Had it not been for the 13-or-so million lives involved, one could almost feel sorry for Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. It seems the old man has had it with foreign donors only getting off their wallets for NGOs active in his country, rather than having the cash mainlined fresh into Zimbabwe’s porous state coffers. Lest one might expect some level of gratitude to the so-called West for not hightailing it altogether, consider that Mugabe’s recent rants may be a little bit more than an out-of-tune song over a bad hand of cards.
Allow me a bit of blogger’s licence, and I’ll number the continuo anew …
I) After a decade of fairly sensible post-liberation government, the post-colonial-nationalist diet on which Mugabe kept the ruling party (Zanu-PF) fired up and unified behind him started to cause some weight to gather around its waist. Expanding generations of cronies grew up to overtake the somewhat more — if not entirely — principled roles played by older liberation icons. These young’uns were made up of delinquents-in-waiting from the hopelessly (Zanu-fied) rural areas, organised by preying opportunists such as the Chenjerai Hunzvis and leveraged as magic carpet rides by the (since reformed) Jonathan Moyos of the day.
II) Faced with the upheaval they were causing, Mugabe figured that he could either retire in fear of some sort of retribution, such as trumped up corruption charges (these would after all not have been too difficult to construct) for having betrayed these Young Turks’ insatiable nationalist desire or he could trump them at their own game. Whereas the former might have had dire results for Mugabe but spared Zimbabwe its rapid decline of the last decade or two, the outcome of the latter choice is now, unfortunately, a fact of history.
III) Timeous, strong opposition there was not. Voter turnout, consistently below 50% from the nineties onwards, also suggested that Zimbabweans were either not particularly enthralled with their electoral choices (Zanu-PF or Zanu-PF?) or failed to see the connect between what happened at the ballot box and how their lives may be improved. When promising opposition did eventually emerge in the late nineties, the Zanu-PF one-party state had entrenched itself to such a degree that it would only be de-consolidated with tremendous effort.
IV) To make sure that it would not be easy, Zanu-PF engaged in a number of dirty tricks. Police brutality, intimidation, vote rigging, deceitful propaganda, obstructionist negotiation tactics — these were all a part of the game, right up to, and even beyond the establishment of the unity government on January 11 2009. In this regard, the plentiful graveside revellers of African democracy will be quick to point out the MDC’s then Deputy Agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett’s arbitrary incarceration even after a court of law granted him bail late in February.
V) By the time it became apparent that the March 2008 presidential election had been botched, Zimbabwe already sat with a four-figure inflation rate, unmanageable foreign debt, untold domestic human misery and not enough money for Zanu-PF to continue indefinitely without collapsing under its own weight. Mugabe and his government needed money, urgently. And the only way it could get some, was to acquire a veneer of respectability so that it could approach foreign governments and financial institutions anew. Enter former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who had by then already been mediating in the Zimbabwe crisis for some time.
VI) It was clear that Mugabe appreciated Mbeki’s obvious partisan approach to the mediation process — whereas the MDC at various points expressed its dismay with Mbeki as the Southern African Development Community’s point man on Zimbabwe, the Mugabe regime was at pains to appear welcoming to him. Notable for his tendency towards African exceptionalism, Mbeki, despite his experience of South Africa’s negotiated settlement, seemingly never bought into the need for a strong opposition or the consolidation of democratic institutions, such as free and fair elections. Apparently particularly careful about being seen as a tool of the West, Mbeki pushed for a negotiated settlement that would see Mugabe remain in the president seat despite having lost any legitimate claim to it in the March 2008 election (he obtained 43.25% to Tsvangirai’s 47.9%). MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai would become the prime minister.
