The birth of Zimbabwe and many other African States came as a result of violent confrontations.
Source: Zim has become replica of Rhodesia – NewsDay Zimbabwe August 20, 2016
Ngonidzashe Tamborenyoka
Negotiations like the ones at Lancaster House Conference took place after the violent confrontation between the guerilla fighters and white supremacists. Among the issues at the centre of the Second Chimurenga were the land question, totalitarian rule by the whites and oppression of the black populace.
Images of Ian Douglas Smith’s police officers with dogs attacking black people were captured by the media.
The dastardly acts of the Ian Smith regime were captured by the media. It is also important to note that the regime’s oppressive nature did not go unnoticed as Britain and the United Nations imposed sanctions on Rhodesia.
Fast-forward to 2000 and beyond, Zimbabweans find themselves in a similar situation. The issue of land became the crux of the battle. Words like terrorists and puppets began to be thrown around with reckless abandon against the opposition; dissenting voices are treated with disdain.
The government of the day has failed to cut the umbilical cord of colonialism. They have become a replica of the Smith regime. They have perfected the art of oppression, interchangeably using violence, draconian laws and maintaining a tight grip on State power.
Albert Bandura, a cognitive psychologist, came up with a Social Learning Theory, in which he posits that behaviour is learned from the environment through the process of observational learning. He further said that at a later time, people imitate the behaviour they have observed.
Given the fact that most people in the government of Zimbabwe fought in the liberation of the country against the oppressive Smith government, it only makes sense that the leaders in our government have learned the oppressive style of rule from the very system they fought against.
It is ironic that the Zimbabwean government is becoming a black version of the Smith government, thereby, vindicating an apt assessment by Franz Fanon when he said that what changed after the independence of most African States was the skin colour of the oppressor.
But as a generation, we have a duty to – a generational mandate, a generational obligation – fight the system.
We have to demand accountability, good governance and respect of the rule of law. There is much that unites us than that which divides us.
We should never engage in violence because that’s what the regime that we are fighting wants for violent ground is their turf.
They have survived and thrived using violence, that’s their forte.
But we are smarter than them, we are a different generation.
When they use weapons, we use ideas, for the modern age has provided us a platform to meet, a convergence zone of ideas, where we share ideas and make our future and that of the generations to follow bright.
We have to put faith in institutions and ideas and never in the individual, for individuals are fallible and they can disappoint. Individuals come and go, but institutions and ideas are permanent.
We have to be a better generation than the one which precedes us. We should not breed cult leadership for it has contributed immensely to the existing catastrophe.
We should be alive to the dangers of imitating our oppressors and we should not make the same mistakes that the previous generation made.
COMMENTS
Time for ‘Zimbabwe situation’ to start censoring some of the rubbish that it is publishing.
What we want to be informed about is NEWS – facts about what is actually occurring – i.e. the ‘situation’. Not endless stupid opinions, because we can form our own opinions.
Please don’t compare this basket case of a nation Zimbabwe to a once prosperous jewel of Africa…Rhodesia! It was the second most productive country in Africa after South Africa, considering we had proper economic sanctions imposed on us. Black and white Rhodesians built the country, but unfortunately a black tribe destroyed it…unfortunately the truth always hurts but it must be told! There is no comparison whatsoever between the two countries AND Ian Smith was one of the finest prime ministers this world has been privileged to have known, whether you like it or not. It’s you foreign liberals who are responsible for the Mugabe’s of Africa, who are a thousand times worse than Ian Smith! To those of you that voted Mugabe into power in the first place and continue to sing his praises, please don’t bother begging for food and financial aid from my kith and kin, you made your bed, now you can sleep in it!!!!
“not make the same mistakes that the previous generation made.”………You young “BORN FREE”……have no idea of what you are talking about……LIFE WAS MUCH BETTER UNDER THE SMITH GOVERNMENT……….You believe the lies and propaganda that is vomited out by the politicians after 1980……..You the next generation should be demanding the TRUTH (no matter how unpalatable it is ) from the politicians……The RHODESIAN population (white and black)were the envy of the region……..Employed, Educated, Health care etc etc……WHAT HAVE YOU TODAY??????…It is RACIST idiots like you who gullibly believe the propaganda…..THAT LIFE BEGAN IN 1980 AND ZANU PF CAN DO NO WRONG….Go get an education and WAKE up…..
-+Well said. The British government were made fools of by Mugaby. Every country has its problems, that are sorted over time and Rhodesia was progressing better than most. It was a country with a great future for all. The Zipra and Zanla terrorists who were only trained in Marxism with no soldier trainingt. They could not hit a barn door at 20m with an AK47 but shot civilians and missionaries at point blank range.The so called do gooders that brought down this country and installed an evil dictator, bear the responsibility. These people just like to interfear causing death and destruction but you never see them putting work effort in to help. Africa in the most part is now reliant on charities. With the countries natural resources this is criminal.
