Sheba Tavarwisa

Sheba Tavarwisa (born 1 August 1946 ) was a war veteran from Zimbabwe. She was one of the first female commanders of the military wing of Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANLA), which spearheaded the country's revolution against colonial rule.

Revolution Tavarwisa worked as a primary school teacher until she left to join the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) to fight for the country's liberation. She was one of the early cadres and first female commanders of the movement. Tavarwisa also ensured that women in the camps were not being sexually harassed or exploited.

In 1978, Tavarwisa became ZANU's Deputy Secretary for Education. She took part in planning strategies and was the only woman among 27 others. Apart from being a member of ZANU's women's department, she was elected to sit at the organization's central committee.

Death Tavarwisa died on 3 June 1994.

She was buried in her village homestead in Gutu. She was not acknowledged as a hero, prompting ZANU-PF provincial official Mapiye Wekwete to question the late vice president Simon Muzenda about the criteria for recognizing pioneer war veterans.

Many male colleagues who later joined the struggle and even those who were trained by early female combatants such as Tavarwisa were granted hero status and buried at the National Heroes' Acre.