Editorial: End of a chapter and new beginnings

This month’s edition reflects that enduring mission. The lead article,The Archive Within, explores how the ZPRA Liberation Archives have become a remarkable space where former combatants, researchers and younger generations recover, debate and preserve the liberation struggle through shared memories. This is an important reminder that despite the wanton destruction of official records in the 1980s, this important history survived in the people who lived it.

Their determination to remember it has become an important archival source. • The archive within: ZPRA memory, history, and the everyday • High Court halts ZPRA property dispute over Geddes Building due to technical flaw Our second article,The Battle of Ndungwane, captures another vital dimension of ZPRA’s legacy and also underlinesYithi Laba’sphilosophy. It recounts not only the courage and tactical brilliance of Commander Knox and his comrades but also the indispensable role of villagers, collaborators, and support networks whose bravery sustained the liberation struggle under extraordinary danger.

The article also, importantly, underlines the critical role of witness accounts and oral tradition in reconstructing the history of ZPRA. This underlines an important point behind the idea ofYithi Laba: that liberation history belongs to the people who made it. This issue also marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

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With this final edition ofYithi Laba, we bid farewell to a publication that has proudly carried ZPRA’s stories. Our next issue will be the official launch ofThe Frontline. Unlike its predecessor, this publication will expand its scope to encompass the experiences and histories of the liberation movement armies of Southern Africa that stood shoulder to shoulder with ZPRA in its struggle against colonialism and apartheid.

The Frontlinewill broaden its lens to explore the shared experiences, alliances, and solidarity of movements such as Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the People’s Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN), FRELIMO, MPLA, and ZANLA, among others, whose collaboration helped shape the liberation of the region. ZPRA will also be at the heart of this work. As we turn this page, we extend our deepest gratitude to our contributors, veterans, researchers, readers and everyone who has entrusted us with their memories.

None of these people was paid for this work, a spirit that also underlines the commitment witnessed in the liberation armies. The struggle for historical preservation continues, and so too does our commitment to telling these stories with the dignity, depth and respect they deserve. The name may change, but the mission does not change. The goal remains to ensure that the history of Southern Africa’s liberation movements continues to live, inspire and educate generations to come.

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