several years ago, i was dating a guy who was doing his doctorate in history. his thesis paper was on historical agriculture and land ownership policies in africa (well, a bit more complex than that but i never really understood it properly, to be honest). in any case, because of his scholarly focus, he had more than a passing interest in the policies of robert mugabe’s government. i clearly remember having a discussion with him back in the beginning of 2001 – we were in a roadside diner in providence rhode island, eating french fries at 2am, and he was telling me about the impact of the land re-distribution policy occurring in zimbabwe, which at that point was beginning to show signs of real crisis. this was all news to me at the time, and i feigned attention mostly because it was so important to him. but i remember that he predicted that unless he could be forced into “retirement” in a prominent symbollic post (which would allow him to save face) by south africa’s government, that mugabe would continue to drive zimbabwe’s future into the ground through his egotism and delusions of grandeur, until he died or was assassinated.

since then, i’ve paid attention.

and here, six years later, how prophetic those words seem. south africa has not, and will not (cannot?) get involved without risking their own stability. should civil war break out in its neighbour, the flood of refugees swarming over the border would hit the tentative economy and delicate infrastructure hard. south africa provides zimbabwe with much of its electricity, and could have chosen earlier on to exert influence through sanctions on that vital resource – but at this point it would only further harm some of the most vulnerable people. and up until recently, there’s been little pressure from the west for south africa to get more involved. even when the world leaders decried the most recent elections as a massive fraud, south africa found very little critical to say.

a few years ago, shortly after i moved to london, i struck up a friendship with a work colleague from zimbabwe. we’d hang around outside the office building, smoking cigarettes and shooting the breeze. as i got to know her, she told me about life in zimbabwe. her mother still lived there, much to my friend’s dismay. over the two years i knew her, she told me stories from back home in her mother’s village. stories of raids and rapes and killings by police. stories of people being forced from their homes and farms. traumatic stories of loss and war. she called her mother and visited as often as she could. when we’d meet up outside i would ask her for the latest news from her mother, and listen to her worries about her safety, and sadness at the state of her country. eventually, she convinced her mother to move to portugal with her and leave her house behind. i remember breathing a vicarious sigh of relief.

so every time zimbabwe or mugabe is in the news, i think about my friend and her mother, and i think about what’s happened in the six years since i first started paying attention to what was happening. i think about the things my ex-boyfriend told me about mugabe’s rise to power and current regime. i remember reading about mugabe denying food aid to areas that didn’t support him. i remember hearing about the tyranny of the police and the fear that settled over villages at night. i remember seeing the pictures of the razed houses. i remember seeing the protesters outside the zimbabwean embassy with their weekly saturday vigil and their posters and their hope for their homeland.

i’m not really sure what i’m trying to say here except that i’ve been heartened recently to read about zimbabwe on the front pages, even if it’s for all the wrong reasons. the media is paying attention when opposition leaders are arrested and beaten. protesters are storming the london embassy. the u.s. and e.u. are considering tougher sanctions. people’s stories are being heard. something has got to give. things can’t continue on this way.

i only hope it’s not too late.

johnny clegg & savuka – great heart

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

The world is full of strange behaviour
Every man has to be his own saviour
I know I can make it on my own if I try
But I’m searching for a Great Heart to stand me by
Underneath the African sky
A Great Heart to stand me by

Like this post

Unlike