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.
[2] Tavarwisa trained members, undertook missions and led revolts as a commander while managing to tend to her children.
[3] Educator and politician Fay Chung, who was also a member of ZANU, commented on Tavarwasa that:[7][8] The only camp commander who to my knowledge refused to comply with this systematic abuse of some of the young women who had joined the struggle, many of them for the most idealistic of reasons, was Sheba Tavarwisa, a top woman commander and one of the first and most respected of women guerrillas.
She was a skilled and wise leader, who managed to maintain her integrity while enjoying the absolute trust of Tongogara, despite the fact that she always refused to comply with his demands for women.
She was not acknowledged as a hero,[10][11] prompting ZANU-PF provincial official Mapiye Wekwete to question the late vice president Simon Muzenda about the criteria for recognizing pioneer war veterans.