The role of the family in society is something that is being debated throughout the world. However the situation in southern Africa puts a different spin on the issue and I thought we could explore this today. If I were asked why I am rather pessimistic about the prospects of South Africa as a long-term investment destination, it would be the state of the family in that country. 40 years of apartheid destroyed black family life and the great majority of young South Africans are growing up in fractured families or in single parent family units. For me this was one of the worst aspects of the apartheid system and it will take South Africa decades to recover.

In Zimbabwe we have a similar situation but its founded on poverty rather than ideology. This was partly true in the Rhodesian era, although much of the policy framework of the Rhodesian government was based on racial separation and restrictions on whole family settlement in the cities. The tower blocks in Mbare are the main monument to this inhumane system today even though families now occupy them. In the Rhodesian days these were meant for thousands of single men working in the city – 5 men to a room with communal toilets and cooking facilities on each floor. Gates on the entrances that were locked after a certain time at night. More like a prison than a home.

Families are important – not just families that have a mom and dad, but also those that incorporate the grandparents and the wider circle. We held a family reunion last year in Johannesburg and over 60 people came along. For our children it was an experience to discover that we were all over the place doing everything from fixing aircraft at Johannesburg International to running a funeral parlor in Port Elizabeth. There were 4 generations present and it gave everyone there a sense of continuity and belonging. A very good friend who is the Chief Medical Officer in Botswana and the great grandson of Moffat the missionary, took his 12 year old daughter to London on holiday – just the two of them, as a birthday present. They went to dinners and shows and she was totally spoiled. She will never forget that gift – not the things, but the special effort made by her father. It’s not by chance that a girl raised with this quality of a relationship with her parents will model her choice of companions on her immediate family.

So what is the problem? The problem is that in Zimbabwe today (and I think this is reflected in most third world countries) great numbers of the people living in the cities are homeless. Not a handful as in Washington DC living over the vents in the street, but up to 40 per cent of the total population. They try to get by, rent a room in a house or a shack, and use the tap a kilometer away for water and a communal toilet – in the house if they are lucky. There is no privacy and often they have to accommodate others who come in from the rural areas or who are worse off than they are. Most men faced with this situation send their families home where they will live in a traditional village, the children go to the local school and they will be able to augment what he sends home with food grown on a plot of land or from a few cattle or goats.

The root cause of the urban homeless problem is urban poverty – minimum wages are just too low to enable urban workers to keep their families in one place. Policy for education and health often results in urban costs of services being higher than in the rural areas. School and clinic fees are higher and therefore if you cannot afford these you send your wife home with the kids to give them a chance. Your wage may in fact be so low that you cannot afford the minimum needed to accommodate your family or to feed them in addition to your own minimum needs, so you send them home to live in a mud hut – it may be primitive, but is safe and clean.

The millions of men who live separate lives like this in Africa (and perhaps especially so in southern Africa because of our history) are then tempted to use prostitutes or even casual long term relationships to meet their other needs. Multiple relationships become the norm in such societies and the next problem is Aids. That is why we have the highest incidence of Aids in the world at 25 per cent of our adult population infected with HIV. In addition a third of the children born are infected and almost half die before they are 5 years of age. Our productive age group is being killed by the scourge on a scale that almost defies the imagination. The impact on the quality of life of our people is the equivalent of an atom bomb. If I was black, female and poor I would have died 25 years ago and my children would have less than a one in three chance of reaching adulthood.

The key to fixing this problem is not a condom, although that is better than nothing in a high-risk situation. In fact condoms may well exacerbate the problem by encouraging people to have sex outside of a monogamous relationship because they think it is safe. Its not, and having sex with someone who may be infected and using a condom is a bit like playing Russian roulette with a pistol and one bullet in a 6 round chamber. The key to this challenge is rather to tackle the fundamental socioeconomic problems of our society.

For the MDC the situation calls for us to tackle the crisis on a number of fronts simultaneously – we want to tackle the problem of urban homelessness with a program of low cost housing and mass transportation which will eliminate the housing backlog in five years. We have done the homework on this and it is possible within our own resources. We want to make our primary schools free to all children and of such a standard that every child (and especially the girl child) gets a good quality of education as a start in life. We want to set up a system of primary health care clinics that will be free and will also act as a referral system for the hospitals. We want to ensure that minimum wages in the cities are above the poverty datum line and free of taxes on income. This will be facilitated by increases in productivity and slower job growth in the cities, which must be accompanied by efforts to raise rural living standards. We want to ensure that women have real status and independence in society.

We want the rural economy to be based on whole family settlement – just as this is the goal for urban workers. To do this we want to empower rural peasant farmers by giving them security of tenure and support for production. We want to bring both the rural and urban informal sectors into the mainstream of the economy with good policy and support measures. Can you imagine what would happen in a society, which was able to harness the energy, and ingenuity that exists in the informal sector of our economies?

I know what you are thinking – we are dreaming, this is utopia and is unattainable, its not – many other countries have made the transition and in a very short period of time. Besides if we do not dream there is no hope – for any of us. Dreams become reality when we work towards their realization. I do not believe we cannot do these things. Lets hold the developed countries to their promise to help us with education and health systems, and lets use the global economy to drive our economic growth and to use our competitive edge in many fields to expand our industries. Let’s create an enabling environment for the natural energy and vitality of our people to be put to work and our dreams will become the reality.

On a more mundane subject – the bombing of the Daily News last weekend. There are few things that are regarded in the West as being beyond the pail, bombing an independent newspaper to try and silence it is one of those things. There is no doubt in our minds that this was a professional hit carried out by an agency of Government with the clear objective of silencing a independent voice that has become too influential. Rather less well known was an incident this week when the Police raided the offices of one of the Capital Radio promoters and "found" 47 video tapes which they were convinced contained pornography. Everything was laid on – the publicity and the viewing and when they eventually found a video that worked – the entire stock of tapes was absolutely blank! Someone boobed big time!

Now the resignation of the Chief Justice – quiet man with a simple lifestyle and a fine mind, with no ambitions but to serve the law in Zimbabwe. A white Zimbabwean with a lifetime of legal experience who had loyally served the Bench for 18 years. Eventually the pressure and the threats became simply too much and for a man like Justice Gubbay, not to have the support of the President for what he was appointed to do was probably the final straw. Anyway he has resigned and we are the poorer for his exit. The remaining four Supreme Court Judges are a tough bunch and are all very experienced and sound. Even if the President appoints a Zanu PF lackey into that position, he has the full bench to deal with. But we are learning as a nation, all about the fundamentals of good governance – the lesson is now well understood that we need an independent Judiciary, which is free from political pressure and corrupt influence.

Eddie Cross

4^th February 2001.

Please note that this note is personal and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Movement for Democratic Change.