VII) Cringe-worthy comparisons of the ensuing situation with the prohibition-era musical Chicago may be forgiven: upon assuming office, Tsvangirai’s limited options indeed made him look like one of the puppet reporters singing off the hymn sheet of Mugabe’s Billy Flynn. His first steps were to visit other countries to seek aid and trade deals for the economic recovery of his country. Aid and trade, which was to be administered by a bloated Zimbabwean government, in which the notoriously corrupt Zanu-PF still controlled the Reserve Bank, and the majority of the ministerial portfolios — R80 billion Tsvangirai then reckoned it would take to get Zimbabwe’s economy going again. Ironically, that was almost a third less than the $12 billion in investment futures guru Clem Sunter estimated lay awaiting a credible political solution in Zimbabwe at about the same time.
VIII) At the end of February 2009, after its monthly Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, it became apparent that despite the establishment of the government of national unity in Zimbabwe, the European Union would not be changing its policy towards our beleaguered neighbour. In fact, Zimbabwe had for the first time in years not even featured on the agenda. Since President Barack Obama occupied the Oval Office, the stance of his government has been that a Zimbabwe with Mugabe at the helm will not be able to take care of its people — a sentiment again repeated by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her recent visit to South Africa. This does not only mean that travel sanctions against Mugabe and many other Zimbabwean officials will remain in place. It also suggests that very little in the way of economic rescue packages and investment will realise, despite pleas from Tsvangirai.
IX) Mugabe, left with preciously little patronage to dispense, faced with armies of cronies to keep from turning on him, exercises what is seemingly the only option open to him — attempting to keep his followers united by ranting against enemy number one (aka “the West”) and threatening to bring the so-called reforms to a grinding halt.
If Zimbabwe had half the luck that befell South Africa, number 10 in this progression would somehow involve an apoplectic fit and a De Klerk-type character emerging to challenge Mugabe’s PW Botha. As far as I can see, though, the key ingredients are just not there. No rooted, enlightened Zanu-PF grouping has gathered any form of momentum yet. Also, Zimbabweans, while known for their peace-loving good naturedness, are also not exactly renowned for the type of civil zeal that saw movements such as the United Democratic Front emerge in South Africa in the eighties. Finally, the substantial Zimbabwean diaspora has also not been half as successful as the global anti-apartheid movement at mobilising their fellow citizens still resident in Zimbabwe in tandem with their own protest actions and pressure exercised by foreign governments.
A particularly flamboyant and (in anticipation of the barrage of reactions that this may elicit) also a particularly “indigenous” Zimbabwean friend of mine once mused that if the entire Zimbabwe were to all turn gay, it would be a country full of “bottoms” (so-called “Gayle” for the passive partner in homosexual relationships). My friend is full of it at the best of times, but I do fear that his stupid little remark may not be entirely without basis. For as long as the ordinary citizens of Zimbabwe keep on taking the punishment of corrupt, impoverishing government, the possibility will remain for Mugabe and his cohorts to resort to ever more desperate tactics to keep themselves singing the main song. Until the day comes that Zimbabweans show continuous, open and vociferous opposition to the raw deal that Mugabe has dealt them, it will not be game over for the basket case that that country is seemingly likely to remain.
We have to remember that Zimbabwe is surrounded by ’friendly countries’ and these are not likely to host any ‘freedom’ fighters as was the case when Mugabe was fighting Smith or the ANC was fighting the Nationalist Party in South Africa.
Mugabe has all the arms and the power so he would simply slaughter and unarmed insurrection. SADC, the ANC, Mbeki and now Zuma are staunch supporters of Mugabe and feel no pain that they have the blood of thousands of Zimbabweans on their hands. They all make the right noises , asking Mugabe to behave himself but they know as we all do that nothing will change. Quiet diplomacy continues and as we all know ‘quiet diplomacy’ is just that – they all keep quite.
I get most annoyed when people talk about a “Government of National Unity” in Zimbabwe.
Zanu-Pf and Mugabe remain in the driver’s seat and have successfully, again, with the active assistance of our disgraced ex President Mbeki, the ANC and SADC, stolen the election for their big mate Mugabe.
