficult burden when he husband was assassinated. She was shattered but still felt she did not only have children to look after, she had, also, the Party her husband had worked for to care for … What her husband left undone, she would do now, the fulfilment of the ambition and the mission, which her husband left unfulfilled, she fulfilled it all.” 

  Sunny Ntombiyelanga Takawira (1927-2010)

The former Senator for Midlands and widow of veteran nationalist and Zanu founding Vice President, Cde Sunny Ntombiyelanga Takawira, died at her Mt Pleasant home in Harare on January 13, 2010, following complications arising from an operation of the womb. 

She was 82, and she was the fifth heroine buried at the national shrine. Zimbabwe will forever remember her as a generous, humble, kind and caring mother who sacrificed a lot for the liberation of the country. 

She also suffered physically and mentally at the hands of the brutal and oppressive racist regime because of her role in the liberation struggle and for being married to Cde Leopold Tapfumaneyi Takawira (The Lion of Chirumhanzi). 

Cde Sunny Takawira (nee Dube) was born on July 2, 1927, under Chief Mabhena, Insiza District, Filabusi, Matabeleland South province. She was the second child and oldest girl in a family of seven children, three girls and four boys. Her parents were John Dlodlo Dube and Sonile Mlilo. As the colonial regime began to forcibly relocate Africans to create land for the white settlers, her father and his family were moved by the Rhodesian government to Nkayi. 

Thus Cde Sunny and her family grew up in Nkayi, which was a wild game-infested area with poor farming soils and always prone to droughts. Amai Takawira’s only surviving brother, Bekithemba Dube said they were religious from a very early age and used to preach a lot in the United Church of Christ. 

Educated at Hope Fountain Mission, Amai Takawira trained as a nurse at Mnene Mission Hospital in Mberengwa and on graduation first worked at Gokwe Hospital. 

Later, in 1955, she joined Harare Central Hospital. She was among the pioneer nurses in the Casualty and Outpatient departments at Harare Hospital. 

Amai Takawira was reputed for her kindness and gentleness in the nursing profession. 

Young Sunny married the late first vice president of Zanu, Cde Takawira, on September 2, 1955, in Gokwe and this marked the beginning of her involvement in nationalist politics. 

She became mother to her stepchildren, Theresa, Agnes and Patrick whom her husband sired with Anna Singo. Amai Takawira embraced her husband’s children with great love and devotion. 

Theresa later said that it was Amai Takawira who defined the mother-daughter relationship in her life. Her nurturing virtues were extended to Joseph, Anna and Helen, children to Cde Takawira and Lucy Nyamande. 

In 1958, Amai Takawira was blessed with a baby boy, Samuel Hamandishe, who was followed by the late Leo Tafirenyika (1960) and lastly Gertrude Ratidzo in 1963. Sadly, Patrick died in 1959.

Amai Takawira hosted early nationalists when they held secret meetings at her house at Number 3851 (Y8), Jabavu Drive in Highfield, Harare. 

The worst came for Amai Takawira following the banning of Zanu in 1964 and the incarceration of its leadership including Cde Takawira.

 

She endured the challenges of fending for her family as a single parent and the constant harassment by the oppressive regime. 

After the arrest of Cde Takawira in 1964, she smuggled letters and information in and out of prison at Wha, Gonakudzingwa and Sikombela Detention Centres as well as Salisbury Central Prison because of his uncompromising principles and dynamism, Cde Takawira was an obstacle to the plans of the racist settler regime. 

Thus throughout his detention time, the regime kept its eyes on him and eventually planned to disrupt his political career by terminating his life. 

While in detention in the Sikombela Forests, Comrade Takawira was privately taken to Connemara Prison where he was brutally tortured by the racist police murder squad. 

From there, he was taken to Salisbury Prison. In spite of all these brutalities, Cde Takawira did not draw back but instead persisted in actively advising and strengthening the stand of his colleagues to oppose the UDI, colonialism, settlerism and national “capitulationism”. 

As a result of the torture, Cde Takawira was unwell for the next five years and all this time Cde Sunny was the one giving him moral and material support as she visited him in prison from time to time.  

Because of the injuries sustained from the brutal torture and ill-treatment by the Rhodesian police, Zimbabwe was robbed of one of its most precious sons on June 15, 1970.

Cde Sunny only learnt about the death of her husband from Cde Takawira’s colleagues in the struggle such as Cde Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who was his very close associate. 

She learnt from Cde Mugabe that one day her husband had been found lying down on the prison floor. Prison guards had been called around 7am to come and take him to hospital but they refused. 

They only came at 11am and took him to the prison clinic where for cruel reasons, they detained him until 5pm when they finally took him to a hospital where he then died. 

