An appreciation by Dr Tapiwa Chatikobo
The famed self-trained historian Pathisa Nyathi has died aged 73 as a result of complications with diabetes. He has been described by many as a brilliant historian, a living library, an archive of Zimbabwean history, as well as a beloved father, dedicated mentor and cultural icon. He was at the forefront of promoting traditional knowledge and documenting vernacular histories in Matabeleland. He was down-to-earth, modest and humble. He was a farmer, writer, author of many books, activist and a regular columnist in the local print media.
I first got to know ‘baba’ Nyathi in December 2015 when I was starting my PhD on livestock, grazing and land reform in Matobo district. I first met him at the Institute of Development Studies at NUST in Bulawayo when we had a long discussion on ‘traditional’ livestock management practices in Matabeleland. Since then, I have met and interviewed him several times. His farming household would later become part of my PhD sample. He was always welcoming and encouraging.
Pathisa Nyathi was born in 1951, and grew up in Sakonjana, in the south of Matobo district. He had BA and Honours degree from the University of South Africa. In 1971, he enrolled for a secondary school teaching course at Gweru Teachers’ College, majoring in science and maths subjects and completed in 1973. He then taught at several secondary schools, including Usher, Howard, David Livingstone and St Columba. In 1985, he became a headmaster at Gloag High School where he served until 1993 when he transferred to Nketa secondary school where he served as a headmaster until 1994. In 1996, he became an education officer, and later rose to the post of the Deputy Education Director for Matabeleland North province in 2002.
Unfortunately, he was then ‘forced’ to retire from this post in 2004. “As a columnist for the Sunday Mirror, I had written something on the biting side”, he told me. As he went on to explain, “They (his bosses) used a certain term to rationalise it, but we all knew what that means – it was political”. After 2004, he then worked as a public relations officer at Bulawayo City Council until his retirement in 2008. On leaving formal employment, he then focussed his efforts on consultancy work. In 2010, he also set up Amagugu Heritage Centre in Matobo, a cultural hub aimed at researching and educating people on culture.
He provided support for many cultural initiatives, including the ‘My Beautiful Home’ project, which has become very popular in our study sites in Matobo. Besides being such a prolific writer and historian, he was also an assiduous livestock farmer at Mampondweni farm. Early this year, he and his close friend Reverend Paul Damasane were assigned by the President to document the heroic Pupu battle of National Resistance against British colonialism, and to trace the history of King Lobengula following the collapse of the Ndebele State in 1893.
Many scholars have worked closely with baba Nyathi, including Jocelyn Alexander and JoAnn McGregor who, together with the late Terry Ranger, documented the rural history of Matabeleland in their book, Violence and Memory. Gilbert Ncube, a senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University, in an article published after his death, described him as a ‘guardian of the nation’s collective history and memory’. In a speech, David Coltart, the mayor of Bulawayo City had this to say:
“Whilst he was the personification of history, culture, tradition, for example, of food systems, even an actor and many other things, fortunately he used his time on earth wisely. He knew what his role was. He has left this rich tapestry, this rich legacy through the Amagugu Heritage Centre, his sixty books, his columns in various newspapers and that he has created a plan for the future. A foundation we will all have the benefit to go back to those writings to see his legacy and to teach future generations about the rich history of our nation but particularly the Ndebele people. Through that, his legacy will transcend and will enrich generations to come.”
In saying goodbye, I think back to my first meeting with baba Pathisa Nyathi in 2015, when I mentioned my interest in studying livestock production in post-land reform contexts in Matobo. With typical generosity, he immediately shared his book titled “The History and Culture of the Babirwa of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe”. Identifying himself as from the Babirwa – a Tswana/Sotho subgroup – he meticulously constructed the history of the Babirwa people who once occupied the Limpopo-Shashe basin during the pre-colonial period.
The Babirwa people were pastoralists, who occupied a semi-arid environment, characterised by high levels of variability in available pastures and water resources. In order to deal with variability, the Babirwa people employed a strategy known as ‘moraka’ (plural: ‘meraka’), a seasonal transhumance system wherein livestock were moved across large areas in search of grazing and water resources. According to baba Nyathi, the Ndebele when they occupied the region in the 1840s later adopted the system and corrupted the word ‘mlaga’. This became a key aspect of livestock management in Matabeleland region. It allowed the Ndebele people to ‘live with and through variability’, through mobility.
In my PhD work, I documented the patterns of complex land sharing, leasing, rental and purchase arrangements emerging in post-land reform contexts in Matobo that allow for flexibility of livestock production systems in the face of high levels of variability in available fodder and water. These social relations have facilitated the replication of ‘traditional’ pastoral mobility that are key in dealing with climate variability and change.
Through baba Pathisa Nyathi’s writing, research and practice, and his involvement in the ‘My Beautiful Home’ project, it is no exaggeration to say that he has contributed immensely to the Ndebele people and Zimbabwe in general. He will be solely missed by all of us, but his work lives on.
This blog was written by Dr Tapiwa Chatikobo (post-doctoral researcher, PLAAS, UWC) and first appeared on Zimbabweland