The Chinese said many years ago that the only way to remove a revolution is to have another one but in this case, without arms and without any external support, the rush to leave the country will intensify.
As long as Mugabe and his generals are alive they will do all that they can to see that the status quo remains.
Mugabe sits in his counting house, counting his money and cares nothing for anyone else.
Many claim that the people of Zimbabwe got the government they deserved. It was clear before independence that Uncle Bob was corrupt and ruthless yet the votors overlooked his blemishes and supported him with vigour. Ag shame bru, ag shame…
We are seeing exactly the same tragedy playing out in our once great South Africa. Ag shame bru, ag shame…
Let’s talk about the sanctions created by the Bush/Blair governments, to retaliate against effective landreform (unlike the ineffectual ‘Willing Buyer, Willing Seller’ programmes of Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Zimbabwe itself before Fast Track). This is the credit freeze that Zimbabwe was put on:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s107-494
SEC. 4. SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRATIC TRANSITION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
(c) MULTILATERAL FINANCING RESTRICTION- Until the President makes the certification described in subsection (d), and except as may be required to meet basic human needs or for good governance, the Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director to each international financial institution to oppose and vote against–
(1) any extension by the respective institution of any loan, credit, or guarantee to the Government of Zimbabwe; or
(2) any cancellation or reduction of indebtedness owed by the Government of Zimbabwe to the United States or any international financial institution.
These are the institutions, holding most of Zimbabwe’s international credit, to which this ban applies:
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS- The term `international financial institutions’ means the
multilateral development banks and the
International Monetary Fund.
(2) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS- The term `multilateral development banks’ means the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the
International Development Association, the
International Finance Corporation, the
Inter-American Development Bank, the
Asian Development Bank, the
Inter-American Investment Corporation, the
African Development Bank, the
African Development Fund, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the
Multilateral Investment Guaranty Agency.
How relevant were these sanctions to the Zimabwean economy? Well after almost a decade of swearing high and low that these sanctions did not exist, and that all the bad things happening to the Zimbabwean economy were the result of ‘Mugabe’s mismanagement’, the MDC and their new Finance Minister (human rights lawyer by training) Tendai Biti has admitted that the MDC too cannot govern with these sanctions in place:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGYTNhyeLnY
This is the reason why the Zimbabwean currency collapsed – Bush Administration sanctions. Any analysis of the Zimbabwe situation has to take into account the effect of these sanctions.
You seem to be ignorant of Gukurundhi, and ZANU slaughtering 20,000 (most accepted estimate) mainly civilian Matabele under the guise of an “insurrection” by ZAPU forces.
Considering that ZAPU was affiliated to the ANC, whilst ZANU was affiliated to the PAC.
Even by “Liberation Movement” standards, the ANC have been protecting those who slaughter ANC allies, and celebrate those who murder their friends.
If you are aware of Zim history, you might be more aware of the last “Unity” deal where ZANU tried to dress up in ZAPU clothes and steal their achievements, whilst keeping their generals in prison under the old Rhodesian laws (Lookout Masuku and others).
And then the present attitude of the “West” to a “Unity” deal where ZANU try to dress up the MDC’s democratic legitimation whilst holding “Treason” trials against their leaders might make more sense for you.
PS Are you aware that Zimondi, one of the Generals who wont salute Tsvangarai because he doesn’t have “liberation war credentials” is an old Rhodesian Prison torturer who used to work for Smith?:
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/3937
Let alone ZANU’s treatment of anyone White left living who has such Liberation credentials such as Judith Todd, whom he took the Zim citizenship away from.
Or such people as the singer Mapfumo who was driven out of the country for singing about corruption in ZANU.
If you know about the Liberation Wars, then the ANC’s behaviour is sickening as hypocritical sellouts.
Someone explain to the above poster that the EU sanctions do not include anything America, since it is a different country.
