TEAM-ZANU-PF NEWS BULLETIN 

Dr Edison Sithole’s mystery lives on

 20 OCT, 2019 - 00:10  0 COMMENTS  

Isaya Muriwo Sithole

On Tuesday October 15 2019 we commemorated the abduction, disappearance and subsequent death of national hero, Dr Edson Furatidzayi Chisingaitwi Sithole.

He was abducted outside Ambassador Hotel in the then Salisbury (now Harare) on Wednesday October 15 1975, and his remains have not been found to date, 44 years on.

As we remember him, it is instructive to look at the aftermath of his disappearance and the national and international reaction at the time.

Dr Sithole was part of an early crop of nationalists who spearheaded Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence.

He is also remembered as the second black African – after the late national hero, Herbert Chitepo – to become a lawyer and to be called to Rhodesia Bar.

Most notably, he was the first black African to have an LLD (doctorate-level degree in the study of law) degree in the whole Southern and Central African regions after studying with Unisa (University of South Africa) while in political detention.

What happened to Dr Edson is perhaps the biggest political mystery in the Southern African region in the past 44 years.

Court Drama

Following his disappearance on a Wednesday, the drama played out at the courts the following morning (Thursday October 16 1975) when he failed to appear at the Salisbury Magistrates’ Court to represent two blacks – Gift Chandiruma (20) and Jefias Mudzana (19) from Katanga, Norton – who were facing assault charges.

The duo were accused of assaulting Cleopas Mudonhi of Ngoni Township, Norton, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The State alleged Mudonhi had been stabbed.

The Prosecutor, Mr Isaac Benator, told the court that Dr Sithole appeared to have “vanished”.

This was the only conclusion that could be drawn, especially after police denied he had been arrested and detained.

“As I was about to start court this morning, a phone call was received from Dr Sithole’s office that he had ‘vanished’,” Mr Benator said.

“The rumour had been that he had been arrested by the police, Special Branch.

“Inquiries were then made through the acting senior public prosecutor, Mrs M Bull, to Assistant Commissioner Hobley, who denied that Dr Sithole had been arrested and detained.”

In a report carried in the Rhodesia Herald of 17 October 1975, Mr Benator indicated that Dr Sithole had advised on Wednesday that he had another case at Harari Court at 9am the next day.

He asked if his case could be moved to 9.45am.

“A check was made at Harari Court today and it was learned that Dr Sithole had not appeared there either,” Mr Benator said on Thursday (October 16).

The prosecutor subsequently contacted Dr Sithole’s office, where a Mr Moyo advised him that Dr Sithole had been arrested on Wednesday at Ambassador Hotel at 4.30pm.

Acting provincial magistrate Mr C. D. N. Harloe remanded the case to October 30 to allow the accused to get legal representation.

Separately, the Rhodesia Herald reported on October 18 1975 in a story titled “Absent counsel holds up trial” that magistrate W.F. Henning asked the regional court to postpone the case of Joseph Byumbe (20) of Southerton and Kenneth Yobe (33), who were facing murder charges, “to enable the accused to find out what has happened to their defence counsel”.

The prosecutor, Mr S. C. Alford, said he had had a telephone call from Dr Sithole at 3.45pm on Wednesday.

“He stated it would be difficult for him to attend court today (Thursday) at 9am as he was engaged elsewhere,” said Mr Alford, adding: “Dr Sithole said he would be present at 11.45am and he has not appeared.”

The State alleged that Byumbe and Yobe were involved in an armed hold-up at Houghton Park Café, Salisbury, on September 27 1975.

Earlier, on October 17 1975, the Rhodesia Herald led with a story titled “Disappearance of Edson Sithole a mystery”.

It read: “Dr Edson Sithole, the controversial publicity secretary of the (Bishop Abel) Muzorewa faction of the African National Council, ‘vanished’ yesterday . . . We have no knowledge of his whereabouts.”

The statement confirmed that Dr Sithole, who had spent about 12 of his 38 years in detention, was questioned by police on Wednesday afternoon – the day he disappeared – about a press statement he issued earlier in the day.

In a statement he had released on Wednesday, Dr Sithole had accused the Joshua Nkomo-aligned faction of being favoured by the authorities.

Dr Gordon Chavhunduka, the secretary-general of Muzorewa’s ANC, confirmed he did not know about Dr Sithole’s whereabouts.

On October 18, the mystery deepened after the Rhodesia Herald quoted acting president of the ANC (Muzorewa faction) Dr Elliot Gabellah indicating that he believed Dr Sithole was kidnapped by an organised “gang of whites with their black puppets.”

