Bulawayo-based pressure group Ibhetshu Likazulu has continued to erect Gukurahundi memorial plaques in Matabeleland South Province to remember thousands of people who were killed during the 1980s disturbances.
Ibhetshu Likazulu recently erected a fourth memorial plaque in Bhalagwe, Matobo, where some of the victims of Gukurahundi were buried in mass graves.
In 2022, the third plaque erected at Bhalagwe was bombed by suspected State agents.
Posting on their X social media account recently, Ibhetshu Likazulu vowed to continue erecting plaques despite the destruction of the plaques erected in the past. It said:
We were at Bhalagwe putting up plaque number 4, the first 2 were stolen/ destroyed and plaque 3 was bombed. We will never let up.
As part of our memory and memorialization programme, we put 5 crosses to highlight those killed, disappeared, tortured and rapped maimed laying 5 wreathes of flowers in honour of those.
In putting 21 other crosses each representing a thousand killed, we spotlight the genocide We work with communities and traditional leaders under difficult circumstances of fear and apprehension.
But we remain thankful for the resilience of our infrastructure in the villages, partners and traditional leaders.
Ibhetshu Likazulu also called for a victim-centred and inclusive process that addresses the fundamental need for acknowledgement towards addressing the Gukurahundi legacy.
More: Pindula News