They were not ordered by Blair (a Labour MP whose pary protested against the Conservative Party protection of Aparthied under Margaret Thatcher) but agreed apon by the EU govts.
The EU now includes such countries as Poland Hungary, Latvia etc, who were in the Warsaw Pact and provided the Liberation movements with guns, money and training.
If you dont like the USA and EU, go rant racist rhetoric at the Latin America states and then demand they give you money for investment and then wonder why your economy goes belly up considering none of them have travel bas or a freeze on personal ZANU assets.
And if you want to stop ranting Mugabe’s rhetoric as he sells land to the White Businessman Rautenbach to move Black Farmers off their land for an Alligator Farm, and go and ask the Algerians how to deal with land reform feel free.
Considering they found out the hard way 47 years ago when all the Colons fled and made all their mmistakes decades ago.
Or ask all the old Warsaw Pact (White European) countries how to transfer land titles from State Owned farms to private owners.
Or go ask New Zealand, India, Brazil, Gautemala etc how to deal with Native Land Titles and protecting them (or not) from illegal Farming.
http://www.survival-international.org/news/4794
Then you might not look stupid
@ MrK
One tends to forget that institutions like the USA, Britain, the World Bank or the IMF are entitled to set their own conditions when dealing with other countries. These are free countries and institutions and unlike the dying people of Zimbabwe, they are not subject to Mugabe’s demands.
It doesn’t matter to the USA whether Zimbabwe regards the murder of 200 000 Ndebele as good politics, Americans dislike murder.
It doesn’t matter to The World Bank whether Stalinist tactics like property seizure are applauded by Zanu PF, the World bank demand entrenched property rights.
The IMF won’t accept siphoning aid for government projects into politicians accounts, no matter how acceptable Zimbabwe politicians may view this practice.
Zimbabwe leaders have no morals or concience so the simple solution is to attach conditions to each hand-out. Zimbabwe leaders can choose, they don’t have to accept the hand-outs.
It’s a tough,tough world we live in Master K…
Firstly the state in Zimbabwe, just like in SA in 1994, owned most of the land. It was only the developed farming land that the whites owned (and the development of which they had paid for).
Also between 1980 and 2000 Britain bought 30% of that developed farmland from the whites and gave it to Mugabe to give to the poor – but he gave it to pals.
There was also a fund that had been set up for the War Vets, which Mugabe also stole. So when they wanted their money, Mugabe told them to invade white farms instead.
There never was any “Land Reform” just theft of all assets by Mugabe and his elite.
Zimbabwe, a country soon to turn 30 years old, twice the age of South Africa, has not smelt any scent of freedom since independence, since I was born just half a decade after that. The first decade was spending the last of colonial fruits, the second of plundering the gains of the postcolony. And the murderous face of Mugabe stares at the world, as we try to philosophise and find explanations for what has happened in Zimbabwe. It is complex, yet simply put, despite exogenous factors, it is apparent to any right thinking person that ZANU PF lost the plot, and threw Zimbabwe into a quagmire of decadence, the defaecatory stuff that still chokes us today, the body of freedom,economic and social autonomy and prosperity, has been strangled pale and lifeless, and the little gasps of air it enjoys right now may not last long. Zimbabwe needs change, and nothing short of transformation will bring this once glorious jewel out of the pigs snout. Mugabe and Zanu must just go, new elements may eventually rise, to give ZANU and Zimbabwean politics a new lease of life.No amount of theorising will save the country. Change will!!!
