TANONOKA JOSEPH WHANDE
12 November, 2008

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After the shameful display of political inadequacy and collective irresponsibility by SADC’s Heads of State in South Africa a few days ago, I was converted to the simple fact that the rest of Africa is fatalistically jealous of the nation of Zimbabwe.
I reached this conclusion after trying and failing to understand how SADC leaders could seriously reach a decision that literally confirmed Mugabe as leader at the expense of the one who won the elections.
And SADC leaders knew that without the much touted agreement with the Movement for Democratic change, Mugabe is not a head of state.
Mugabe is refusing to respect the very document that gives him legitimacy and SADC gave Mugabe legitimacy.
Mugabe was not even supposed to be at the SADC summit.
His presence there was like a murderer entering court to pass judgment on himself.

In spite of Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe is a beautiful country with beautiful people.
Everything about Zimbabwe is hardly comparable to other African countries.
If the truth be told, Zimbabwe and its people are the best on the continent.
Economically, we used to go toe to toe with South Africa as evidenced by the number of businesses that set up shop in Rhodesia and, later, in Zimbabwe.

All you need to do is look back and see how many international organizations, businesses and non-governmental organizations headquartered themselves in Zimbabwe.
I have seen ambassadors weeping when their tour of duty in Zimbabwe ended.
Even at the height of our misery and during Mugabe’s irresponsible and murderous rule, Interpol, the International Police, was busy building their regional headquarters in Zimbabwe.
I shake my head in dismay when I look at video footage of ZANU-PF thugs chasing MDC supporters with machetes, logs and axes as Mugabe broke up an MDC rally during the elections early this year. What amuses me is the fact that on that news footage, you can see MDC supporters in flight from machete wielding ZANU-PF militias, dashing past the Interpol Regional Headquarters whose construction is almost complete.

The pariah state of Rhodesia managed to manufacture and export goods to South Africa, Europe, America and South America, not to mention Australia while it was under real economic sanctions.
It is a tribute to Zimbabweans that Smith could achieve such a feat.
Today, with our currency virtually non-existent, we provide booming business to Botswana, South Africa, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and even Namibia, Angola and DR Congo.
Underpaid, abused and taken advantage of wherever they are, Zimbabweans soldier on.
Because of lack of proper immigration documents, our qualified teachers are tending cattle in Botswana, our nurses are maids in South Africa, our engineers are messengers and our pharmacists are cleaners in many countries.

Robert Mugabe, the horrid man who caused this sad state of affairs and brain drain, loves to insult our desperate professionals by saying that they left Zimbabwe to go and wipe white people’s behinds in the nursing homes of Britain and Australia.
Of course, they did not but even if they did, there is nothing wrong with that. A properly paid maid in Botswana can pay Mugabe’s salary in Zimbabwe dollars.

So I sat there listening to Tomaz Augusto Salomão, SADC’s Executive Secretary, spouting nonsense as if he had spent so much as an hour figuring out how Zimbabweans have to be saved from Robert Mugabe’s clutches.
I watched the embryonic president Kgalema Motlanthe of South Africa surrendering without even throwing a punch.
I ogled at veteran Rupia Banda, a firebrand during his time, as he suddenly could not find a big enough space to hide from Robert Mugabe.

Over the years, Mugabe has been abusing us.
Since independence, Mugabe has been killing our citizens.
We have known no other leader apart from this cruel and heartless man whose recliner sofa is waiting for him in hell, for he surely can’t go the other side. That’s where his victims are.
As SADC was meeting, Zimbabweans were being beaten and chased from their homes by Mugabe’s thugs again. But SADC chose to turn a blind eye.
In spite of the much referred to technicality of a presidential candidate getting 50% plus 1 vote, the heart of the matter is that Zimbabweans voted Mugabe out. Period.

And instead of helping the people of Zimbabwe to regain their moral high ground and political imperative, SADC leaders are now ganging up against us.
Africa is a disgrace and SADC is worse.
As is being confirmed by Somalia, Darfur, Zimbabwe and DR Congo, there are no African solutions to African problems.
If there were, these long running problems would have been dealt with a long time ago.
DR Congo even has the luxury to present Africa with an encore of the mindless violence against itself with the help of other neighbouring countries, not to mention Zimbabwe and Angola who are already in the DR Congo.

