The Zimbabwe Situation

June 1, 2009

As militants attack his home with burning tyres and drive workers from his land, one of the last white farmers in Zimbabwe feels betrayed by the new Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai

Ben Freeth

The invaders came at 11pm. Fifteen of them — singing, chanting and crashing metal objects together by our windows. “Out, out,” they shouted as they surrounded our farm — they certainly wanted us out. They broke into the house and dragged burning tyres through the front door. They invaded the hallway and occupied the courtyard. The flames leapt into the thatch as they pulled the tyres under it, but it did not catch alight.

This was last Tuesday. I called the police but then the invaders took the phone away. Their leader, who calls himself “Landmine”, was armed with a rifle. They pushed us around and raised sticks and said that we must leave. They beat my tonga drum so hard that the cowhide skin broke.

One of them went up to the children, who had been woken by the din. “Josh, Josh, there’s a man in our room,” said Anna, 4. Joshua, 9, told my wife Laura afterwards that the man was making hyena noises. My other son, Stephen, is 7.

Police arrived and the invaders were ushered out. None was arrested, but “Landmine” did return my phone at the request of the police. When the police left, though, the invaders resumed their attack. They did not break in this time, but they made a lot of noise, circling the house like whooping hyenas and shouting before they left: “We will eat the children.”

By the time the police came back a second time the invaders had given up: returning to the house of my wife’s parents on the other side of the farm. My parents-in-law were evicted by “Landmine” two months ago.

To be caught on the edge of life, isolated, without help and abandoned, is a hard thing. This is how it is living on a farm in Zimbabwe today. Our house, surrounded by wild stretches of swaying savannah grasses, should be a haven of peace. For us, though, looking out and listening, there are things we see and hear that make our hearts beat fast and our minds race. It is like looking out on a tranquil river, the languid stretches of the mighty Zambezi, and somehow being able to see the crocodiles beneath the surface lying in wait for the one who is careless and not alert.

We thought that with the new Government, and Morgan Tsvangirai becoming the Prime Minister, things might get better. Underneath the waters, though, we knew that the great crocodile, Robert Mugabe, was still in control. It is clear to us now that Tsvangirai does not want to harm Mugabe’s “sacred cow” — the eviction of the last of the white men from their farms must continue. Last week Tsvangirai said that there were invasions on only “one or two farms” and that they have been “blown out of proportion”. This is not the truth. Almost every white farmer that has so far survived is either being prosecuted criminally by the State for still being on his farm, or is facing an attack in which invaders take the law into their own hands.

To stay in our home, which we built on the farm from nothing in 1999, is a battle of wits and nerve — a battle that has raged since we completed our house and had our first child. Joshua, born three days before 2000, has known nothing but farm attacks. His first brush with the invaders was when he was four months old. We were driving out to visit another farm, but militia had erected a road block on the driveway. The invaders stopped us and smashed our car windows with axes and rocks. We had to drive for our lives, with Joshua in his carrycot on the back seat.

There was a time, though, when there was peace on the farm. It was a childhood dream of my father-in-law to reintroduce wildlife to the land. When the 1,200-hectare Mount Carmel farm, which has a river flowing though the middle, came up for sale he sold everything, took out a loan and bought it to create a safari enterprise. Over many years of hard farm work his dream gradually became reality. He introduced nine species of antelope and even had 45 giraffe by the time Joshua was born. The animals did well and my parents-in-law built a safari lodge set by the Biri River.

It was a happy place then, without fear stalking the veldt. Laura, my wife, grew up among all that. The bush war made things difficult for a time in the late 1970s, but it was never as it is now. Today, of the several hundred antelope that were here, not one remains. They have all been killed and the safari lodge has been burnt down.

The battle now is relentless, wearing and it drains all our innermost reserves. It is also an unusual battle — where else in the world does a government declare war on its own people? Where else does the State aim to destroy the economic base of the country so that people will be poorer and therefore more easily controlled? Where else do police connive with criminals to destroy agricultural production — leaving the people starving and totally dependant on the ruling party? Those who have not lived through a time of terror at the hands of a dictatorial government will never understand what it is like.