Another thought …….The opposition parties TODAY are fighting the SAME bunch of terrorists that the SMITH government was fighting before 1980( ZANU PF.)….MAKES YOU THINK HEY……
Indeed it seems that a lifelong exposure to ZPF propaganda destroys the mind and the ability to think clearly. ZPF HAVE to demonise Rhodesia because by comparison they are such abject failures, not only economically but (strangely) in civil liberties too.
Rhodesia was by no means perfect, but those older people who were alive then and now know that it was a constantly changing society. Whether due to the war or not I don’t know, but racial separation was fast going. Projects like TILCOR did wonders for the rural economy. My greatest regret is that the UK and America shot down our own Internal Settlement of Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
But the one HUGE difference is that then ALL the people were prosperous, urban, rural, black or white. Also there were NO vast manshions built by kleptocrats.
How can anyone seriously compare Rhodesia with the Zimbabwe ruins
What load of tripe? How can anyone compare the two based on sheer nonsense?
This bunch of ruling clowns must surely realise they inherited an economy and agricultural base that was one of best in the world, and the envy of other African Nations eyes, but they have reduced our country from being the bread basket of Africa to a basket case and begging bowl status
In my day, we maintained through thick and thin ,three years supply of grain in the silos and no one ever went hungry or wanting across the land be it drought or otherwise. We literally gave away grain to other African countries, because our silos were so full!
To the writer, it’s time to sharpen up and realise the truth that folk across the world only seek a number of basics in life – food in their stomachs, a roof over their head, clothes on their back and a future for their children, be it education, healthcare, employment and so on. All of this has been destroyed for the vast majority.
From 2000 to 2013, staple food production declined by 70%. Therefore, some two thirds of the county must be hungry and in dire poverty!
Rhodesia was not a perfect model by any means. Which model is? All that was needed over time was refinement and betterment with a work for all relationship with its peoples.
Unfortunately an internal settlement and reforms came far too late to save the day.
Here we are now in a land with not a pot to piss in. Remain beggars, but don’t come begging in my back yard. You chose your destiny so live and sleep with it and when you wake up, think where you put your mark on the ballot paper!
If your dreams are about freedom from oppression, then dream on.
The article is a typically ploy. Take a false premise, sprinkle a bit of undeniable truth on it, and the gullible will bite. Zim is in a sink hole created by ruthless, tribalist, racist, terrorist scum. They emptied the full silos into their own pockets, and when those were empty, they went after anything else of value they could steal. There was no need for foreign aid during the Rhodesian era, but now the land lays in waste… and the government can not even sustain itself, much less feed the people. Physical infrastructure is gone; health care is gone; education is gone; banking system is gone; business structure is gone. The rule of law, and justice, and distribution of food packets and agri-inputs have all become politicized by the communist-backed terrorists.
Those in Zim who refuse to hold Mugabe and ZANU-PF responsible are equally guilty of the state of the nation. For years, the atrocities and theft has been publicized, but those who backed the party would not listen, sought only to justify it, and actively opposed with violence the exposing of the evil. Those, each one, is accountable… even those who suddenly declare opposition to Mugabe for their own political benefit, even though they themselves were made wealthy by their rape of the nation.
And those of the West who supported the goals of those terrorists in a foolhardy attempt to appease Russia and China are no less responsible than those who offered up countries to Hitler hoping to appease him. It was plain stupidity, not statesmanship. You can not appease a snake by going to bed with it.
In short, the article is ZANU-PF propaganda.
That’s an accurate description of African nations in General, Fallenz, but the one characteristic of Zimbabwean culture that sets it apart from other African nations is the trait of pure selfishess which pervades the entire country at every level.
You mean it’s the bread basket of Africa again?
Rhodesia was super. Zimbabwe not so much.
I am disappointed – a load of garbage by a closed-minded racist. I knew TILCOR from the start as my father in law was its Chairman. It was a brilliant idea to bring the cash economy to the Rural Areas, and the originator of the Growth Point movement.
Some people need to learn that just because things were done by mainly white Rhodesians, that does not automatically make them wrong. TILCOR was never racist, in fact the exact opposite.
what a racist, biased piece of ‘blame game’ trash…. Rhodesia had its problems, however, the segregated lifestyle was a legacy of the british colonialist system that was part of the british system. the smith government was slowly dismantling it and had the country been given the chance, would have evolved into a non racist, thriving and successful role model for the world. that opportunity was never allowed because of the communist influence and propaganda from the soviet union, china and the communist government of Harold Wilson…. I served in the BSAP in the latter years of the 70′ and through the so called 1980 ‘independence’… independence from what?… wherever I went as a white policeman I was received and treated with respect and friendliness by all races…. the police uniform represented authority with respect and fairness… obviously there were some racists within the force but they and their behaviour was not the policy of the BSAP… unlike the current ZRP…. stop blaming the white government of smith for the current problems… ZANLA has been in unelected power for 40 years
Briain bears a grave responsibility for the events in Rhodesia, basically supporting terrorists – Zanla and Zipra who killed hundreds of thousands of black people, creating racism between tribes that now continues in reprisals and vengance. Rhodesia was progressing but these so called do gooders demanding instant change that resulted in the installing of an evil dictator. The country may never recover from this and if it does it will take a long time!