Rev Elia Masiane: Pastor, teacher and freedom fighter

Rori Masiane

Who was Rev Elia Masiane?

Reverend Masiane was a Pastor and teacher taught by Swedish Missionaries in Southern Zimbabwe.

He served his community as a Pastor and teacher in Gwanda South, in Bulawayo in Beitbridge, Harare and Sweden as well as England.

He was also a ZAPU/African National Congress (ANC) Zimbabwe political activist.

He joined politics as an National Democratic Party (NDP)/ ZAPU youth member in 1958.

He went on to serve as a Central Committee member of ZAPU ANC Zimbabwe, Patriotic Front. He was also a member of Central committee for both ZAPU and ZANU-PF for over 30 years.

The Rhodesian Regime of Ian Smith called him “The Dissident Reverend.”

During his time as the Secretary of Education in ANC Zimbabwe (ZAPU), every student being sent abroad for studies carried documents signed by Rev Masiane.

Rhodesians alleged that these students were being sent abroad for training as “terrorists” not for any skills useful for building society.

He served over four years in political detention spending over three years incarcerated at Whawha Prison near Gweru and spent a year in detention at Chikurubi Maximum prison.

He believed in unity, and he sacrificed so much more than he could tell.

He endured so much suffering for the sake of unity.

He was a parliamentarian; he served as a member of Parliament for the Constituency of Gwanda South.

He was an enthusiastic farmer; he was devoted to building his herd of cattle.

I guess in his mind he was trying to get back to the farm he was forced out of during his childhood in Betel, Gwanda South.

Rev Masiane fell ill whilst on his farm in Colleen Bawn.

He was rushed to hospital in Gwanda town.

At the hospital he was diagnosed to have suffered a stroke.

The hospital started a treatment plan but on Friday the 15th of July they called us to inform the family that Rev Elia Masiane had passed away early in the morning.

Rev Masiane’s life was indeed a confluence of the struggle and church calling.

Rev Masiane was born to Mr. Kalibe Minyani Masiane and Ms. Ditseho Maqethuka Dube Masiane on the 8th of November 1937 in Betel near Manama in Gwanda South.

Rev Masiane first witnessed the suffering of his people, the blacks from an incredibly early age.

One morning in 1949 his father instructed him to drive the family livestock into the unharvested field and allow the cattle to graze on the maize, watermelons, pumpkins beans and all the precious crops.

What had possessed Mr. Masiane senior to instruct his young son to conduct such a crazy errand?

This was because of the cruel implementation of the 1930s Rhodesian Colonial 1930 Land Apportionment Act.

Throughout Rhodesia African People or Native Black people, were ordered out of their ancestral lands and driven to the crowded Lanes in the Tribal Trust Lands.

Early one morning in 1949, the Masiane family were driven from their land in Betel to the Lanes in Selonga Tribal Trust Land.

After allowing their cattle to eat up their crops for three days, they packed all their belongings onto ox-drawn sledges and pulled away all the way to Selonga, a land where elephants and other wild animals then roamed.

Those families that refused to move from the areas designated to become white men’s farms, had bulldozers sent in; to level all their homes to the ground and what is more; their livestock was confiscated by the colonial authorities.

On arrival at Selonga there was no school where the young Elia Masiane could continue his studies at Standard Three.

So, he spent the next two years just heading cattle and goats.

School was important to him.

Eventually the young Elia Masiane was moved to stay with his relatives in various locations such as Ntalale and other places in Gwanda South where he had close relatives.

Each time his relatives also got moved and found himself stranded unable to go forward with his education.

There was turmoil on the land as Africans were being forced off their land to make way for white farmers.

Eventually in 1952, the young Elia Masiane enrolled at Manama Mission school run by the Swedish Missionaries.

This was the beginning of a new chapter for Elia Masiane the boy.

At Manama Mission, he could pursue his studies to Standard Six. At Manama mission school, the students were taught the discipline of study.

At Manama he was also joined by his other contemporaries, such as the esteemed late Professor Phineas Makhurane.

When students completed Standard Six, they graduated to the next Lutheran Mission School at Chegato Secondary in the Midlands where they studied for their Junior Certificate.

From 1954 to 1956 he studied under the tutelage of Dr Bergman, one of the Swedish teacher-missionaries who had a profound impact on his life.

Sometimes on reflection Rev Masiane would say that he was a product of the Swedish Missionaries.

Whilst at Chegato Secondary Boarding School, Dr Bergman the Swedish Missionary also taught the boys vocational skills.

They were taught woodwork, carpentry and to work as fitters.

When Rev Masiane finished his Junior Certificate at Chegato he went to live with his uncle Mehlo ka Zulu in Njube in Bulawayo.

There he set about studying for Ordinary Level or Form 3 and 4 on day release at Mzilikazi / Alpha High School whilst he worked at Premier Woodworking.

Whilst working at Premier, one of the missionaries approached the then carpenter Elia Masiane and invited him to come back to Gwanda South to teach at Buvuma School where he started on his path to train in theology.

Reverend Phaswana from Manama was one of the main pastors who encouraged the teacher Elia Masiane to get into ministry.

In February 1962, he married Ms Sara Magabo Nare. They got married in Manama Lutheran Church.

Whilst in Bulawayo he got exposed to the NDP ZAPU and ANC Zimbabwe which he joined as a youth. He took part in the Zhii protests and strikes that were taking place in Bulawayo.

He became an NDP and ZAPU member and rose to the rank of Central Committee member.

In the early 1960s the senior Lutheran pastors wanted Elia Masiane to go to a theological school in South Africa.

At about that time the theological college opened in Salisbury in which the then Church of Sweden Mission had a large input.