We have 500 people living and depending on the farm but none of the 150 workers has been allowed to work since April 4. They are chased away with guns by the invaders whenever they try.

Ninety per cent of our farming community has left or is packing at the moment. Tsvangirai’s appointment has hastened our demise. There is a rush to clear the farms of the last white people so that Mugabe can put his men on to the land to control and terrorise the people when the next election comes. Nobody can farm in the midst of this controlled anarchy. That is why we are now the most food-aid dependent country in the world.

Last year the Southern African Development Community Tribunal, a new human rights court set up in Namibia , told the Zimbabwe Government that it must “protect the possession, occupation and ownership of the lands of the applicants”. This is simply not happening. We are going back to the tribunal on Friday. It is important that we show how its judgment has been flouted. But of course the Government will not listen. In the last month the High Court of Zimbabwe has twice ruled in our favour, but it makes no difference. It ordered Nathan Shamuyarira, the octogenarian Zanu (PF) party spokesman and stalwart, who has been “given” our farm, to “vacate the property”. Police were directed to assist in ensuring that the order was complied with. But, six weeks later, the invaders are still here.

We can run away of course. Most people have. If self-preservation is the goal then there is no sense in staying. For us, though, there is a greater good. It is a matter of principle. If individual men and women allow evil to advance unchecked, it will prevail and more people will suffer and starve. It is hard to live and try to make a difference in a time of terror — especially with a family. My wife has been amazing. It is only our faith in God and his provision that sustains us.

Tuesday was not Landmine’s first visit. When he came last month and broke in to the house of my elderly parents-in-law, Mike and Angela Campbell, during the night, shouting that they must leave, our workers were beaten. One was put in the fire and his trousers caught alight before he wriggled out. They then beat him with sticks and metal pipes all over his body. They dumped him, his skull fractured, at the local Chegutu police station. After that it was easy for the invaders. My in-laws are still trying to recover from a savage beating and abduction on the farm nearly a year ago. Then, between the three of us, we suffered 13 broken bones. My skull was also fractured.

At the age of 38 I recovered well, but Mike, 75, who sustained the worst beating, is taking a long time to mend. Our crime was to try to get the whistle blown in the SADC Tribunal. With guns to our heads, they made Angela sign a paper saying that we would withdraw from the court, but we never did.

After Mike and Angela were forced to leave, Shamuyarira’s men were able to have the run of the place. For more than a month we have not been able to retrieve any of their possessions from the house. Two weeks ago the invaders drove a red government tractor into the fenced area around our house and started ploughing up our beautiful garden and driveway so that we could not get out. They screamed abuse and threatened to burn down our home, lighting sacks under the thatched roof before weaving off down our access road and ploughing that into a quagmire too. They then went to the workers and pushed down the door to the home of the foreman, Peter. He has been working for my father-in-law for 31 years. They took him from his bedroom and started beating him and then continued hitting him with sticks on the soles of his feet through the night. We could hear the singing and the raw screams of the beating through the night air, but there was nothing we could do. Nobody knew where Peter was until the next morning when he was dumped at the police station. There were no arrests.

It is harvest time in Zimbabwe. That is one of the reasons that Shamuyarira’s men have come now. This is the largest mango farm in Zimbabwe. There were 50 tons of mangos in the pack shed and cold rooms and another 120 tons still hanging on the trees two months ago. They have stolen all of them and are now starting on the oranges. After that it will be the maize and the sunflowers — and nobody is willing to stop them.

Where else in the world do the Government sanction people to reap what they did not sow, and get away with it? Where else do people come to take homes and occupy them? Where else do people get beaten and left at police stations and their attackers drive off with impunity?

Nobody is putting in a wheat crop this year. The wheat seed sits in the warehouses and in the shops. And so there will be no bread.

