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Bongani Ndlovu, Chronicle Reporter

Newly-appointed Chief Goledema (Christopher Dube) of the San community, believes that there are people who do not want to be under him, although the land that they occupy belonged to his forefathers.

Chief Goledema says despite this resistance, he would preach unity, love, and peace after he was appointed chief last week.
Born on July 8, 1963, in Tsholotsho’s Gariya area, to Elias and Tsombo Dube, Chief Goledema learned at Mpilo Primary School in Ward 7, Tsholotsho and because of the war, his education was disrupted. He is married to Wedu Moyo and the couple has three children.

He was officially appointed by the Government on November 10, a year after his community chose him to be chief.
The San community is found on the outskirts of Bulilima District, Matabeleland South and Tsholotsho District in Matabeleland North where they have lived under the dominion of the Kalanga and Ndebele tribes for the past century.

Parts of Chief Goledema’s area will stretch from Manzamnyama River in Ward 7 up to Hwange National Park, bordering with Chief Siphoso’s area, as well as parts of Ward 10 in Mtshina, Gariya and areas around Butabubili, Phelela, Thembile, Mpilo and Phelandaba.

As a result of the taking of land from the three areas, Chief Goledema said there is some resistance from people who do not want to be under his leadership.

“The problem is that a person from the Ndebele culture doesn’t want to be ruled by a San as they believe it is degrading for them. But we would tell them that the land is ours as when you came here, you found us here. Thereafter, they selected their chiefs and we kept quiet,” said Chief Goledema.

Chief Goledema

He said the San Community started discussing having a Chief in the late 1990s and formed a trust.
“As a San community we had challenges such as our complaints weren’t getting to the ears of those in the rural district council. We then came together and formed the Tsorotso San Development Trust in the late 90s.

“A man called Davy Ndlovu advised us that we must register the organisation as a trust and he helped us to do so in 2014. This didn’t go down with fellow chiefs, as they were wondering why we wanted our chieftaincy as the San Community,” he said.
Chief Goledema is named after his grandfather, a respected rainmaker and senior traditionalist who reportedly resisted white rule in Tsholotsho during the colonial era.

According to the San customs and socio-political organisation, the tribe have no succession structure. It was, therefore, agreed that Mr Dube, by being a descendant of Goledema, takes the inaugural chieftainship, through an election last year.

“We sat down as the San community and deliberated how the lineage was from years gone by. There were families that were known to be direct descendants of Chief Goledema, such as Mazebele, Goledema and Garia. Between Garia and Mazebele, these have been earmarked to be where the headman will come from,” said Chief Goledema.

“There was an election within the San Community and I came out tops. Although like any other election, there were people who weren’t happy with the results, the community stood by me. The election was held last year in October and I was confirmed as chief this year, last week.”

Chief Goledema said at one time he tried to dodge the chieftaincy.
“I tried to dodge being a chief, but people refused saying they had faith in me. At one time, I left Tsholotsho and travelled to South Africa for the proverbial greener pastures. After some time, I came back and found people still waiting for me to take over,” said Chief Goledema.

Now that he is the Chief of the San Community, he is waiting for the day he is installed which he does not know.
Chief Goledema said he wanted to be an approachable leader, uniting and consulting the community.

“I don’t want to be a dictator or to rule people. I want to have a co-operative relationship with the people under me on how we want our area to function. I don’t want to be telling people what to do but I want to work with them for a common goal,” said Chief Goledema.

Some rural youth like Chief Goledema who left Zimbabwe in the late 90s continue to leave for employment across the borders.
The Chief urged the youth, especially from his area, to stay in Zimbabwe.

“I have seen what is there outside Zimbabwe, and I don’t encourage the youth, especially from my area, to jump the border. My wish is that more jobs are created by Government so that our children don’t feel the urge to cross the border. This is because most of the time they come back dead,” said Chief Goledema.