It was also reported that Dr Sithole’s car had been found a day before near a railway station in Umtali (now Mutare), lending weight to the theory that he had purportedly skipped the country into Mozambique.

Detective chief inspector James Carse of the BSAP was heading the investigation.

Mr Willie Machekano – cousin to Dr Sithole – had made a report to the central charge office in Salisbury.

At the time, Joshua Nkomo suggested that Dr Sithole was either in custody or he had left the country.

“Possibly Dr Sithole is in custody or if he is not, it is evident he has left the country – that is the tradition of Zanu (a banned organisation).”

The discovery of Dr Sithole’s blue BMW 2000 in Mutare was probably the strongest clue to emerge in the mystery then.

In Zambia, different newspapers such as The Herald News Service, the UNIP-owned Times of Zambia and the government-owned Zambia Daily Mail also covered the story.

A statement from the ANC’s Lusaka base indicated that “if the sudden disappearance of Dr Edson Sithole should develop into a tragedy, it would obviously be the work of the same wicked culprits who killed Tichafa Samuel Parirenyatwa”.

There was misplaced speculation in Rhodesia that Dr Sithole may have left the country across the Mozambique border on his way to Lusaka, where there were plans to set up a government in exile led by Bishop Muzorewa and Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole.

But ANC sources said Dr Sithole could not have gone to Lusaka as he might not have been welcomed by the Zambian authorities because of the caustic statements he had made against the government.

Dr Edson Sithole’s fiancée, Miss Evelyn Kawonza, told the Rhodesia Herald his disappearance had caused great anxiety among friends and relatives.

Eye Witness

However, an account made by an anonymous white man was the most revealing.

His statement was widely used by local and international media.

The man, who was later named as Brother Auther of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, said the nationalist had been abducted.

He said: “On Wednesday October 15 I had to pick up two passengers to go to the Airport. Our rendezvous was at Ambassador Hotel at 7.10pm. I arrived slightly before seven. The first passenger arrived at about 7.05pm. The second a minute or two afterwards. We left the place at 7.10pm. Arriving slightly before 7pm, I parked my car to the left of the main entrance of the hotel, just next to the cycle parking lot.

“Well in front of the entrance, therefore, to my right, there was a gentleman leaning on a parking meter, waiting. Suddenly came out of the entrance Edson Sithole alone, walking briskly towards Second Street. Once I had recognised him, I went out of the car intending to say ‘hello’. But by the time I was out, I noticed that the parking meter man had moved behind Sithole and had now joined him, so I remain outside the car, looking on. The two men were in front of the third parking lot; that is, two lots away from my left. The parking meter man spoke to Sithole, but too soft for me to hear. However, it was easier for me to hear Sithole. So I heard: “Sithole, yes,” and Sithole shook hands with the meter man. Then Sithole said, ‘Special Branch… card?”

“The meter man produced a wallet, which he opened for Sithole to see. The meter man spoke again and I heard Sithole say, ‘Oh no! It is not necessary, it is all right.’ The meter man placed his hand on Sithole’s back and they both moved to the fifth or sixth parking lot. I would say it was the fifth. There Sithole seemed embarrassed and he spoke to the meter man with his two hands extended towards the car in front of them.

“By that time three more men appeared on the scene – two whites; one black. Sithole was not speaking as loud as at the beginning, and being further from me, I did not hear what went on. The meter man passed his arm under Sithole’s and led him between the fifth and sixth car; at least one man walked behind Sithole. I noticed then for the first time, that there was a ‘van’, not fully parked after the sixth car. Sithole was taken to the back of the van. The door was opened and Sithole entered. The door was closed. A man came to the nearest car … a lady came out and she too was led into the van. The van, driven by a European, and having an African on the seat with him, backed up (reversed) and moved towards Fourth Street. Two other cars also moved away, one towards Fourth and the other towards Second streets. I told my two passengers what I had witnessed and we moved to the airport. Time: 7.10pm.

“Upon our return from the airport, I wanted one passenger to check on Sithole’s car because he said he knew it. I had my suspicions that Sithole had come with his car, had left the lady behind while doing his business inside the Ambassador Hotel and when told he had to go with the Special Branch, he had shown some reluctance, perhaps at leaving both the car and the lady in the street. We arrived at the hotel around 9pm. A few parking lots were empty. My passenger did not see Sithole’s car.”

Isaya Muriwo Sithole is a legal practitioner practicing in Harare and is the founder and executive director of Dr Edson F.C. Sithole Foundation. Feedback: [email protected]

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