Dali Mpofu: ‘People of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe are literally from South Africa’

Advocate Dali Mpofu, a senior member of the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party led by former president Jacob Zuma, has castigated deepening divisions among Africans, and called for development on the continent and the free movement of people. 

The seasoned legal counsel was speaking at the launch of Zimbabwean veteran opposition politician Job Sikhala’s book, “Footprints in the Chains: The Life Story of Job Sikhala,” in Johannesburg. Zimbabwean journalist and commentator Hopewell Chin’ono also attended and addressed the event. 

The guest of honour at the Joburg event, Mozambican main opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, was allegedly blocked by Mozambican authorities from attending physically, but he addressed the event virtually.

In his address, Mpofu said Africans today are heavily divided along lines they cannot explain.

“In the song (that was sung at the book launch event) somebody was talking about makwerekwere (a commonly used derogatory slur in South Africa against foreign nationals, particularly those from other African countries). We have allowed ourselves to be divided along lines that we also cannot even explain ourselves,” said Mpofu.

“How can we have makwerekwere here in Africa? Just tell me, how many people know that people of Matabeleland actually come from here? The entire Matabeleland … they come from here literally.”

Matabeleland is a vast region in southwestern Zimbabwe, named after the indigenous Ndebele people who reside there. It is divided into three modern-day provinces: Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South, and the city-province of Bulawayo. 

Mpofu also referred to the sharing of languages among different groups of Africans found in different nations.

“That is not a coincidence, we do not ask ourselves why? Why is that so? It is because Mziilikazi who moved from here, is the same person who was fighting alongside Shaka, and this is not a long time ago. It is less than 200 years ago. In historical terms, that is not a long time.”

“Because of those wars, Mzilikazi actually moved from what we call KZN (KwaZulu-Natal) now and lived here, in Gauteng, for a long time until the so-called Voortrekkers came and then it is only then that he moved across the Limpopo. So the very same people, who 200 years ago were sitting together in KZN are now calling each other – this one is makwerekwere. We must wake up as Africans, we really must,” said the former chairperson of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

He said “oppressors” have used borders to divide Africans.

“We worship things that have been imposed on us. Who came up with the borders? Was it us? In 1884 there was a meeting in Germany with white people only, not a single African. Not one African, I think even the people that were serving tea were white. And those people decided to cut our continent into pieces as they liked. 

“If my village and Job’s village, if they decided and cut it, he is now in another country and I am now in another country. They didn’t care, they were cutting it according to the riches of the continent,” said Mpofu.

“Why is it that in the United States, you have 51 states and can move around without borders? Why are we as Africans not asking those questions? The answer is this: the only reason we are fighting is that we are not economically developing our continent.”

Mpofu said if Africa was developing as a continent, there would be no need for the extensive restrictions on people’s movement.

“People do not move because they hate their homes. They move because of economic factors. That happens everywhere. I am here because of economic factors. I come from the Eastern Cape. So you can call me kwerekwere as well,” said Mpofu.

jonisayi.maromo@iol.co.za

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