When the invaders are not here there is an eerie unease. The workers’ houses are quiet and deserted — their occupants in hiding. When we do see our workers they are furtive — listening, jumpy, ready to move at the slightest threat. Ultimately it must be for them that we stay. We know that if we run they will be chased from their homes and will starve. It is our conviction that God has called us to stay and stand and resist the evil that continues to beset the land.

For now, though, we are reeling, sometimes seeing stars, bewildered in a bewitched land. We are waiting for a future.

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Comments

This is one brave family, but look deeper. What is left is the undoubtable fact that Mugabe is still calling the shots. Tsvangirai must not ignore this. If this had stopped then it would show that the sponsors of the unity government want it to work. They don't. They just want Mugabe to stay.

David Ashton, Bathurst, Australia

I sympathise with their plight, but I can't help but think that its not worth risking their lives for, especially that of their kids. They should get out of the country, if they can, though their cause is just.

Dan, Winchester, England

The Sadc are not solving any problems in Zimbabwe... where is a coup when you need one? How long can Mugabe continue like this? I have lived in Africa, it's never good to be there and not feel wanted. These people are Zimbabwean, living in a country that does not want to recognise their citizenship.

James, England, UK

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Nkomo diverts attention from serious national issues

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17173

May 31, 2009

By Jakaya Goremusandu

THE debate over remarks by Samuel Sipepa Nkomo suggesting an imaginary
theory to slice Zimbabwe into tiny territories is, to put it mildly, based
on a puerile and careless intention to divert attention from pressing
national issues that urgently require Zimbabwe to rise from its own ashes.

Nowhere in the MDC policy documents, private and public positions or even
the party constitution is there a plan now or in future to dismember
Zimbabwe into little pieces reflecting the supposed various ethnic
demographics of the country. Over the past two centuries, Zimbabweans have
developed a common blood among themselves through inter-marriages, other
indelible links and complex kinships.

The MDC was born out of a vibrant civic movement, initially calling for
comprehensive political and economic reform, none of which anchored itself
on a secession agenda, or a separate geographical autonomy arrangement. The
party mirrored a strong national sentiment for inclusion - away from the
divide-and-rule tactics and the arrogance of Zanu-PF.

The subjunctive mood at the time knew no tribal or ethnic boundaries, hence
the election of Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube, Fletcher-Dulini Ncube, Esaph
Mdlongwa, Paul Temba Nyathi, David Coltart - all Ndebeles - to the majority
of top leadership positions in the party. At no time was the issue of
Matabeleland a main building block of this comprehensive initiative, nor was
there any need to brand the new party supporters, their views and their
motivations, according to their ancestry.

It is common cause that when Mzilikazi and his warriors landed in what is
today Zimbabwe, escaping the wrath of their Zulu kinsmen for whatever crimes
they had committed in KwaZulu and barely 30 years before whites colonized
the country, they did not bring along their women and children with them as
they headed north, raiding and plundering.

They raided villages north of the Limpopo, pillaging for food and taking
women hostage as sex slaves, domestic workers and wives. These women bore
children and enabled the warriors to start new lives and new families. They
raised offspring, needless to say, totally without any pure Zulu blood in
them.

No Zimbabwean Ndebele person today can honestly claim to be totally free of
the blood of the pre-1850 indigenous people they found north of the Limpopo
at the time. It therefore does not make sense for anyone to push for an
agenda that promotes the separation of Zimbabweans on the basis of some
mischievous assumption that their ilk carries a completely separate
identity: genetic, biological or otherwise.

In case Nkomo may not know, which is highly unlikely, there is, in fact, no
tribe called the Shona. The word was a bastardized version of Mzilikazi's
warrior derision of the indigenous people whom they referred to as the
AmaSvina, just as foreigners, especially non-Ndebeles from Zimbabwe in South
Africa are unkindly called AmaKwerekwere today.

Acting on the advice of the Ndebeles, white hunters, missionaries and
fortune-seekers, including Frederick Courtenay Selous - called the
indigenous people Mashuna, that is, the people of Mashunaland. The word was
widely then used to define the various clans whose language was made up of
related dialects: the Korekore, the Zezuru, the Karanga, the Kalanga, the
Ndau and the Manyika.

