The Zimbabwe Situation

Despite renewed pressure from SADC for the full implementation of the GPA, President Mugabe exuded confidence that he will win the elections he insisted should be held last year or the year before that at the latest. ‘You’d be surprised what little bags of diamonds can do’ he told the Vigil. ‘Just ask my friend Charles Taylor or for that matter. . .’

Waving a pistol at Vigil supporters, the President (played by Fungayi Mabhunu in our Mugabe mask) was making his annual appearance outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London to mark Independence Day. Carrying a poster reading ’33 years in power’, he was beset by Zimbabwean exiles with rival placards such as: 33 years of oppression, 33 years of looting, 33 years of suffering, 33 years of lawlessness, 33 years of violence and 33 years of rigged elections.

Mugabe assured us that the voters’ roll had been cleaned up. ‘Dead people have been taken off’ he said – but added under his breath ‘more of them will be added’.

Vigil supporters signed a letter to President Zuma drawing his attention to the moves underway for massive vote rigging (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr20a_2013.html#Z8 – Cabinet descends on chaotic RG’s office).

‘We welcome the latest visit to Harare by the SADC facilitation team but caution South Africa against paying for the forthcoming elections there.

As Professor Welshman Ncube has pointed out, it is well within the capacity of Zanu PF to fund the elections if they are prepared to use their diamond revenue. Finance Minister Biti has made the same point, lamenting the loss of diamond revenue to the Treasury.

The UN, the US and the EU have all expressed willingness to fund the elections but their offers have been rejected by Zanu PF because it fears objective scrutiny. We believe that South Africa should also exercise due diligence in this matter.

With elections coming in the next six months, we call on the facilitation team to ensure that eligible voters in Zimbabwe are allowed to register and draw your attention to what is described as ‘calculated bias towards ensuring perceived Zanu PF voters register to vote, with simultaneous efforts being made in some quarters to prevent opposition party supporters from registering at all’ (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/apr19_2013.html#Z23 – Zimbabwe Election Watch: Issue 1).

The Zimbabwe Vigil has been protesting outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for the past eleven years in support of human rights and free and fair elections.’

The letter was the Vigil’s contribution to the 16^th monthly Free Zimbabwe global protest. The theme this month is ‘Simuka, Phakama – stand up and be counted’.

Vigil founder member Ephraim Tapa stood up and spoke of the recent undercover visit he’d made to Zimbabwe. He said the three party leaders were congratulating themselves on the 33^rd anniversary of independence as if everything was ok. Everything was not ok, he said, and that is why we were gathered on the Strand demanding free and fair elections which would produce a credible result. He added that he had found a cowed nation and that he believed the result of the elections had already been decided.

· It was a busy day for Ephraim who came to the Vigil after chairing a well-attended meeting of the Zimbabwe Yes We Can group of which he is President. After the Vigil, he joined us at the bi-monthly Zimbabwe Action Forum to speak about his time in Zimbabwe. He spoke of the daily hardships of the people living the ‘economy of the stomach’ and how when he visited people’s carefully kept homes in Harare their faces fell when he asked to use the toilet. Running water was sporadic and when it was available was full of sewage. He also spoke of his terror on the death trap of the Masvingo Road. Large lorries with swerving trailers resulted in cars being swept off the road. In contrast the road to Mutare (and the diamonds) was immaculate.

· To our joy it was the warmest and sunniest day for seven long months. The dancing, singing and drumming reflected this.

· We were happy to be joined by our good friend Mark Beacon and others from Action for Southern Africa, the successor to the Anti-apartheid Movement. Other visitors included a Pakistani lady, Ayesha Siddique Khan, who is studying human rights law in London and who said how important it was for oppressed people to stand together.

· We are glad to let you know that our Swazi friend Tintswalo Ngobeni who was threatened with deportation is still in the UK. After our mailing on Thursday in which we called on the airline not to take her back, we were told that the deportation had been called off.

· Grateful thanks to Rose Maponga who took away our weather-worn banners for repair and return next week.

· ROHR Milton Keynes Branch Relaunch. Saturday 27^th April from 2 – 5.30 pm. Venue Coffee Hall Meeting Place (Coffee Hall Community Hall), 60 Garraways, Coffee Hall, Milton Keynes MK6 5E. For more information please contact: Casper Nyamakura (07577666912), Epiphania Phiri (07426 136 124) and William Muchayi (07826311731).

· Zimbabwe Action Forum (ZAF). Saturday 4^th May from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. The Strand is the same road as the Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction away from Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side of the Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian restaurant at street level. It's next to a newsagent. Nearest underground: Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.

· ROHR Executive meeting. Saturday 4^th May from 12 noon. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. For full directions check entry for Zimbabwe Action Forum.

· ROHR Birmingham Branch meeting. Saturday 11^th May from 12.30 – 3.30 pm. Venue: All Saints Centre, Vicarage Road, Kings Heath B14 7RA. For more information, contact: Zenzile Chabuka 07951418577, Anne Chikumba 07857528546, Petronella Mapara 07903644612, Jane Mary Mapfumo 07412310429, Pedzisai James 07428180518 and Tecla Bandawe 07450507650.