Alisdair you amaze me is you think the UK has no sanctions against Zimbabwe then you are deluded. Do yourself a favour stop making excuses for the UK government coz they are white, they are partly responsible for what happened to Zim as Mugabe is. You put it that he was corrupt from day one but the Queen even had the guts to knight him after all he did in the 80s. How many UK universities gave him doctrates? Stop blaming Mugabe alone, he is evil and he was evil and the British where happy with him coz he was dancing to their tune. When he decided to take their land thats when they suddenly realised he was bad. Where were you in the 80s when Mugabe was doing worse than he is right now. Was there any sanctions against him for killing us? Dude the guy always had tea with the Queen then. So stop making excuses and accept that more than Mugabe plyed a role in messing up. Stop seein race and look at things the way they are. I am sorry but sometimes white people make me mad when they keep on defending corrupt white people who have made Africa the way it is *#!%
If you think the British governement had no role to play in making Mugabe look good in the 80s then will wait for your reply!
by the way killing over 20000 people for speaking the wrong language is worse than taking over a farm
Clay
Most of the killing in Zimbabwe, both before and after Independence, was by Mugabe, who killed less than a few hundred whites but thousands of blacks (even before independence).
I dont have any problem with criticising Mugabe. I detest, resent and abhor stolen elections, farm seizures, and oppression of civilians by a police state.
Having said that I also resent being patronised. If the Mayor cuts off water supply to a resident because he is paedophile, that’s ok for moral reasons. But I have a problem when I am told the resident has no gardening skills and the water cut off is hidden.
Any country including the UK, if subjected to Zim style sanctions will definitely buckle up whether Gordon Brown is the Chancellor of Excheque or not. The Zim debacle has been caused by massive sanctions and confiscation of Zim funds and properties abroad.
All that is needed is the moral conviction of all whites to say so, that this is what they have done and for what reason. But the eloquent story about Zim mismangement is a lot of hogwash. That is why Hillary Clinton wants us to strangulate Mugabe to death by applying further sanctions. Thabo Mbeki was hated for not dancing to the white man’s tune about Zim.
I dont condone land grabs or civil oppression but I hate being manipulated by faery tales. I am even better because I do criticise Mugabe, our white friends have hardly raised their voices against the land grab done by Cecil Rhodes in 1899 and all the black chiefs he humiliated into submission by public floggings for failing to “give” the cattle fines for their colonisation.
This is the same Mugabe who was feted in the white house by Ronald Reagan. The same Mugabe who sent the ANC packing in the 1980′s and only allowed the ANC a political mission in Harare. In fact everything was alright until the whiteman’s land was touched or seized.
So if we take white logic to its absurd conclusion, I could keep the R1.2 million mercedez benz that my nephew hijacked in Sandton in 1996 because for the last 13 years I have maintained it very well,serviced it regularly and kept it spick and span. What is the statutory limit for land theft?
Anyone writing about Zim must do so from an intellectually fair and honest point of view. Demonising Africans generally and Mugabe particularly is a sign of cowardice. Like St. Paul we say do we condone what happens in Zim? certainly not. But neither do we agree to sweeping racist generalisations about a sad history started by the white man’s greed for other peoples’ land overseas.
Should we kill our own for the sake of the white man’s grievances? It’s absurd because on the balance sheet of atrocities and theft in Africa his crimes far outweigh the Zim land grab. Must we not think so because it upsets white people? or because it may appear we condone Mugabe? It’s ridiculous! The white guy certainly has a short memory and an exaggerated sense of his own importance.
Mandla
I am confused by your phrase “land grab done by Cecil Rhodes in 1899”. I am fascinated by African history and I find I know nothing about this event. In 1899, Rhodes was trapped in Kimberly under siege by the boers? (or was this just another white man’s plot, did he sneak out and raise an army?)…
Oop…
Most of Rhodesian land was given to the settlers under deed from Lobengula, chief of the Ndebele.
Oops…
Chaka Zulu had also cleared most of the Transvaal and all but the most western part of the Freestate through his genocide so that when the trekkers arrived, they found very few blacks. The southern part of Rhodesia was predominantly Zulus under Mzilikazi who hasd run away from Chaka and they later became Ndebeli. (Can we claim that all those illegal Zimbabwe refugees are really South African Zulus – probably!)
