NDABANINGI SITHOLE, selected writings

226pp., illus., paperback, Cape Town, 2023

Methodist minister Ndabaningi Sithole (1920-2000) was one of the co-founders of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963. ZANU was banned in 1964 by Ian Smith's white minority government. Sithole was arrested and spent 10 years in prison. He was released in 1974. In 1975 ZANU split, with Joshua Nkomo forming ZAPU. Sithole founded the moderate ZANU-Ndonga party, which renounced violent struggle, while ZANU, now called ZANU PF, was led by Robert Mugabe, who won the 1980 election.

Sithole went into self-imposed exile, first in the United Kingdom and then in USA, returning to Zimbabwe in 1992. In 1997, he was convicted of conspiring to assassinate Mugabe. He was granted the right to appeal, but the case was never heard by the Supreme Court. Granted bail because of his deteriorating health, he died in the USA. He wrote twelve books, three of them on African politics.