By Peta Thornycroft

Morgan Tsvangirai is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't take his party into Zimbabwe's general legislative election expected to take place in March next year.

The threat of boycott is his beleaguered party's only weapon to try to pressure President Robert Mugabe to level the political playing field before the election. Yet if he stays out, his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) may fade into insignificance.

"It's an excruciating moment, an excruciating decision," says MDC spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi.

'It's an excruciating moment, an excruciating decision'

The party has blown hot and cold on the question. Earlier this year, it announced it would not contest the election unless Mugabe reformed the election laws to conform with regional guidelines.

Then three months ago, it seemed those for participation in the national election had regained the upper hand. Now, in the absence of any meaningful electoral reforms, it seems the MDC's national executive is once again against participation.

The MDC leaders have all heard and debated the argument that it is better to have a small presence in parliament than none at all, to keep and eye on the ruling Zanu-PF.

They know that for a few of their younger MPs, keeping the only job they ever had is crucial as unemployment increases.

And MDC leaders say the party has been strongly advised by African governments to take part.
Western governments advise the same, though less enthusiastically.

'Workers have taken the brunt of the brutality'

But at home it's different and external opinion counts for little in the hard bargaining of such a strategic decision.

MDC insiders say Tsvangirai and other leaders who have been travelling far and wide, consulting and lobbying for support, are now resigned to the fact that Africa is unable or unprepared to cajole or pressure Zanu-PF to gamble its fate with free ai
elections.

However, the West will stay the course by keeping up pressure on Mugabe. Even if there is nothing they can do to assist a return to democracy, Western diplomats have told the MDC they will not give Mugabe legitimacy without fundamental electoral reform, no matter how large Zanu-PF's majority in March, either against the MDC or new "stooge" parties.

Lovemore Matombo, president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) from which the MDC emerged in 1999, said: "As ZCTU will not take a position until late January, the elections are irrelevant.

"We have the most repressive legislation in our history ahead of these elections. Workers have taken the brunt of the brutality and that will continue whether the MDC takes part or not."

Welshman Ncube, secretary general of the MDC, said time had run out for any of Mugabe's "so-called" electoral reforms, including the establishment of a new election commission - to be in place for elections in March.

"Even if people of integrity are appointed to the Zimbabwe Election Commission - and the law has not yet been signed by the president - that will only happen next month, 10 weeks before elections, and it doe s not even have a desk or a telephone.

"So the registrar general's office will run the elections as usual with the same flawed voters rolls. Reforms such as one-day voting and translucent ballot boxes are cosmetic."

He said even in past elections, foreign election observers had found few problems on election day itself. The real problems had been in the run-up.

Brian Raftopoulos, co chair of the Crisis Coalition, one of the group of non-governmental organisations which will be banned when Mugabe signs the law passed by parliament a week ago, said: "The ability of the MDC to mobilise without state violence are limited and the chances of a legitimate election in March are almost zero."

Civil society is united in its opposition to the MDC participating in the poll. And so, privately at this stage, are the unions, the MDC's roots.

"If they have a clear post-election programme of resistance, then they should not take part. If they don't, then they will become just a small political party like others in the past," said Lovemore Madhuku, leader of a constitutional reform pressure group, the National Constitutional Assembly.

The MDC has serious internal problems, its morale and resilience have been shattered by five years of persecution; there are internal squabbles and insufficient funds to pay even the telephone bills at its headquarters, let alone run an election campaign which inevitably entails not only the usual costs but also huge amounts of money to hire lawyers to free campaigners after arrests.

Why is Africa indifferent to the MDC's plight? President Thabo Mbeki revealed some of the answers when he addressed the ANC's national executive committee (NEC) before the last Zimbabwe legislative elections during June 2000.

He reportedly said that only 13 percent of Zimbabwean voters supported the MDC, lowering the ANC's earlier estimate at about 24 percent.

Mbeki briefed the NEC that the MDC was an imperialist creation and that a new reactionary force was threatening southern Africa - an alliance of Renamo, Unita, possibly also the MDC and others, and that it should be stopped.

The MDC went on to win at least 49 percent of the vote a month later, and probably well over 55 percent in the disputed presidential poll in March 2000, according to evidence led in legal challenges to both elections.

