With or without Robert Gabriel Mugabe, Zimbabwe is not at a point where it can sink no further. Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko, Uganda in the aftermath of Idi Amin, genocide in Rwanda, and the civil wars of Liberia and Sierra Leone all stand as examples of what could still come.
"This is a newspaper that has been banned, has been closed down, has been sued. The Mail & Guardian bears the scars of a difficult childhood. The broad outlines of the history ought to be known to you. And if they are not known to you, you obviously have not been watching Hard Copy on SABC TV," said Irwin Manoim, one of the M&G's founding editors, at the newspaper's 20th anniversary celebrations on Thursday.