How could SADC collectively stand with Mugabe at the expense of the long abused people of Zimbabwe?
Why do African leaders love violence, chaos and abuse of citizens?
Oh, COSATU, please, where are you?
How can COSATU just keep quiet?
COSATU knows where it derives its strength from.
Its strength comes from the people, from the workers.
And people and workers are the same everywhere.
It is my hope that COSATU will stamp its authority and prod their government to take a sterner attitude towards renegade Mugabe who is destroying the region and soiling SADC.

I don’t read much into, nor do I care much about this Kgalema Motlanthe guy as president of South Africa; he’s got his own frustrations and he is trying to walk a fine line.
He is human and he has ambitions. Like everybody else, he is up to something, too.
He is not leaving State House nor is he going to give Jacob Zuma the presidency on a platter.
Motlanthe has his own supporters too and they are taunting him on why he should later step down and settle for Number Three, Four, Five or Six when he is Number One right now – something Jacob Zuma never achieved.
So, regrettably, Motlanthe has already started campaigning as the once mighty African National Congress is wobbling and tearing itself apart as some of its highly ambitious sons are deserting it to form splinter groups much like we witnessed with the once mighty ZANU-PF in Zimbabwe.

I look around the countries surrounding Zimbabwe and ask myself which of their citizens would do what Zimbabweans are doing were similar circumstances to befall them?
None. Absolutely none!
Zimbabweans are resilient, hard working and are not afraid of challenges or difficulties; they appear at their best when cornered.
No one can say for sure how people in Zimbabwe survive on a day to day basis. I do not think that even they themselves can explain it.

So I look around the region, and indeed around Africa.
Mozambique is picking up some economic steam because Zimbabwe, thanks to Mugabe, is lying dormant.
South Africa, whose citizens flooded our towns and whose businessmen owned almost half of the “international companies” appears to be successful because Zimbabwe is not there to challenge it like it did before.
What is Namibia, Malawi or Zambia compared to Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe can hardly breathe, having been run into the ground by Mugabe and yet the same citizens who afforded Ian Smith to produce export quality products for Europe and the Americas while under international economic sanctions are making it possible for this much abused nation to stand on its toes and taunt the big regional powers.
However, unlike other SADC countries, Botswana has never pretended to be what it is not. It has always given credit where it is due.
Botswana has never been jealous of Zimbabwe.
Batswana still talk fondly of the days when they used to travel to Zimbabwe for shopping. In spite of the strains caused by Mugabe, Batswana have been very understanding and accommodating of Zimbabweans.
We have, however, overstayed our welcome and all because of the cowards at SADC.

Zimbabwe’s biggest product is its people, whose resilience has yet to be matched by any other nation.
Zimbabwe has a good educated population that spends well when times are right and Zimbabwe has one of the most literate labour forces in the world and, certainly, the most literate in Africa.
That alone is an investor’s dream.
And that is why many countries are standing by to invest or re-invest in Zimbabwe when we get our house in order. They’d rather wait than to invest elsewhere and that cannot be pleasing to some African countries, can it?

Before the SADC Summit over the weekend, we heard from Jacob Zuma who declared that the Zimbabweans would not leave before reaching an agreement.
Motlanthe’s spokesperson also weighed in and stated that South Africa would be taking a tough stand against Mugabe at that summit.
That was hogwash, of course.
The result of all the tough talk was that SADC gave Mugabe the thumbs up and energized his intransigency.

SADC conveniently forgot that Zimbabweans went to the polls and voted Mugabe out.
Kofi Annan’s poisonous political concoction in Kenya is not only retarding but is destroying democracy in Africa.
The heart of the matter is that we are our own liberators and should not bother counting on other countries, especially African countries.
Having given Mugabe all the necessary time, he has shown nothing but contempt; no contrition, regret or apology for destroying our country. He wants to continue raping the country and killing the citizens.
He refuses to listen to reason. He has gone rabid.
ZANU-PF has to be stopped now.
It is time to employ other means; heavy duty and industrial strength type of means.
I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it is today, Thursday November 13, 2008.