These results have helped to change the ANC's perception of the MDC somewhat and to accept that it represents the real aspirations of many Zimbabweans.

That change probably does not go far enough and, in any case, it has come too late for the MDC, say some analysts.

Many argue that the MDC has already become irrelevant, not necessarily through its own fault.

That it will make no difference whether or not it participates in the elections.

Whether the MDC participates in a twisted plebiscite and is defeated, or stays out - and whether or not that decision leads to its disintegration - the country's humanitarian and economic crisis will deepen. - Independent Foreign Service

• This article was originally published on page 25 of Sunday Argus on December 19, 2004

By Nicky Van Driel

A small group of former Rhodesian British South Africa Police (BSAP) members, now living in South Africa, have taken the unprecedented step of revealing the circumstances in which Umkhonto weSizwe guerrilla Basil February died.

Their dramatic account recalls a farm labourer alerting people to February's presence on the farm and that his last words, actions and instincts were to protect a white farmer's wife and children before he was shot dead in Figtree, near Bulawayo, on Tuesday August 15 1967.

February was a brilliant student who had left the University of Cape Town's medical school in his second year to join the military wing of the ANC. It was the early 1960s, and the repression of the apartheid government at Sharpeville and Langa had prompted most groups in the liberation movement to recognise that freedom was possible only through the barrel of the gun.

'I did not come here to kill women and children'

In 1964, February left the country with James April, his best friend and comrade. They trained together in the ANC's camps in Africa and spent a year at a military academy in Czechoslovakia.

Much mystery had surrounded February's death in Rhodesia. Adding to the mystique is the fact that February was the first coloured MK guerrilla to fall in the struggle for freedom.

He is remembered in popular history for the sacrifice he made and the fact that he transformed himself from an intellectual into a freedom fighter. February and April were the first coloured MK guerrillas and were part of the Luthuli detachment.

Lennox Lagu, also known as General Tshali, was the commander of the Luthuli detachment and Chris Hani was the political commissar. On July 31 1967 the Luthuli detachment joined forces with the Zimbabwean African People's Union (Zapu) and crossed the Zambezi River from Zambia into Rhodesia.

Zapu was fighting the white minority regime of prime minister Ian Smith and was en route to set up a base at Lupane in northeast Rhodesia. The ANC guerrillas were on a long march home to South Africa, where they hoped to resuscitate political activity after the severe repression of the 1960s.

The BSAP version of his death differs from Al J Venter's

Although the ANC-Zapu guerrillas had entered Rhodesian soil on August 1, their presence was detected only on August 10, when one ANC guerrilla was caught near Lukozi Bridge.

The captured guerrilla, during interrogation at Wankie, gave the impression that he was one of a group of only seven. The Rhodesian authorities were thus unaware that 79 guerrillas had crossed the Zambezi into Rhodesia.

After entering Rhodesian soil, the guerrillas marched through the Wankie Game Reserve, hoping to avoid detection. The guerrillas, although well trained and prepared, encountered two main problems: a lack of food and water, and poor compasses. After marching for about a week, the big unit split into two and pursued their separate goals.

February accompanied the Lupane-bound group and April the South African-bound group, which were meant to rendezvous in the Western Cape.

The last time ANC guerrillas saw February alive was when they assisted him to board a train at a siding. It was said that he had a special mission and would contact the ANC guerrillas in two months' time. February boarded the train with a pistol and left his Uzi machine-gun behind with the other guerrillas.

This is what the former BSAP members said happened afterwards: "On a Saturday night, August 12 1967, February asked the night railway guard at Dett railway station about trains into Bulawayo.

The railway guard became suspicious; February looked white and something did not add up. The police constable on night duty was called, and after a discussion with February, they all agreed to go across to the Dett police mess, where a group of four Police Anti-Terrorist Unit (Patu) members were asleep on the verandah.

"As the constable stepped onto the verandah, February drew his pistol, shot the unarmed railway guard twice in the stomach and then fired twice at the constable, who fell to the floor and feigned death. February then escaped.

"Two of the Patu members awoke during the commotion and pursued February. Halfway down the road, the Patu member in first pursuit of February turned to his colleague behind him and said: 'Let's go back, this is a terrorist, he has mistakenly dropped a grenade in the road'.