Oops…
15 years ago, I visited one of Uncle Bob’s mass graves for the murdered Ndebeli nation, somewhere between 500 and 1000 bodies in that grave, many children. I thinks I can still find it if you would like to see it. I heard no ANC protest.
Oops…
The ANC stood by while “300 000 South Afticans died unnecessarily from Aids” due to the Mbeki HIV/AIDS policy (World Bank Report). That included both Zuma and Mandela. The only leader with conscience in our country was the man with ballet shoes, Bishop Tutu. I cried out, (see my posts), did you?
Oops..
John Bond,
” @ MrK One tends to forget that institutions like the USA, Britain, the World Bank or the IMF are entitled to set their own conditions when dealing with other countries. ”
The problem is that they do not have the right to unilaterally put sanctions on a country, outside the United Nations. The United States clearly abused it’s presence and veto rights on multilateral finance institutions, to put the country of Zimbabwe on a credit freeze.
This is illegal under international law. But then, we are talking about the Bush Administration, which invaded a country under false pretenses (causing many times more deaths than President Mugabe ever did), complete with use of mercenaries, systematic torture, death squads, rigged elections (both in the US and Iraq). This is not and indictment of the United States, but an indictment of the Administration that was in place while the squeeze was put on Zimbabwe.
What is more, the so-called Zimbabwean opposition, the MDC, lied high and low about the existence of these sanctions, most likely because they knew how unpopular they are with the Zimbabwean population. In fact the only reason they have to vote for the MDC, is that sanctions would end, which is a form of overthrowing the government by economic means.
If left to the aspirations of the Zimbabwean people, they would never vote for a neoliberal, pro-corporate, anti-worker party like the MDC. You could say it is Naomi Klein’s ‘Shock Doctrine’ in action.
(Continued…) In fact, the MDC’s Eddy Cross stated that ‘it is better to let Zimbabwe crash and burn’ and pick up the pieces.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/4/1/the_zimbabwe_elections_opposition_accuses_mugabe
(Very interesting interview with Omowale Clay and Amy Goodman.)
As Chester Crocker put it in his appeal to the US Congress in 2005 -in support of the ZDERA agenda: “To separate the Zimbabwean people from ZANU-PF, we are going to have to make their economy scream. And I hope you senators have the stomach for what you have to do.” (Democracy Now! April 1, 2005)
Interesting that you would bring up Lobengula ‘giving’ his land away to armed invaders.
http://www.assatashakur.org/forum/prison-police-industrial-complex/31725-black-africas-duty-help-zimbabwe-defeat-sanctions.html
To quote Asata Shakur:
And for a glimpse of the spirit in which the British troops waged that race war, consider these words by an adventurer friend of Cecil Rhodes, a certain W. A. Jarvis:
The best thing to do is to wipe them all out as far as one can–everything black.
And in letters to his mother, Jarvis wrote:
I hope the natives will be pretty well exterminated. . . . There are 5500 niggers in this district (Gwelo) and our plan of campaign will probably be to proceed against this lot and wipe them out then move on towards Bulawayo wiping out every nigger and every kraal we find. . . . And after these cold blooded murders, you may be sure there will be no quarter and everything black will have to die, for our men’s blood is fairly up.[3]
At the end of it all, the Amandabele view of what the British had done to them was this:
Our country is gone, our cattle have gone, our people are scattered, we have nothing to live for, our women are deserting us; the white man does as he likes with them; we are the slaves of the white man, we are nobody and have no rights or laws of any kind.[4]
(Continued…) This armed and genocidal seizure of the land of the blacks would be compounded and given a fig leaf of legality when, in 1930 the colonial government passed the Land Apportionment Act, which divided the colony into separate areas for whites and blacks. The act allocated to white settlers, who numbered only about 50,000 (less than 5 percent of the colony’s population), approximately 50 percent of the land. Leaving the other 50% to the 95% of the population that was black.
I wish you would all remember that the World Bank and IMF don’t print money. All their money is donated or loaned.
