Cecil Rhodes was an evil man. A British psychopath who was both sickly and sexually perverted, his hatred and barbaric treatment of African people earned him the colloquial title of a ‘bad man in Africa’ not only from Africans people, but also humane Europeans.
In a published commemorative obituary it is written that;
“It was Rhodes who originated the racist ‘land grabs’ to which Zimbabwe's current miseries can ultimately be traced. It was Rhodes, too, who in 1887 told the House of Assembly in Cape Town that “the native is to be treated as a child and denied the franchise. We must adopt a system of despotism in our relations with the barbarians of South Africa”. In less oratorical moments, he put it even more bluntly: “I prefer land to n word.”
For thousands of seasons, the Matapos was revered as a place sacred to both the Matabele and the Shona people, but when in 1902 Cecil Rhodes died and as the first European was buried there, his odious spirit defiled that.
Today his bones still remain in a protected grave guarded by police 24 hours a day at the Malindidzimu Shrine (resting place of Ancestral spirits) within The Matobo National Park, Bulawayo. Buried next to him is, Jameson, another psychotic imperialist who had been knighted by the British Queen with the Order of the Bath in 1894 after his savage massacre of the Ndebele people.
Many African remain furious about this and state that “the Matopos [Hills] is the sacred shrine of Mwari, [and remains] a very sacred religious site for the Shonas”
Writing for the New Zimbabwe, Colls Ndlovu explains that there is an “ongoing debate about the burial of heroes at the Heroes Acre and the refusal to consecrate others in that shrine coincides with the annual commemorations of King Mzilikazi. The historical significance of King Mzilikazi’s death is paramount because his burial and the site of his grave provide an answer to the alternative shrine where heroes who have been snubbed by the powers-that-be in Harare could be laid to rest.
In this respect, one does not need to be a tsikamutanda to know that heroes like General Lookout Masuku, Ndabaningi Sithole, Makhathini Guduza, James Chikerema and numerous others should have been given the due honour of resting at a national shrine.”
Although in the past, a statue of Rhodes in central Harare has been taken down by President Mugabe, Cain Mathema, the governor of Bulawayo, believes the desecration of Zimbawean heritage in favour of the veneration of european oppressors and ‘Rhodesian sympathisers’ should be stopped.
In 2008 the ruling African National Congress (ANC) group in Azania (South Africa) voted to strip away more than a century of memorials to European imperialism in favour of honouring African freedom fighters. Some of the details are that the city’s famous Marine Parade became O R Tambo Parade, after Oliver Reginald Tambo, the former president of the ANC, Kensington Drive became Adelaide Tambo Drive, after Tambo’s widow. Moore Road, became Che Guevara Road, Mansfield Road, became Steve Biko Road, after the ‘black’ consciousness activist killed in police custody, North Ridge Road was renamed after Peter Mokaba, an ANC activist, Bellevue Road was renamed after Amilcar Cabral, the great pan Africanist revolutionary and Edwin Swales VC Drive, was renamed after a local hero, Solomon Mahlangu Drive as well as Kingsway which was renamed after Andrew Zondo, an ANC freedom fighter.
Mathema is one of many that feels that the original Tonga name Mosi oa Tunya should be reclaimed for ‘Victoria Falls’ and the statute of David Livingstone overlooking the Falls should be removed.
Speaking to Zimbabwe’s Sunday News, Mathema revealed; “Rhodes was deliberately buried at Matopos, it was not a coincidence,” He continued “And I wonder why 30 years after independence his grave is still found on the country's traditional shrine of worship. It's an insult to our ancestors.”
“All over the country you find schools named after colonialists, statues erected to celebrate colonialism. I am struck and baffled by the attitude of our people to continually embrace a bygone system that worked tirelessly to thwart their energy and aspirations,”
The Matobo Hills became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003
External Links
Cecil John Rhodes’ body should be exhumed and sent back to BritainMatopos Hills: the other Heroes’ AcreCecil Rhodes: A bad man in AfricaANC votes to rename streets after party activistsZimbabwe at 30: Iron rule of Mugabe casts pall over independence
In a published commemorative obituary it is written that;
“It was Rhodes who originated the racist ‘land grabs’ to which Zimbabwe's current miseries can ultimately be traced. It was Rhodes, too, who in 1887 told the House of Assembly in Cape Town that “the native is to be treated as a child and denied the franchise. We must adopt a system of despotism in our relations with the barbarians of South Africa”. In less oratorical moments, he put it even more bluntly: “I prefer land to n word.”