The key dialects of Shona are Kalanga, Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau and
Zezuru. The Kalanga were cut off from the main concentration of the Shona
people by the invading Ndebele. Their speech shows considerable influence
from the Ndebele language, which now distinguishes Kalanga from the rest of
Shona dialects. Kalanga is, for instance, the only Shona dialect to have the
"l" sound; the rest of the Shona dialects have "r" only.

The word "man" is "murume" in Zezuru, Manyika and Karanga. In Kalanga it is
"n'lume", while in Ndebele they call a man "indoda".

In November 2003 Gerald Chikozho Mazarire prepared a paper, "Who are the
Ndebele and the Kalanga in Zimbabwe?" for the Konrad Adenuer Foundation's
Project on 'Ethnicity in Zimbabwe'. He states in the paper that there is
very little known about the Kalanga before the year 1800.

He says: "In conclusion the Ndebele and Kalanga are different people with
entirely different origins, language and culture as has been demonstrated
above. Their experiences however have of late come to be shared more often
than not this has given rise to a common imagined identity of belonging
among other things to Matabeleland. This imagined identity is however unique
in its ability to appreciate and acknowledge differences between the two
cultures."

Zimbabweans with a good memory will recall that when Gibson Sibanda told a
rally in Binga late 2005 that his breakaway MDC group had moved away from
the mainstream MDC to fight for a separate state of Matabeleland, such
utterances cost him and the faction, dearly. A few days later, Sibanda was
confronted by, among others, Joseph Msika at Bulawayo airport and was
advised to retract the statement and that he was misguided to talk about a
separate Matabeleland.

Ordinary party supporters were left speechless by Sibanda's views in Binga,
for that matter, and this weakened the group's support substantially in
Matabeleland North and Bulawayo - as shown by the results of the 2008
council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential elections in which
Sibanda and almost the entire leadership of the Arthur Mutambara led MDC
lost dismally. That they now stand in the forefront of Zimbabwe's politics
of national unity is testimony to the wicked machinations of former South
African president, Thabo Mbeki.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Daily Mirror of November 8, 2005, quoted
Sibanda - while campaigning for the controversial 2005 Senate election - as
saying: "Ndebeles can only exercise sovereignty through creating their state
like Lesotho, which is an independent state in South Africa and it is not
politically wrong to have the state of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe."

Although the Daily Mirror was a daily newspaper, it took the group's
official spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi, speaking perhaps on Sibanda's
behalf, 10 days to undertake some damage control, through the Zimbabwe
Independent by merely saying: ". not only is the allegation untrue, it also
appears to be a deliberate attempt by the newspaper to fan ethnic tensions
in the MDC and the country as a whole".

Back to Sipepa Nkomo.

It is true that Nkomo may be totally unaware of the founding documents and
the main spirit behind the MDC as he is a recent arrival at the
organization, notwithstanding his meteoric rise, even after with Welshman
Ncube in October 2005 and returning to rejoin Tsvangirai early in 2006.

Tsvangirai must, therefore, be excused if he found himself completely
surprised by Nkomo's utterances in Lobengula this week. It appears they were
meant to camouflage some unclear agenda to steer himself away from dealing
with pressing water problems of Bulawayo, an assignment Nkomo must undertake
as a matter of urgency under his Johnny-come-lately political leadership.

Nkomo has known problems of political credibility, given the corrupt
activities for which he was forced to resign from the Mining Industry
Pension Fund where he was chief executive in 2000. He miraculously escaped
proper prosecution and possible conviction, given the abundance of published
evidence that could easily have nailed him. He was still in court over the
same case as recently as 2007. Nkomo's credibility issues also arise from
his dismal performance at Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe, publishers of
The Daily News, a newspaper which he arguably assisted then Information
Minister, Prof Jonathan Moyo to destroy within months of Nkomo's taking over
as chief executive officer of the company.

Nkomo became minister by default at the last in February Minister after MDC
president Tsvangirai was arm-twisted into dropping Eddie Cross from his
line-up of cabinet ministers through a campaign about representation of
Ndebeles orchestrated in online publications, especially The Zimbabwe Times.