The DONORS call the shots, not the borrowers! Otherwise there would be no donations.
You want Africa to run the show? Let Africa turn into a donor from a borrower (like China has done).
The abolitionists and advisors to Queen Victoria granted Botswana’s request for a protectorate, and turned DOWN Lobengula’s, BECAUSE Lobengula and the Matebele were committing a genocide against the Shona.
Read a biography of Fred Selous who exposed that genocide.
The myth of sanctions against Zimbabwe lives on and is propagated further in the heads of the semi-literate.. The sanctions are only against Mugabe, his family and the ZANU henchmen and their families. Their overseas accounts have been frozen etc. Sure, the money in those accounts was stolen from the people of Zim and from foreign donors, but thats beside the point as it can be returned to them.
Blaming the colonials is disingenuous, if only because most of the 3rd world (outside Africa) accepted their colonial past and got on with the job of becoming really independent.
The mentality of entitlement and lack of accountability keep Africa enslaved.
Botswana was created on request of Cecil Rhodes, Governor of the Cape, the same as Lesotho and Swaziland, to hem in the Boer Republics and keep them from joining up with German Southwest Africa. Geez.
“…Zimbabwe its rapid decline of the last decade or two…” is that some kind of weird oxymoron?
MrK
You are totally ignorant. Read “Tshekedi Khama” by Mary Benson, and if you don’t know who she is – ask Nelson Mandela or any of the Rivonia trialists.
My grandfather, as representative of the London Mission Society, went with Tshekedi to London to successfully petition Queen Victoria to keep the boers and mining houses out of Botswana.
Rod MacKenzie,
” “…Zimbabwe its rapid decline of the last decade or two…” is that some kind of weird oxymoron? ”
Right, and it is not even true. Zimbabwe did fine before the intervention by the IMF which demanded (as it always does) that the government reduce expenditures by closing down hospitals and schools, reversing the advances made by the ZANU-PF in the 1980s.
Lyndall Beddy,
Try: ” Rhodes: Race for Africa “, by Antony Thomas
That is the best and most balanced biography of Cecil Rhodes out there.
rayjay,
” The myth of sanctions against Zimbabwe lives on and is propagated further in the heads of the semi-literate.. The sanctions are only against Mugabe, his family and the ZANU henchmen and their families. ”
Well, try to read my post above, which spells out the credit freeze put on the Zimbabwean goverment and economy as a whole, which is not a myth, but actual legislation, which is available for anyone to read. It is from a website called govtrack, which tracks us legislation as it moves through both houses of Congress. Also notice that I included a link to a Youtube video, in which finance Minister Tendai Biti can be heard stating that even the MDC cannot govern whiled these sanctions ‘against Mugabe, his family and the ZANU henchmen and their families ” are in place.
Rod MacKenzie,
” “…Zimbabwe its rapid decline of the last decade or two…” is that some kind of weird oxymoron? ”
Right, and it is not even true. Zimbabwe did fine before the intervention by the IMF which demanded (as it always does) that the government reduce expenditures by closing down hospitals and schools, reversing the advances made by the ZANU-PF in the 1980s.
Lyndall Beddy,
Try: ” Rhodes: Race for Africa “, by Antony Thomas
That is the best and most balanced biography of Cecil Rhodes out there.
rayjay,
” The myth of sanctions against Zimbabwe lives on and is propagated further in the heads of the semi-literate.. The sanctions are only against Mugabe, his family and the ZANU henchmen and their families. ”
Well, try to read my post above, which spells out the credit freeze put on the Zimbabwean goverment and economy as a whole, which is not a myth, but actual legislation, which is available for anyone to read. It is from a website called govtrack, which tracks US legislation as it moves through both houses of Congress. Also notice that I included a link to a Youtube video, in which finance Minister Tendai Biti can be heard stating that even the MDC cannot govern while these sanctions ‘against Mugabe, his family and the ZANU henchmen and their families ” are in place.
