CULTURE
Matabeleland reveals the hidden history of the Gukurahundi massacre
For more than 40 years, Chris Nyathi has lived with the belief that his father’s spirit has never found peace. Julius Mvulo Nyathi was killed during Zimbabwe’s 1983 Gukurahundi massacre, beaten to death and buried in an unmarked grave. His search for closure forms the heart of Matabeleland, a documentary directed by Nyasha Kadandara, produced by Sam Soko, and executive produced by Bob Moore, reopening a silenced chapter of Zimbabwe’s history and the enduring trauma it left behind.
Noluthando Buthelezi
Sixty-year-old Chris Nyathi has spent his adulthood haunted by the restless spirit of his father. For 41 years, he believes, that spirit has wandered across Matabeleland, searching for the dignity and permanence it was denied in death.
His father, Julius Mvulo Nyathi, was killed during the 1983 Gukurahundi massacre in Zimbabwe—handcuffed, beaten to death, and buried in a shallow, unmarked grave. Chris was just 22 when he returned home from work to discover that his father had been murdered. The trauma of that moment has never left him.
Image: provided
Today, living as an immigrant in Botswana and working as a freight truck driver, Chris has embarked on an emotional journey toward healing. His story forms the heart of the documentary Matabeleland, directed by Nyasha Kadandara, who first met him in 2018 at a moment of political upheaval. Robert Mugabe had just been ousted, and Emmerson Mnangagwa was preparing to assume power—an opening, Chris hoped, to return home and finally exhume and rebury his father.
What he uncovered was harrowing: his father's forearm bones had been shattered at the point where handcuffs once held him. An autopsy confirmed what the family long suspected—he was beaten to death with a metal object.
A Film That Forces a Nation to Look Back
Chris, a 60-year-old Zimbabwean immigrant struggling to support his large family, believes he’s cursed by his late father’s unburied spirit. Directed by Nyasha Kadandara, Produced by Sam Soko
Matabeleland premiered in Denmark in March before screening in Johannesburg and Cape Town during the Encounters Film Festival, where it drew thousands of viewers. The film left audiences visibly shaken, some in tears, others deep in thought, forced to confront a painful chapter of Zimbabwe's history that, for many, has long remained unspoken.
The documentary reopens a wound the country has never fully acknowledged.
The Gukurahundi massacres, carried out in 1983 under Mugabe's Fifth Brigade, remain Zimbabwe's most tragic and contentious episode. Under the guise of a security operation, the government targeted Ndebele communities, killing an estimated 20,000 unarmed civilians.
Atrocities committed during the campaign were brutal and systematic:
- Young men executed or forced into degrading acts.
- Pregnant women stabbed to death.
- Families locked in huts and burned alive.
- Widespread torture, rape, and disappearances.
For survivors like Chris, the scars have endured across generations and borders. As an immigrant in Botswana, he carries both personal grief and a collective trauma.
A Director's Personal Reckoning
Image: Director of Matabeleland, Nyasha Kadandara
For director Nyasha Kadandara, Matabeleland is not only a film but also a reckoning with her own history. Though raised in the region, she admits she grew up without a true understanding of Gukurahundi. "It was only when I learned of Chris' story that I felt in touch with the history of our land," she says.
Creating the film was her way of honouring the people and pain of Matabeleland.
Having lived in Kenya for seven years, Kadandara also relates deeply to the immigrant experience, navigating uncertainty, starting over, and carrying unresolved grief. Her film examines these complexities while exploring different expressions of masculinity, particularly the emotional burdens placed on men like Chris.
"It was clear from the beginning that he had a lot to contend with as the head of his family," she reflects. "As I learned more about his life, I learned how hard he worked, how conflicted he was as an immigrant. I wanted to capture those elements."
Global Recognition and a Return Home
Chris Nyathi and Dumi seated together at a screening of Matabeleland, reflecting on the harrowing legacy of the Gukurahundi massacre - Image: provided
Before screening at Encounters, Matabeleland premiered at the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Human Rights Award. The film has since received invitations to screen across Africa, including rural Matabeleland itself.
For Chris, this journey is more than cinematic; it is a fight for dignity, truth, and the hope that his father's spirit may finally find peace.