· ROHR Southampton Branch meeting. Saturday 11^th May from 12.30 – 4 pm. Venue: Swaythling Neighbourhood Centre off Broadlands Rd, Southampton SO16 3AY. For more information contact: Wellington Mukucha 07450264733, Sally Mutseyami 07969029752, Manfred Mambo 07774538359 and Taylor Madondo.

· ROHR Central London Branch meeting. Saturday 18^th May from 12 – 1.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. Contact Fungayi Mabhunu 07746552597. For full directions check entry for Zimbabwe Action Forum.

· ROHR Reading Relaunch. Saturday 25^th May from 11 am – 5 pm. For more information please contact: Tawanda Dzimba 07880524278, Nicodimus Muganhu 07877386789.

· The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the views and opinions of ROHR.

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.

Jobs keep Zim migrants in SA

http://www.iol.co.za/

April 21 2013 at 03:20pm

By Rebecca Jackman

INLSA

smiling in SA: Nehemiah Simango is happy to be here. PICTURE: CANDICE CHAPLIN

For many Zimbabweans living in South Africa, it is not a case of wanting to be here, but more of not being able to return home.

They are unable to find work in Zimbabwe and to provide for their families they have to be here.

Many are fearful of political violence at home and do not believe elections later this year, for which South Africa has made R900 million available, will lead to change.

Domestic worker Angela Engina, who works seven days a week cleaning five households, says “things were tough at home”, so she moved to South Africa in 2009.

Engina now lives in Khayelitsha with her son, Bombojena Engina, but the rest of her family remain in Zimbabwe and can’t afford to visit.

A subsistence farmer in Zimbabwe gathers her crop of maize. Many Zimbabweans living in South Africa say they came here because of tough conditions and a scarcity of jobs in their country. PICTURE:REUTERS

REUTERS

Of her treatment here, she says: “South Africans are not always good to foreigners. They say we take their jobs, but if there was a chance to get a job I would go home.”

Engina says if Zimbabweans are doing jobs here that need to be done, she doesn’t understand why South Africa shouldn’t put money into the Zimbabwean elections to make it better there. “We want to vote for our country,” she says, but does not have the money to go home to vote.

Taxi driver Minos Moyo came to South Africa in 2011 to find work. He found no opportunities to work in Zimbabwe so came here believing things would be better, and so far they have been. He has a big family at home and, while he would prefer living in Zimbabwe with them, he needs to work here.

“I help them. I’m the breadwinner of the family,” he says. “Everything is in order as long as I am working.”

He has generally found South Africans to be friendly.

“People depend on me,” he says. His family at home work in exchange for food, so he needs to send money for everything else, including school fees and uniforms.

Loren Landau, director and associate professor of the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand, says: “What the Zimbabweans are expressing acutely is a sentiment and fact shared by many of those who have come to South Africa in search of protection or work: the vibrancy and viability of the regional economy depends heavily on migrants and their ability to find work in South Africa.

“While South Africans may feel this threatens their own efforts to counter poverty and inequality, such a position ignores migrants’ real and potential contributions to South Africa and the degree to which South Africa benefits from a more stable and prosperous region.

“Were our country to work to facilitate rather than frustrate cross-border movements, I have little doubt we would multiply the benefits to families, communities and countries throughout the region.”

Tendai Bhiza’s reasons for coming to South Africa in 2004 were varied. She was disenchanted by the political situation at home and struggled with having political views that differed from those of her family, workplace, personal relationships and church.

“Home is home, but also there are some things which need to be changed for the better, not for the worse,” she says.

Bhiza was a trader on Greenmarket Square until 2009, when she says foreigners were “pushed out” of the market before the World Cup.

“Our bread was buttered in Greenmarket Square. It was honest, selling our curios. We were helping the economy here and sending money home. After that we were stranded.”

Her son, Trevor Hewitt, lives in Zimbabwe with his grandparents. Bhiza returns when she can but wants him to be at home with a support network in case anything happens to her. She sends money home for her son’s education.

“In Zimbabwe, to make things better they have to start with the health system.”

She said she needed to be here for her health, but would rather be at home and feels threatened here sometimes.

“Whenever Mandela is in hospital and people know I am foreign, they tell me things are going to change when he dies because it was only Madiba who welcomed foreigners.”

But she doesn’t understand why the colour of your skin or where you were born matters.

“When a white person is cut, red blood comes out. When a black person is cut, red blood comes out. We have different views, different thinking, different religions, I respect that.

“There are many Malawians and Mozambicans in Zimbabwe and they are welcome. We never had xenophobia.”

Bhiza laughed when asked if she would go home to vote.

“It won’t make a difference,” she says. “They always rig the elections.”

Landau believes it is in South Africa’s interests for Zimbabwe to stabilise and begin its path to economic recovery. “Although free and fair elections are part of that – and something we should support - this must mark the beginning of a progressive engagement in the country’s reconstruction,” he says.

Nehemiah Simango came to South Africa in 2007 because he was “obviously gay”.

“My brother saw the situation and decided to come with me here,” he says. “I would love to be there. I was born and bred there, but I’m happy to be here.” - Sunday Argus

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ZCTF Report - April 2013

33 years of oppression – Zimbabwe Vigil Diary: 20th April 2013

Jobs keep Zim migrants in SA