The death of her husband did not take away the resolve in Cde Sunny to work for the liberation of Zimbabwe. 

During her stint as a nursing sister at a clinic in Highfield near Mbizi Police Station, she contributed much to the liberation struggle through treating both civilians and those who were injured in the armed struggle. 

She was also involved in the demonstrations organised by nationalists’ wives whose spouses were languishing in detention. 

They often demonstrated against discrimination of the colonial regime with women such as Ruth Chinamano which resulted in them being detained at Harare Central Police Station, only to be released after paying fines. 

Amai Takawira also suffered heavily at the hands of the colonial government when she was betrayed by sell-outs for her involvement in the liberation struggle. 

She was beaten, tortured and her home searched without a search warrant. Her home was also attacked in 1979 resulting in her two children, Gertrude and Leopold Jnr being injured. 

Her house in Highfield was a constant target of surveillance by the Rhodesian police and was stoned many times. Despite all this, she never gave up her support for the liberation struggle. 

Her two sons Sam (Cde Skidrow) and Tafi (Cde Santana) joined the liberation struggle, a testimony of how the family through her guidance remained committed to the struggle even after the death of their father. 

Veteran nationalist and Zanu-PF Politburo member, Cde Victoria Chitepo described the late Mrs Takawira as a “reserved but strong-willed” person. 

“Although she was generally a quiet person she helped a lot in mobilising assistance in the form of medicines, food and smuggling information for detainees especially during the time when a number of nationalist leaders were detained in prisons and that needed people with a lot of courage,” Cde Chitepo said. 

She also said that Amai Takawira was instrumental in the establishment of women’s clubs in Highfield and continued to support these associations, adding that in early 1960s, she also played a pivotal role in the establishment of nursery schools for segregated African children. 

Despite the danger of being caught by colonial authorities, she supplied medicines and attended to many sick political prisoners and among them was Cde Didymus Mutasa. 

She continued to provide, not only for the family but also for political figures and other family members. 

While working at the Zanu (PF) headquarters at 88 Manica Road, she survived a bomb blast sustaining minor cuts and bruises. 

In 1980, Amai Takawira together with Cdes Tsitsi Munyati, a teacher by profession, and Cde Bridget Mugabe, welcomed liberation fighters from Mozambique at the Salvation Army Church in Mbare. 

In the same year, Cde Takawira retired from nursing after she had been appointed Senator for Midlands. 

Together with Cdes Bridget Mugabe and Tsitsi Munyati, they established a training centre at Melfort Farm along the Harare-Mutare road near Ruwa. 

At the training centre, former liberation fighters were trained in dress making, sewing and crafting skills. The trainees obtained skills, food and education in general. Amai Takawira was involved in mobilising resources for the centre. 

After the ceasefire in 1980, along with her two sons, came many freedom fighters to stay with her at the family house in Highfield. 

She stayed on into politics well into Independence, providing shelter to many war veterans. She believed in leading by example. 

For instance, in the early 1980s, together with Cde Munyati and many other women, Cde Takawira participated in sponsored walks and charity events. 

In 1980, she walked from Melfort to Harare Post Office to raise funds for the wounded war veterans at Melfort. 

    Source: A Guide to the Heroes Acre: Some basic facts about Zimbabwe’s heroes and the Heroes Acre. (2019) Harare: Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services. 

Amai Takawira drew her strength from her faith in the Almighty. This was evident in her strong fellowship in the Catholic Church both in Highfield and in Mt Pleasant. 

She provided guidance and support to younger women from all walks of life and actively participated in church activities often walking long distances to fellowships. 

In December 2009, Amai Takawira was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, which upon being operated on was found to be benign. 

The operation however developed complications and she struggled to recover from it. On Wednesday January 13, 2010 after being discharged from the Baines Avenues Clinic, she died peacefully at her home in Mt Pleasant. 

In paying his condolences, His Excellency, President R.G. described the late Amai Takawira as a humble woman who helped many revolutionaries during the liberation struggle. 

“There were two important houses during the time we were organising our meetings. The first was owned by (Cde Enos) Nkala and the other belonged to Chirumanzu (Cde Takawira). 

This is when I started knowing Amai Takawira as we used to hold our meetings at her place. We also got food from the two houses… She was a true mother to all her children”, he said. 

President Mugabe said Amai Takawira suffered during the struggle, especially after her husband opted for a career in politics. 

“We were always being incarcerated and always on the move traveling to many countries. She would be left behind looking after the family.” Given her contributions to the struggle for the independence of Zimbabwe, the Zanu-PF Politburo unanimously declared her a national heroine. 

At the time of her death, Amai Takawira was survived by son, Dr Samuel Takawira, daughter, Gertrude and eight grandchildren.