Posted on 02/28/2004 5:00:46 AM PST by Clive
Dear Family and Friends,
The end of February marks the end of Zimbabwe's fourth year of chaos, and it is a month which will always be remembered as the time when the madness began. For exactly four years I have been writing this weekly letter from Zimbabwe and on this anniversary I thought it would be appropriate to take a few sentences from my letters in each of Zimbabwe's first four February's in the 21st century to show that it is political power and not race or land that took us from breadbasket to begging bowl.
Shortly after the referendum in 2000 in which the people of Zimbabwe voted against constitutional changes proposed by President Mugabe's government, I described the invasion of our Marondera farm. "The war veterans had come. My son was barely out of the driveway. My hands were shaking so badly that it seemed to take me forever to clip the padlock closed. I ran into the house, begging my dogs to follow me. And then they started, HONDO, HONDO, HONDO (war) the war veterans shouted, again and again. Then they started whistling and singing. The dogs were going mad, barking and howling and scratching at the doors to get out. I closed all the curtains and locked myself in my study, sat down on the floor and put my hands over my head, sobbing and shaking."
In February 2001, journalists protested the bombing of the printing presses of the Daily News, pressure mounted on Chief Justice Gubbay to resign and foreign correspondents Mercedes Sayagues and Joseph Winter were declared prohibited immigrants and thrown out of Zimbabwe. While this was happening, I was witnessing the agonising death from Aids of my ex farm employee, Emmanuel. Neither he nor I could afford anti retroviral drugs and Emmanuel's quality of life had collapsed since we had been forced to leave our farm :"Saying goodbye to Emmanuel is not a day I want to remember. As I embraced him, I could feel every rib and hear his gasping struggle for breath. I knew I would never see him again. 'Go well Manuel,' I said, as his father and I lifted him into the car. 'Stay Well Mrs Cathy,' he whispered in response. That was the last time I saw Emmanuel and although he died shortly afterwards, his memory will always be a part of me."
In February 2002, two weeks before the Presidential elections, political violence and intimidation had engulfed the country. 15 people had been murdered in January, electoral laws had been changed, priests had been arrested and militant youths manned road blocks country wide demanding that people prove their allegiance to Zanu PF by showing ruling party membership cards. One night my neighbour's house was petrol bombed because he was an opposition activist and I wrote: "I ran out of my back door to see a huge fire consuming the house three doors away. A massive orange glow lit the sky and there were continuing explosions for the next hour as windows and other items heated and exploded. I ran inside to call the police and the fire brigade, but they would not come."
In February 2003 hunger was widespread, the shops were empty of staple food and the petrol stations were dry. Queuing was a part of everyday life, as were attempted protests, riot police and tear gas. World Cup Cricket matches began in Harare and I wrote about the death of 29 year old Edison Mukwasi who was an opposition supporter and had been beaten and tortured whilst in police custody, first in 2001 and again in February 2003. "Edison and others were arrested by police for protesting at a cricket match in Harare and allegedly tortured whilst in police custody. He was released without charge and died shortly afterwards. Edison is survived by his wife Gladys and their two week old daughter Nyasha."
That takes me to February 2004. Life expectancy in Zimbabwe is now 37 years. Well over half of the population need food aid, inflation is over 620%, the daily free press has gone and every month Judges in our courts resign from the Bench. President Mugabe has just turned 80 and when asked how close talks were with the opposition he said: "The devil is the devil, we have no idea of supping with the devil."
Looking back on it all, I can hardly believe Zimbabwe has survived, but we have, secure in the knowledge that nothing is forever. Those of us that can, have stayed, waiting for the time when we can pick up the pieces of our shattered country, heal the wounds, and start again.
I write this letter in memory of Emmanuel and the hundreds of others who should not have died.
Until next week, thank you for having followed this story for four solid years, with love, cathy.
CIA -- The World Factbook -- Zimbabwe
First it was Rhodesia then SA now America paying the price of silence.
-A Capsule History of Southern Africa--
| Parallels between Apartheid SA & USA today | |||||||||||||||
|
ZWNEWS.com - linking the world to Zimbabwe MPR Books - Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African ... Title: "Cry, the Beloved Country" - Topics: World/South Africa The Coming Anarchy -South Africa - The sellout of a nation-- ------------------------------------------ ... anyone who is doubtful about the situation there, or perhaps curious about how much goes unmentioned & unreported by the laughingly-misnamed "watchdog press" need only click the "keyword: Africa Watch" or go here:
FYI, I wrote this a while back: I don't know what will happen in southern Africa beyond a general breakdown into chaos & anarchy... the old bugbear was the Soviets gaining control of the tip & choking our fleet's movements, coupled with control of the mineral wealth. Now it look like Quaddaffi is angling to take over Rhodesia and perhaps spread to South Africa. At this point, we are 20 years too late, but we can at least bear witness to the debacle. Bear in mind I am a partisan- I supported ( with reluctance ) the old white-minority governments in Rhodesia and South Africa, because I knew the Communists and their puppets- including proxies like Cuba- were angling for control of southern Africa. One big problem we have is our media. They have tried to portray the situation in southern Africa as a clone of our own civil-rights struggles when in fact just the opposite was true. Africa is degenerating into chaos and anarchy under the guise of "liberation" and "one man, one vote." All while the media here turns a blind eye to what is really happening. What I used to tell people was that while Apartheid was an onerous, offensive system, I would prefer being a black South African under Apartheid to being a person of any color under the old Soviet system- and I still believe those words to be true and correct. Given time, the old South African government would have worked out its problems- but it was not allowed to do so. Today, we are seeing the results of this folly in Zimbabwe- or rather, we see what tiny bits the web and small elements of talk radio cover. The whole story of contemporary Africa is a sad tale of tribalism, class warfare, kleptocracy, and massive corruption- and one the media here "won't even talk about" because it does not fit within their template of acceptable ideas. I would also add, that both the press and entertainment arms of the media encouraged and supported the toppling of the old governments, i. e., they were in collusion, and complicit in the fall. Now that things have worked out at variance with their idealistic fantasies, they simply "don't talk about it..." "Why do you keep posting this stuff? Nobody cares about Africa, anyway..." Clive, Cincinatus's Wife, blam, myself, and a few others get asked that occasionally- we are among the keepers of the "AfricaWatch" columns, and we continue to post articles about what I believe will prove to be one of the great, tragic stories of the new century. The mainstream press never publishes more than one Africa story a day, and it's usually some fluff or dodge around how grim the situation is over there. But the truth is archived here on Free Republic, and I maintain that one day, when things over there are too awful to be ignored any longer, those who have eyes to see will read the stories here, and be appalled at the silence. That is all... |
|||||||||||||||
One day, the truth will emerge- much as it did in Cambodia, so many years ago. And even then, there will be deniers.
Inside every Marxist nation is madness, chaos, violence, starvation of the masses while the "privileged" elite thrive. America is fast becoming the next Zimbabwe. Those driving us there will not stop until and unless America mimics the madness of a Zimbabwe. We are almost there.
HRC has long sought the "food as weapon" Marxist tool. She will have it when she siezes power later this year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.