Zimbabweans Must Reinvent Struggle

The ox-drawn ambulance introduced in Zimbabwe by the United Nations is symbolic of the crisis our neighbouring nation faces. Firstly, the pace at which this new "emergency" vehicle would be able to move reflects the pace of the struggle for change in Zimbabwe - painfully slow.

Secondly, the UN Children's Fund (Unicef) should hang its head in shame for saying that heavily pregnant African women or those in need of urgent medical attention should be transported in an ox-drawn ambulance. What an insult!

Unicef will probably say the ox-wagon will survive days when there is no fuel, but really! This band-aid approach to the deep problems faced by Zimbabwe is simply nauseating.

Yesterday, we saw Zimbabweans in their hundreds marching on their high commission in Pretoria. The purpose of the march by members of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change was to highlight the plight back home. It was also to urge the South African government to go beyond the quiet-diplomacy approach adopted by President Thabo Mbeki.

The march on the offices of Zimbabwean high commissioner to South Africa Khaya Moyo came on the back of strong calls by church leaders in Zimbabwe and South Africa for something to be done about the situation.

Big credit must go to the MDC and civil society in Zimbabwe for raising the awareness of the world to the excesses and undemocratic tendencies of President Robert Mugabe and his government. These groups have brought to the fore the kind of hardships the people of Zimbabwe - particularly those who cannot run to places like London or Johannesburg - face daily.

These efforts have assisted in changing the world's perception about the political and economic situation of our northern neighbour and led to Mugabe and his ministers being ostracised by the world.

However, this cannot be enough.

Shouting from the rooftops is a step in the right direction, but why, for instance, aren't Zimbabweans taking to the streets and rising up against a government that persecutes them?

Why is there no mass movement and mobilisation by those who are dying of hunger as a direct result of the mismanagement of the country by Mugabe and his cabinet?

An argument can be made that Mugabe's notorious security forces have suppressed even the slightest of resistance, but should the people give in so meekly?

In South Africa, at the height of apartheid and when the National Party machinery was at its most murderous, people of this country doubled their efforts to defeat the evil system.

Organisations were formed, and banned, and in their place, others were promptly formed. When leaders of organisations such as the United Democratic Front were being targeted by the security forces, an amorphous body called the Mass Democratic Movement was formed. This movement organised stayaways and other activities that made South Africa ungovernable.

Maybe it's time the MDC and civil society in Zimbabwe reinvented themselves and came up with new strategies to rise against Mugabe and free the people of Zimbabwe from his grip.

Perhaps a start, for the MDC, could be using the action of one of their own MPs as the beginning.

Despite being banned from his constituency, Roy Bennett, MP for Chimanimani, has returned home for a series of rallies.

Bennett has gone back home to campaign for his party in the run-up to parliamentary elections scheduled for March 2005.

Bennett is a brave man. He knows only too well the brutality of the Zimbabwean police and Zanu-PF militia. But he is not sitting back and saying he cannot go back home and do something about his situation.

Archbishop Pius Ncube shares the same sentiments as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, but I would like to see Ncube doing more inside Zimbabwe.

It is okay to expect the outside world - starting with South Africa - to help, but Zimbabweans themselves must do something about their own situation. They must put an end to a situation where, on the one hand, we hear of the hardships faced by those living in Zimbabwe but, on the other hand, people in the country go on as if there is nothing wrong.

The pace of the Zimbabweans' struggle for freedom must change from that of the wagon drawn by oxen to one where increased and sustained pressure is brought to bear on the Mugabe government.

Negotiations or silent diplomacy might work one day, but the people on the ground must begin to vote with their feet.

The world will help Zimbabweans, but they must first help themselves. And helping themselves must mean going far beyond tame protests 1,000km away from Harare.

(Description of Source: Johannesburg The Star (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- Internet version of weekday regional newspaper, privately owned by Independent Newspaper Company; Internet: http://www.thestar.co.za/)

Translated from the original by WNC.