At the time of writing there had still been no formal announcement of the outcome of Zimbabwe’s presidential election. But one thing is clear: Zimbabwean voters have dealt Robert Mugabe a lethal blow.
Despite all Zanu-PF’s bullying and intimidation, its stranglehold on the mass media, the threatening bluster of the country’s security force chiefs and the probable loading of the Zanu-PF vote on a massive scale, an undeniable majority of voters have told Mugabe they no longer want him as their leader. His halo of invincibility has been damaged beyond repair.
Fearing the loss of their ill-gotten wealth and power, hawks in the security establishment are desperately trying to hold back the inevitable. But even if they persuade Mugabe to move to a second round of voting and unleash a reign of terror against the electorate, they will not be able to hold back what has become a tidal wave of dissent. With inflation now running at 165 000% and with 80% unemployment, the gatvol factor is simply too large to be bludgeoned into submission.
A further factor is that the military is far from united, with many middle-ranking officers said to be sympathetic to the opposition. And as it showed in Kenya, the international community is unlikely to tolerate the subversion of the popular will by naked force and skulduggery. Sooner rather than later Zimbabwe will have a government of national unity and Mugabe will be out of everyone’s hair.
In this context, the onus is on Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai to show wisdom, long vision and restraint — Nelson Mandela-like qualities for which, unfortunately, he is not renowned. Prone to vindictiveness and autocratic behaviour, he may want revenge against both Zanu-PF elements close to Mugabe and important MDC figures who broke away from his party.
But in the interests of stability and to ensure the best possible government team to begin rebuilding his shattered country he should accommodate such leaders as Simba Makoni, Welshman Ncube, Arthur Mutambara, Gideon Gono and Emmerson Mnangagwa. Some of Mugabe’s ministers, notably Information Minister and educationist Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, head of the strategic defence ministry Sydney Sekeramayi, former finance minister Herbert Murerwa and other voices of reason should also be retained in government.
As the price of national political settlement Tsvangirai will have to guarantee the immunity of Mugabe and his corrupt and brutal security force chiefs, including those who ordered his savage beating last year, against prosecution and the forfeiture of land and wealth. But equally clearly, Mugabe himself cannot be part of a unity government. No progress can be made until he is forced off the body politic he has clung to, like a blood-sucking parasite, for so many years.
The triumphalist notion that the winner takes all has been one of the curses of post-independence Africa. To encourage ideas of power-sharing and broadly representative government those charged with the reconstruction of Zimbabwe should give thought to emulating other features of South Africa’s settlement, including proportional representation.
More vooma for little land issues
Hardly a week goes by when we are not reminded that for many South Africans life is often hard, brutal and short.
Most South Africans do not live in Blingola, the land of plenty captured in urban culture, but in a feudal era. Take the case of baby John, who died and was forcibly disinterred and had to be reburied after his father, Phineas Johnson, had an argument with the farmer on whose land he lived.
And in two incidents that came to light in the past fortnight, graves were destroyed to make way for cabbage and carrot fields, owned respectively by Vincent Sequeira and Tony Gommes.
It’s to the great credit of South Africans that in the face of such humiliation and abomination we do not have race riots. The destruction of graves destroys continuity, legacy and identity. We know no more than what they have said, so must accept that the carrot and cabbage farmers made an honest error.
Both have vowed to make up, though this is hard to do.
How do we prevent such atrocities, for that is what they are, not the small-town miseries to which such stories are often relegated to become?
Clearly, the laws need amending. While the land laws make provision for grave visitation rights, these are too cumbersome and often ignored, suggesting that incidents like the three we have witnessed this year are part of a trend that has swept the land since 1994.
The firebrand Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister, Lulu Xingwana, should act on these details of the life of rural South Africans with as much fire and vooma as she uses to tackle the big issues.
This week, a Land Expropriation Bill was tabled to, as usual, a fearful and vehement reception. It’s an old fear and one fuelled by Zimbabwe’s 21st-century land invasions. The country should not be held hostage by these fears. If we do not deal with land reform and redistribution within the framework of the legal system developed in negotiation, only then should we fear the solutions adopted north of the Limpopo.