In mid-1960, Elia Masiane took his young family to the then Salisbury where he started his training at Epworth Theological College.

At the same time Joshua Nkomo and Josiah Chinamano wanted Rev Masiane to go outside the country to represent the interests of the party.

At the beginning of 1970 Rev Masiane completed his theological training and was sent to Shashe Mission on the South African, Botswana border and Zimbabwe.

This became a very strategic location for him. During the day Reverend Masiane went about his pastoral work, during the evening it was time to do ZAPU/ANC Zimbabwe work.

There was the continuing work of building the branches, teaching the local people why the nationalist movement was taking on the white minority government.

There was also the work to recruit and assist the young people to cross the Shashe River into Botswana and go forward to train for the liberation struggle in Zambia and further afield.

The other opportunity was preparing the people to take part in the British-led Pearce Commission which climaxed in 1972.

During that time, the people of Matabeleland came out in force with banners boldly declaring that “No Independence before Majority Rule.”

After the Pearce Commission, Rev Masiane’s cover was blown as it were.

The Rhodesia Special Branch became bolder in hounding him.

At the same time, the activities of ZIPRA and ZANLA were gaining momentum.

The Rhodesians went up a gear in trying to stamp out in particular the flow of people out of border areas going into exile for guerrilla training.

In 1975 the Rhodesians moved against Reverend Masiane; they swooped on his vicarage at Shashe Parish.

He was arrested, his house was searched, and a pile of documents were confiscated.

There were other Lutheran pastors who were also arrested along Reverend Masiane, they were Rev A Vellah from the Buvuma Parish; Rev D Ramakgapola from the Situdipasi Parish in Beit Bridge and Rev Charles Sibabi Ndlovu from Msume Parish in Mberengwa and the Lutheran Church administrator Mr Malala.

These churchmen were interrogated and tortured in Gwanda.

They were accused of recruiting “terrorists” and sending them abroad for training.

In the case of Rev Masiane who was the Secretary for Education for the ANC Zimbabwe, which was operating under the name for ZAPU inside Rhodesia at the time they pointed out that since his name was required to sign every student who applied for a scholarship to study abroad, this was unmistakable evidence that Rev Masiane was recruiting “terrorists” in the eyes of the Smith regime.

The Rhodesians called him a “Dissident Reverend.”

They said that his sermons were encouraging villagers to support “terrorists,” they accused him of inciting the African youths to leave the country and join guerrillas fighting against the Rhodesian security forces.

At the trial, the Smith Government’s accusation did not stand.

Their case fell apart but these four churchmen and ZAPU freedom fighters were sent to detention where they spent three years at Whawha detention.

They were only released from prison in 1978 when the Rhodesian government realised that they would have to negotiate the end of the war.

At Whawha Prison, Rev Masiane and his colleagues occupied themselves in further studies by correspondence in preparation for living in independent Zimbabwe.

Upon their release from prison, Reverend Masiane and his colleagues Rev Vellah, Rev Ramakgapola, Rev Charles Ndlovu and Mr A Malala were invited by the Church of Sweden to go to Sweden.

The four of them and their families went to Sweden.

In Sweden, Rev Masiane had the opportunity to speak about the situation in Rhodesia, the war of liberation and had the opportunity to fundraise in support of the Zimbabwe refugees in Zambia, Botswana, and Mozambique.

Sweden and Scandinavian countries became some of the biggest donors to the struggle for the liberation of Zimbabwe.

During that time, Rev Masiane had the opportunity to visit ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo in Zambia and assess needs in Lusaka.

During the Lancaster House talks, Rev Masiane who was a student at Birmingham University had the opportunity to join the Patriotic Front delegation in London although his name did not appear in the list of delegates.

During the 1980s elections in newly independent Zimbabwe, Rev Masiane took a break from his studies in Birmingham to support the Patriotic Front on the ground in Zimbabwe.

After he completed his studies in Birmingham he went and contributed to Zimbabwe development by working as a secondary teacher in Zimbabwe.

He later became an MP for Gwanda South after the signing of the Unity Agreement.

He was also a member of Central committee for ZAPU and ZANU for over 30 years.

He was also a deputy leader of the detainees’ veterans association.

He was also a member of the National Consultative Assembly for over 20 years.

He was a patriot, a family man, a pastor, a farmer, and a lot more.

Yesterday mourners gathered at Rev Elia Masiane’s Bulawayo home at 10 David Bernard Road, Waterford, Bulawayo.
Mourners are also gathering at his rural home in Buvuma in Gwanda South.

Today we do not only mourn the passing of our father Rev Masiane, but we also celebrate his life because of how he sacrificed.

He was not only fighting for the return of agricultural land for the dispossessed African native.

He was fighting for freedom.

Yes, we salute him today as a freedom fighter who fell after a lifelong battle.

He belonged to the 1958 Zhii youth. He ran his race with focus like an athlete always keeping his eye on the ultimate goal of winning freedom.

Mayibuye inkululeko!

The year that he was arrested by the Rhodesians and ended up detained at Whawha Prison for over three years, his wife bore him a daughter and he called that baby child “Tokoloho.” Freedom.

That is what he fought for, that is what he lived for.

He came from that stoke of Bahananwa fighters those Northern Basotho Freedom fighters of the mountain strongholds.
Kgaka egana metse enwang fele ha pula enele.

(The guinea fowl which endures the thirst, only stopping to drink when it rains)
Ba bina Tshene ba itsweng

Robalang ka kgotso!

Rest in Peace Liberator.

Rori Masiane is the late Rev Elia Masiane’s son.

Article Source: The Chronicle