BY ALEX MATTHEWS
Let’s face it: more than three months since its inception, Zimbabwe’s so-called government of national unity is a failure.
This is a unity government in all but name. Oppression and coercion is embedded within its architecture, with the impotent opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) serving as little more than a legitimising mechanism for ruling party Zanu PF’s totalitarian agenda. Little wonder that the country is still falling apart when Zanu PF shamelessly grips onto power. Stalling reforms proposed in the GNU agreement and having unilaterally appointed ambassadors, it’s sent a clear message that it remains the party calling the shots.
Furthermore, human rights activists, lawyers and MDC politicos continue to be unlawfully harassed and detained. Hundreds of prisoners die of starvation in jail. And land grabs and persecution of farmers occur with impunity.
The MDC has shown itself powerless to prevent all this and unable to ensure that the rule of law is respected. Instead, it pleads for smart sanctions against Mugabe’s cronies be lifted, naively assuming this will kickstart the very economy that these vile specimens actively destroyed through their avarice and tyranny.
It is clear that Zanu PF’s undemocratic participation in government is only further aiding Zimbabwe’s disintegration and prolonging the suffering of our beleaguered neighbours. Yet Pretoria remains silent about the continuing subjugation of the Zimbabwean people, preferring, rather, to silently condone the brutality of a fellow “liberation” movement.
Instead of propping up Zanu PF, South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC, needs to act in the best interests of all Zimbabweans and force the party to accept the rule of law and ensure that the obligations in the unity agreement are adhered to. Otherwise one can only assume that our ruling party’s endorsement of Zimbabwe’s dictatorship is an indication that it too believes that rapacious oppression is justified to maintain an increasingly slippery hold on perpetual rule.
Alex Matthews is editor of The Soapbox. He writes this in his personal capacity.
Tags: anc, human rights, mdc, mugabe, south africa, tsvangirai, zanu pf, zimbabwe
2 Comments
we in South Africa have watched the decline of Zimbabwe with horror, and over and over again we ask the ANC government to do something. I am going to be the devils advocate here and say that there is actually little that South Africa can or should do.
When Nelson Mandela condemned and called sanctions on Nigeria in the late 1990s over the military junta’s execution of human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, South Africa was immediately by other African countries. For better or worse, it is not in South Africa’s interest to pretend we are the regional hegemon and stand up and wave the flag for some kind of moral high ground like the Americans in Iraq… If we do that, we alienate all other African countries and we suffer as a result.
As much as we complain, there is not too much the ANC government to do about Zimbabwe given the dynamics of African politics. This is perhaps not how politics ought to be, but it is the case.
i refer to an article of yours that i have just read about how Zim is on the verge of a genocidal war like the one that occured in Rwanda. now, i will not claim to know all the intricacies of went down during that fatal period in Rwanda, but i am a Zimbabwean, living in Zim, and paying alot of attention to what is happenning politically – and my basic observation of your opinion is that it is utter bullshit!!!!
we are no-where close to a war. and the only time we did come ‘close’ was when the British tried to hall us off tp the UN security council in December 2008. fortunately, the decision to have us put oon the agenda was vetoed by the Chinese and Russians. if they had not done so, we probably would have had british troops dropping bombs on my mothers house and we would have retaliated: that my neighbor, would have equalled WAR! just like you ould have wanted!
blinkered people like your self and others in the DA hve been trying to mislead citizens into thinking that Mugabe has been preparing for war on his own people for a long time now – remember the time the ports in Durban rrefused to unload a weapons shipment meant for Zim? is it not normal for any army in the world to remain armed? would it not just be a boy scout club if it had no weapons?
my feeling is that people like yourself are actually trying their level best to waeken our army such that a british lead invasion would be all the more easy.
i would recommend that you maybe try coming to Zim and assessing the situation before talking about my country at all. we may be extremely divided along political lines, but we are certainly not on the brink of war. Rwanda must have been a vastly different country to ours leading up to their disaster (let us not forget that conflict had been ongoing in the great lakes region for a very long time).
besides, apart from the hidden threats from Botswana (and it’s US airbase) and the wishes of the white community of SA to invade Zim, there is no other real threat of war – especially civil. the MDC are not armed (although i am positive ther are elements within the party that have wanted to overthrow Mugabe by force), so what would ammunition and bombs be used for other than defence against outsiders like you? as much as we have certainly had unacceptable levels of violence during our election periods, did you ever hear of army bombs and jetfighters being used against civilians? no. (th whole chiadzwa diamond saga is a comletely different situation, so do not go there)
we as a people are no-where close to armed conflict. we are all working very hard (as we zimbo’s do – including our inclusive leadership) trying to try get our economy going. the problem is, characters like yourself are continuing to justify the continuation of economic sanctions in the same way that you have convinced the man on the street that they never existed for the last 8 years or so. and you thnk you are helping us?????? think again.
what are you doing alex? by trying to prove that Mugabe is preparing for war, you are actually trying to advocate for the invasion of Zimbabwe by foreign troops. let me tell you this, if that ever happens, some of us citizens that are aware of what you and the corpratocracy of this world are trying to do, will join the army and fight till the death. we see who the enemy is. have a great day.
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[...] state of Zimbabwe was explored by two writers — Rory Short and The Soapbox editor’s Alex Matthews. And, in Life & Culture, Jean-Marc Vogt looked at problem solving and the power of the [...]
[...] As I have discussed in the past, Zanu PF is doing its utmost to stall reforms proposed in the unity agreement. Furthermore, human rights activists, lawyers and opposition MDC politicos continue to be unlawfully harassed and detained. Hundreds of prisoners die of starvation in jail. And land grabs and persecution of farmers occur with impunity. [...]
[...] As I have discussed in the past, Zanu PF is doing its utmost to stall reforms proposed in the unity agreement. Furthermore, human rights activists, lawyers and opposition MDC politicos continue to be unlawfully harassed and detained. Hundreds of prisoners die of starvation in jail. And land grabs and persecution of farmers occur with impunity. [...]
[...] As I have discussed in the past, Zanu PF is doing its utmost to stall reforms proposed in the unity agreement. Furthermore, human rights activists, lawyers and opposition MDC politicos continue to be unlawfully harassed and detained. Hundreds of prisoners die of starvation in jail. And land grabs and persecution of farmers occur with impunity. [...]