"The two returned to the armoury and fetched their weapons, which were locked away. On their return, they met a herd of buffalo in the road and could go no further. In the meanwhile, it seems February stole a bicycle. Later, the two Patu members saw a vehicle leaving Dett and the driver waved at them. Thinking it was a railway employee, they waved back, only to discover that the driver was February, in a vehicle he had stolen.

"Thus a roadblock was set up between Bulawayo and Lupane. On Sunday morning, February managed to burst through the roadblock and head for Bulawayo. Two highway patrolmen were dispatched in pursuit. At one stage they almost collided with him, but the description of the wanted vehicle and the one they narrowly missed differed, so the patrolmen decided to forgo chasing the errant driver. Only later did they realise it was one and the same vehicle they were looking for.

"The police in Bulawayo and the surrounding areas were put on high alert. The stolen vehicle was found the following day in the lower end of Bulawayo, near the Mzilikazi township.

"On Monday August 14 there were reports of a possible guerrilla presence towards the Matopas area. Patu was sent to do a follow-up. It was surmised that the guerrillas were moving towards the Figtree area - the boots they wore had a unique eight-pattern on the sole. Farmers in the Figtree, Marula and Matopas areas were alerted and they commenced checking their farms.

"On Tuesday August 15 a farm labourer in the Figtree area reported a suspicious spoor to the farmer. The local police and farmers joined in and commenced a search of the farm.

In the meanwhile, February had entered the homestead and demanded to know from the wife and young children where the farmer was, to which the farmer's wife replied: 'Out there looking for you!' February replied: 'I did not come here to kill women and children.' He demanded that the farmer's wife make him breakfast. By then, the search party realised that the eight-pattern spoor led back to the farmhouse.

"As February finished eating, they heard the sound of the approaching patrol. He then told the farmer's wife to take her children and go down the passage and hide. He then walked to the glass French doors, drew his sidearm and fired on the patrol. He was in full view and made no attempt to hide. One shot was fired in return by the senior policeman present and Basil February was killed."

The BSAP version of February's death differs to that of Al J Venter, who said: "He [February] was killed by Rhodesian security forces after a day-long battle which involved hundreds of men, as well as jet fighters of the Rhodesian air force.

Afterwards, the Rhodesians commented on the group's determination and in particular February's bravery in the face of terrifying odds. (From Al J Venter, The Zambezi Salient: Conflict in Southern Africa [Cape Town, Howard Timmins, 1974] pp. 77-78).

If we are to believe the BSAP version, then the truth is that, when faced with a life-and-death situation, February's first instinct was to protect the white farmer's wife and children.

This was not lost on the BSAP members. At the end of my interviews with Lionel Baker, who was a member of the Patu sleeping on the verandah at Dett, and another who chased February on foot, both said February was a hero who did not want the white farmer's wife and children to be hurt, a true gentleman who had lived by the same standards used by the BSAP.

However, not all ex-BSAP members hold this view. After reading the written reconstruction of February's death, Rob Hamilton, the chairperson of the BSAP Regimental Association (Natal), noted: "February was carrying arms of war in a foreign country, having entered illegally for the purpose of furthering the cause of the banned South African organisations. Being armed with a machine-gun and explosives, clearly his purpose was such that he could be expected to kill innocent civilians if confronted.

"Had he survived, he would have been charged and prosecuted with attempted murder, car theft and, of course, charges elating to his unlawful terrorist activities."

Baker argues that February did not want to be arrested as he thought he had killed the police constable at the Dett police station. February was unaware that the railway guard had only sustained an abdominal injury.

At the end of August 1967, April was arrested and convicted in Botswana for the illegal possession of weapons. Along with Hani and other comrades of the Luthuli detachment, he later served a 15-year sentence on Robben Island from 1971.

February still lives on in the hearts and dreams of many people. One morning, April told me of his dream the night before: he met February and they were overjoyed to see each other.

February told him that he had not really died in Rhodesia. Instead he had got lost in the bush, where he had lived for the past 20 years or so. He had decided to come home after all.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of Sunday Independent on December 19, 2004