My black brothers arguing against white is just a waste a time. Remember they feel they a superior beings than us.
For them they the solution the world needs and we black, chineese, indians,etc.. we are the problems!!! WE ARE NOT EVEN THE CAUSE BUT THE PROBLEM ITSELF. To them the was only on good native!
Lyndall Beddy say if am wrong!!
You say our continent is being held back by the mentallity of entitlement and lack of accountabilty. Yes we are entitled to enjoy the benefits of our minerals and vast natural resources. Why should we be accountable to the whites. For i have notices that in this world if you disagree with you people it is a problem.
We the peolpe of this continent we have been robbed, jailed, killed by the very same tyranys installed by you and armed by you. Is like they were the faces of terror and only when they turned against the white masters is when they are labelled bad.
I will suggest you read a book titled “A Confession of an economic hitman” and watch a DVD from the ZEITGEIST MOVEMENT.
MrK
That is what Rhodes INTENDED – but others intended otherwise, so he did not get away with it.
Read, as I said, “Tshekedi Khama” by Mary Benson.
Tshekedi Khama was regent during Seretse Khama’s minority, and the Khama’s were clients of my grandfather.
Gee gee,
My stated position has always been that these people do not need reconciliation, they need deprogramming.
Apartheid indoctrinated them with a whole host of fondly held beliefs and myths, and the myths of colonialism and apartheid need to be held up to the light, for the betterment of the country and the world.
Like the myths of: a benign colonisation of Zimbabwe; the ‘terra nullius’ or ‘empty land’ myth so fondly held by settlers across the world; or the notion that Zimbabwe spontaneously collapsed because of ‘mismanagement by Mugabe’; that there are ‘no economic sanctions’ against Zimbabwe (even though ZDERA is written into US law, for everyone to examine, see my post and link above); that ‘Africans can’t farm’, even though Africans gave the world a whole host of agricultural products, like sorghum (the most grown crop for cattle and livestock in Mexico), eggplant, okra, pearl millet, melon, watermelon, that were not adopted from Native Americans.
(Source: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=11879 )
I’m just wondering: when is the South African government going to turn back the land theft of the apartheid era and give people the land back, so they won’t live on $2,- per day anymore.
@ MrK
Stalin did some interesting work on mass de-programming and Hitler used mass programming in its place. The trouble was the cost in human life. Here in South Africa, human life means nothing to the ANC so this could be an option for them. (I pray to God we do not use de-programming but while the ANC are in power, the chances are high) The Zimbabwe War Veterans use deprogramming most effectively.
In Stalin’s case, he sent 50 million citizens off to Gulags to be reprogrammed and about 50% were killed. Brutal guards would just beat to death anyone who did not completely submit. Guards were instructed to beat so that the victim experienced the maximum pain. The death should be in public and as slow as possible (sounds a bit like our police né).
Hitler used very slightly more humane methods.
Which re-programming techniques are the violent ANC cardré going to use? Will it include African refinements like necklacing, burning homes with the people inside.
Times are changing and the West just will no longer accept the violent and disgusting techniques of our African past just as they won’t accept the Nazis or the Stalinists. Tough shit! (Thank GOD!!!)
Oh MrK – please try to use reputable references in your posts. There is plenty of misinformation on both sides of this discussion.
MrK
Dear God – you are American! $2 dollars a day?
No wonder you understand nothing! All you have read is black power American “Kwanza” mythology.
Have you even been to Africa?
One of the memorable failures of nerve was Godsell, one of the SA observers of the Zim 2001? elections. When the “results” were announced and disgracefully endorsed by the SA observers en masse as “democratic” his pathetic comment that he was “confused” is carved in stone. What a fall from from grace Bobby. Even now if you were to speak the truth it would be some consolation. As Thomas More said of Cranwell to give up the whole world for your soul is one thing but for Wales??? (read AAC).