For thousands of seasons, the Matapos was revered as a place sacred to both the Matabele and the Shona people, but when in 1902 Cecil Rhodes died and as the first European was buried there, his odious spirit defiled that.
Today his bones still remain in a protected grave guarded by police 24 hours a day at the Malindidzimu Shrine (resting place of Ancestral spirits) within The Matobo National Park, Bulawayo. Buried next to him is, Jameson, another psychotic imperialist who had been knighted by the British Queen with the Order of the Bath in 1894 after his savage massacre of the Ndebele people.
Many African remain furious about this and state that “the Matopos [Hills] is the sacred shrine of Mwari, [and remains] a very sacred religious site for the Shonas”
Writing for the New Zimbabwe, Colls Ndlovu explains that there is an “ongoing debate about the burial of heroes at the Heroes Acre and the refusal to consecrate others in that shrine coincides with the annual commemorations of King Mzilikazi. The historical significance of King Mzilikazi’s death is paramount because his burial and the site of his grave provide an answer to the alternative shrine where heroes who have been snubbed by the powers-that-be in Harare could be laid to rest.
In this respect, one does not need to be a tsikamutanda to know that heroes like General Lookout Masuku, Ndabaningi Sithole, Makhathini Guduza, James Chikerema and numerous others should have been given the due honour of resting at a national shrine.”
Matopos Hills: Descrated by a protected shrine to a British meglomanicac
Respecting the Ancestors, Reclaiming Dignity
Although in the past, a statue of Rhodes in central Harare has been taken down by President Mugabe, Cain Mathema, the governor of Bulawayo, believes the desecration of Zimbawean heritage in favour of the veneration of european oppressors and ‘Rhodesian sympathisers’ should be stopped. In 2008 the ruling African National Congress (ANC) group in Azania (South Africa) voted to strip away more than a century of memorials to European imperialism in favour of honouring African freedom fighters. Some of the details are that the city’s famous Marine Parade became O R Tambo Parade, after Oliver Reginald Tambo, the former president of the ANC, Kensington Drive became Adelaide Tambo Drive, after Tambo’s widow. Moore Road, became Che Guevara Road, Mansfield Road, became Steve Biko Road, after the ‘black’ consciousness activist killed in police custody, North Ridge Road was renamed after Peter Mokaba, an ANC activist, Bellevue Road was renamed after Amilcar Cabral, the great pan Africanist revolutionary and Edwin Swales VC Drive, was renamed after a local hero, Solomon Mahlangu Drive as well as Kingsway which was renamed after Andrew Zondo, an ANC freedom fighter.
Mathema is one of many that feels that the original Tonga name Mosi oa Tunya should be reclaimed for ‘Victoria Falls’ and the statute of David Livingstone overlooking the Falls should be removed.
Speaking to Zimbabwe’s Sunday News, Mathema revealed; “Rhodes was deliberately buried at Matopos, it was not a coincidence,” He continued “And I wonder why 30 years after independence his grave is still found on the country's traditional shrine of worship. It's an insult to our ancestors.”
“All over the country you find schools named after colonialists, statues erected to celebrate colonialism. I am struck and baffled by the attitude of our people to continually embrace a bygone system that worked tirelessly to thwart their energy and aspirations,”
The Matobo Hills became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003
President Mugabe: Freedom fighter days
External Links
Cecil John Rhodes’ body should be exhumed and sent back to BritainMatopos Hills: the other Heroes’ AcreCecil Rhodes: A bad man in AfricaANC votes to rename streets after party activistsZimbabwe at 30: Iron rule of Mugabe casts pall over independence
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The Matopos Hills is the sacred shrine of Mwari, and remains a very sacred religious site for the Shonas
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