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Nduduzo Tshuma, Political Editor

FOURTY-SIX years after the abduction of the Zapu intelligence chief Cde Ethan Dube, details have emerged on how a Botswana-based black Rhodesian agent, Philip Mhlanga played a role in his capture.

In never shared before details, a former Zapu intelligence commander Cde Gibson Mayisa (84), who deputised Cde Dube at the time, said Mhlanga later confessed his role after rigorous interrogation in Zambia. He had been hunted down and captured by Zapu intelligence operatives. 

There had been some claims that Cde Dube’s abduction in October 1974 was an “inside job” given that it came after the Zapu crisis, which Cde Mayisa dispels.

The Soviet-trained Cde Mayisa said Cde Dube, who was the Zapu representative to Tanzania, had just been deployed to the position of intelligence chief after the late National Hero Dr Dumiso Dabengwa was deployed to the party national executive as part of the implementation of the “proxy” document after the Zapu crisis.

“Dumiso wasn’t full time at the intelligence anymore, hence Ethan Dube was appointed and deputised by me. He had not worked very long; we were trying to build a way of how we would work. It was decided to fully utilise Botswana and it became necessary for Ethan to go to Botswana to pave way on how to use Botswana vis-à-vis the direction of the revolution according to the document,” said Cde Mayisa.

“We were meant to travel together, he came to me and said ‘Mayisa’ you have travelled to Botswana a number of times and know the place better so we must go together. However, something came up and I was delayed in Lusaka and Ethan proceeded to Botswana.” 

Cde Mayisa said he had referred Cde Dube to a number of people to contact in Botswana in pursuit of their plan.

He said Cde Dube also had his brother-in-law based in Lobatse, Mr Joshua Khutshwekhaya Ndlovu.

“We had agreed that he will go to Lobatse and ask Joshua to assist the party there. There were others in Francistown that I referred him to. When he got there, he met with the people we had directed him to and worked with them on a number of missions,” recalls Cde Mayisa.

He said while in Botswana, Cde Dube connected with a woman employed at a bank in Francistown.

“I don’t know how they connected as that was their private issue,” said Cde Mayisa.

“Then there was a man with the surname Mhlanga, his sister MaNkomo worked at the police station. It was not clear where Mhlanga worked but he had a car. The people we had referred Ethan to suggested that Mhlanga lends Ethan his car for use while there and he agreed.

“On the particular day, Ethan was using Mhlanga’s car and they arranged with the woman and her friend that they meet at a township called Area M to eat along with the woman’s friend. Ethan in the evening took Mhlanga’s car and proceeded to the place where they sat and ate.”

Cde Mayisa said as the three were eating, three men, two blacks and one white, knocked at the door before they were let in.

“As they got in, Ethan got up sensing danger and immediately they were involved in a violent scuffle. He was a very strong man Ethan, heavily built. Those girls didn’t scream. Because of the scuffle, a pistol broke but his assailants ended up stabbing him and he lost power before they took him away,” said Cde Mayisa emphasising that had it not been for the stabbing, Cde Dube would have outmuscled his assailants.

Cde Mayisa said after Cde Dube’s abduction, he had a discussion with Dr Dabengwa before he was sent to Botswana to investigate the circumstances around the abduction.

“I spoke to the girls he was with, I worked with them the way I was supposed to and discovered that the girls had no connection to his abduction. Further investigations led to the car and when I spoke to colleagues, they also said they were not sure of Mhlanga’s character,” he said.

Cde Mayisa said his investigations took him to Francistown, Gaborone and Lobatse as he gathered intelligence from people and Botswana State operatives.

“I spoke to Batswana colleagues both in the security arms and relatives to those girls and I discovered that Mhlanga had knowledge to what happened to Ethan. They said Mhlanga used to disappear for days having visited Rhodesia but they did not know exactly where he was visiting. They said they suspected that Mhlanga had connections with Rhodesian security agents,” said Cde Mayisa.

He said he went back to Zambia and briefed Dr Dabengwa on his findings and they discussed on the best way to proceed.

“Dumiso was very intelligent, he is one of the most intelligent people I ever worked with. We used our agents back in Rhodesia and they confirmed that there is a certain person in the Rhodesian Special Branch and discovered that it was Mhlanga. We could not deal with Mhlanga in Botswana. So we approached the Botswana government and asked them to deport Mhlanga to Lusaka which they did.

“We took Mhlanga for interrogation. I had three other boys, we interrogated him at a camp for girls that we got from MPLA of Angola. It took us four days for Mhlanga to break, he broke and admitted that he was involved in the abduction of Ethan and he had actually tipped them of his presence and where he was to be found,” said Cde Mayisa.

“He told us where he had been trained in Bulawayo, there was a Rhodesian special camp called KoMputshana close to Khami Dam, that is where Ethan was taken. After koMputshana we don’t know what happened.”

Cde Mayisa said after Mhlanga’s confession, the Zambian government got interested in the case since Cde Dube had come from Zambia when he met his fate.

“Zapu as a party would share their reports with Zambia. They requested for Mhlanga and he was handed over to them. Later on, the British claimed Mhlanga and the Zambian government handed him over to them. What happened to Mhlanga after that, I do not know.”

In an interview with our sister paper Sunday Mail, veteran liberation fighter Cde Jane Ngwenya, who had travelled with Cde Dube, said the Botswana police concluded he had been kidnapped by the notorious Selous Scouts.

“When they questioned the residents, they said Ethan had been carried away like a sleeping baby.

Judging by the time I had left him, he could not have been drunk to be carried away like that. We suspected he was injected with an unknown substance that made him unconscious,” said Cde Ngwenya. “The Zambian government and police came together with some OAU officials and it was recommended that we go back to Botswana and carry out investigations on Ethan’s kidnapping. But even up to this day, we don’t know where Ethan was taken and what happened to him.”