Whoever wins Zimbabwe’s election – and however flawed the poll is adjudged to have been – we can be sure of one thing: a massive effort will be needed to prevent our neighbour’s economic collapse and descent into worse anarchy. This will require an end to invasions of productive farmland and acceleration of land reform by legal means. Zimbabwe will have to withdraw from its wasteful military involvement in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The government in Harare will have to satisfy the conditions laid down by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to win access again to international capital and foreign exchange. And all the major players in Zimbabwe – Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu- PF, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the trade unions, the churches, the defence and security forces, and the business and farming communities – will have to be convinced that it is both necessary and possible, after the madness to which Mugabe has subjected the country, to establish cordial relationships and to work together.
Whoever heads the new government, it should not take him long to realise that he will need the approval of those of his neighbours who command global respect to chaperone him back into the international community. Pre-eminently, that means South Africa. The judgement of the former colonial power, Britain, will also count for a lot, given its influence with the international financial institutions and in the European Union. This should give to South Africa, other sensible members of the Southern African Development Community such as Botswana and Mozambique, and Britain considerable power to persuade.
Our information is that, although President Thabo Mbeki has held back from public condemnation of his Zimbabwean counterpart over the past three months, he has been very candid in their private encounters. We would expect nothing less. Zimbabwe’s descent into near anarchy has wrought havoc with our region’s reputation as a destination for the fixed investment we cannot do without if we are to create a better life for all, particularly for our millions without jobs. The Zimbabwean government’s behaviour has shown an unacceptable disdain for our own, and our other neighbours’, legitimate national interest. After the election it needs to be made acutely aware of how seriously we view this and of our unwillingness to tolerate any continuation.
In light of this consideration – and also of our commitment as a nation to human rights and democracy – our government’s failure to establish firm and friendly relations with the MDC has been a serious error. Whatever the outcome of the election, the MDC, and the trade unions and other forces that created it, will have massive influence over whether Zimbabwe’s political and economic stability is disrupted or enhanced. Moreover, these forces will not just disappear. Presidential elections are just two years away and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai must surely be considered a strong candidate, particularly if, as many suspect, Mugabe will step aside or be shunted aside and a relative unknown will try to take his place as the party’s candidate.
The election result will solve none of Zimbabwe’s problems. The best contribution South Africa can now make to the resolution of them is a much firmer, more balanced policy towards our neighbour and its main political actors. They must understand that we will protect our interests. And, if we can protect our interests while enhancing Zimbabwe’s observance of human rights and democratic values, so much the better.
A nation has lost its way
The confessions of corruption spilling from the mouth of our former national cricket captain point to a sorry state which not only cricket but the entire nation finds itself in. It is surely symptomatic of a country which has lost its way morally, or if one prefers the concept, psychologically.
It is not merely street crime – that is evidence of a far deeper malaise. Nor is it enough to point to white-collar crime, widespread and hidden though it is in corporate life. The corruption of mind goes far beyond that. It seems to have permeated the entire fabric of society to the point where there is a basic assumption in dealings between citizens that they are governed by an impulse to gain an unfair advantage.
There must be few motorists who pay a garage bill without reflecting: “Wonder how much they ripped me off that time, the bastards.” And, more often than not, there is no doubt justification in the prejudice. The work of the builder, the plumber, the electrician seems to subsist today not in how to discharge the pride of a craft, but in the base art of cheating the client.
The ethos of business in South Africa appears not to lie with pursuit of excellence in service, or supply in return for monetary gain, but how to reel the suckers in. “So sue me, sue me!” goes the taunt as another customer bites the dust.
It would not be difficult to trace the wellsprings of our mood through the annals of our history, from the massive act of social deception that was apartheid to the exploitation hidden behind the facade of “civilisation” that was colonialism.
But it is not enough to point accusing fingers at our past. The reality is that the blight has settled on us in the present and threatens our collective future. As the endless parade of guilty faces passing through the pages of our newspapers and across our television screens bears witness, they boast all varieties of pigmentation and are drawn from all classes and all sectors of society.
In the shameful face of Hansie Cronje we see the shame of South Africa.
What are we going to do about it ?