Jaspreet Kindra
The mood at the Movement for Democratic Change’s regional office in Bulawayo on Wednesday was one of disbelief at the reelection of President Robert Mugabe.
“Mugabe has clearly cooked up the results,” said an MDC member.
A few hours earlier armed military personnel had stormed the streets. “Clearly they were trying to send us a message,” said an MDC supporter. But the opposition party is not sure how long it will be able to restrain its supporters. “People are angry we cannot stop them!” said Tamsanqa Mahlangu, a national executive member of the MDC’s youth wing.
MDC MP for Bulawayo David Coltart met representatives of the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions on Wednesday afternoon to try to calm the situation and prevent workers from taking to the streets. Later regional representatives plotted their course of action. MDC members would wear black on Thursday. They would be in mourning.
Matabeleland, which comprises the provinces of Matabeleland North and South and Bulawayo, is an MDC stronghold. In the 2000 parliamentary elections the party won 21 out of 23 seats there, losing only Beitbridge and Gwanda South to Zanu-PF.
Last weekend Zanu-PF not only managed to win more votes than the MDC but increased its support in die-hard MDC areas, such as in rural and urban Matabeleland.
Matabeleland comprises the Shona and Ndebele communities. Thousands of members of the Ndebele community were killed in a Mugabe-led action in the 1980s. Animosity towards Mugabe still prevails in Ndebele areas such as Tsholotsho in the north. It is therefore surprising that Mugabe managed to poll more votes than the MDC in the area. Zanu-PF support rose from 5634 in 2000 to 10838 last weekend.
There also seems to have been an unexplained spurt in the rural population, which apparently voted for Mugabe. In Nkayi in Matabeleland North Zanu-PF support rose from 5746 to 11552, while there was little change in MDC support 15601 in 2000 to 15616.
But perhaps the most surprising result came from Bubi Umguza in Matabeleland North, where support for Zanu-PF rose from 6645 to 16433.
Even in traditional Zanu-PF areas support for Mugabe increased. In Beitbridge Zanu-PF support rose from 12 988 to 16 448, while the MDC’s slipped from 7686 to 6844.
“Even if the 1000-odd MDC supporters went over to Zanu-PF, how do you explain the materialising of the more than 2 000 new voters?” asked one MDC member.
The MDCbelieves its supporters were intimidated and prevented from going to polling stations around Bulawayo. The party backs it argument with the drop in the number of votes cast for it in the province’s eight constituencies. The party won all eight, but the votes dropped by an average of 2000 a constituency. “It means those people were prevented from voting,” said a party member.
Disbelief and a feeling of hopelessness was evident in the rural areas of Matabeleland.
Roadworker Kismoir Siziba and his colleagues Phethile Ndlovu and Kessinki Ndou were upset at the outcome of the election. They had hoped for change. “There is no mielie meal there will be no food . People will fight for food now,” says Ndou.
Mtshiwa Mandekwa, an MDC polling agent, fears that the MDC, particularly the white members of the party, will now face increasing pressure from Zanu-PF. The MDC’s regional office was burned down in November last year. It has since been rebuilt, but members still conduct their business out of temporary offices, which they keep changing for fear of being raided or arrested.