In Lobengula this week Nkomo decided to speak about a matter that does not
concern his constituents in order to occupy them with a mundane agenda at a
time when 90 percent of those people are without work; they have no food;
inadequate medical care; no school fees; and no access to their democratic
rights because of Mugabe's dictatorship - which they rightly think are
priorities at the moment.

A separate state, federalism, devolution or outright secession is a warped
theory which has been spontaneously rejected time and again by the people of
Matabeleland and elsewhere in Zimbabwe. Older Zimbabweans will remember a
party led by Chief Kayisa Ndiweni before and after independence in 1980
which put up a spirited campaign for a federal state.

The party failed to obtain even a single seat in Parliament.

Bulawayo resident Paul Siwela has spent much of his adult life campaigning
for a federal state in which Matabeleland could achieve what is in his mind
a form of self-governing status. Siwela and his team have never won an
election either, whether on the city council or for the national
legislature. The people in this area dismiss him outright, with some even
suggesting that he could be mentally unhinged, allegedly.

The argument for Ndebele separateness or quasi-autonomy is not only common
currency among a few die-hard black tribalists in Matabeleland. White
Rhodesians always had a fondness for the "manly" and "loyal" Ndebeles, who -
according to eminent Zimbabwean historian Terence O Ranger - they contrast
with the "treacherous" Shona.

After the 1980 election, writes Ranger in his book Voices from the Rocks, p.
253/4, some Bulawayo-based ex-Rhodesians found it intolerable that
Matabeleland whites, together with the Ndebeles were to be under the rule of
the "Shona" and Harare. A pertinent example is that of Bulawayo dentist Dr
Frank Bertrand who in 1981 was prosecuted and convicted for pandering to
some strange fantasies designed to hive-off Matabeleland from Zimbabwe by
force.

Bertrand found himself embroiled in a fantastic conspiracy, which never
excited the Ndebele people, when he went to Entumbane Hills to appeal to the
spiritual powers of the late Princess Violet Khumalo whose powers Bertrand
thought could be used to induce former Zipra fighters to a rebellion.

Violet was a direct descendant of Lobengula, being a grand-daughter of
Famona, the daughter of Lobengula.

Many Zimbabwe have probably forgotten about Bertrand, but for the record, he
told the court: "We had tried all the orthodox techniques. We had failed. So
I tried to obtain the help of Princess Violet to obtain the state of
Matabeleland."

For his trouble Bertrand ended up in jail. Ndebeles, presumably including
Sipepa Nkomo, hardly recognized or noticed his efforts.

New Zimbabwe.com, the website that exclusively carried the Nkomo proposal,
quoted the water Resources Minister as saying the proposal had the backing
of Tsvangirai and his mainstream MDC party.

The Lobengula MP told a constituency meeting on Monday that the MDC would be
championing the proposals when the country draws up a new constitution. No
other MDC official has so far independently confirmed Nkomo's allegation.

It is arguable that Tsvangirai would be the last person to argue for
separate development, given that his grandmother "MaTshuma" was an Ndebele
in Buhera. Many may be unaware that two wards, together with their chiefs,
in Buhera North have been a natural home for Ndebele people since the late
1940s. The story is that they were moved from Lalapanzi, north-west of Mvuma
to make way for a white commercial farm. When the trucks that were taking
them further south ran out of fuel near what is called Gwebo Business Centre
today, they were dumped there and told to negotiate for asylum among the
local villagers.

That is how they came to be permanently settled there.

Equally arguable is the fact that Tsvangirai has proved himself that he is
not a tribalist. Five, out of seven, senior members of the inaugural
leadership of the MDC in February 2000 had Ndebele ancestry. They were the
vice president, secretary general, treasurer-general, organizing secretary
and information and publicity chief. No tribal balance-sheet was used here
to determine the type of leadership for the party. They were all Zimbabweans
with a mandate to direct the affairs of an alternative political party,
regardless of their places of family origin.

It is the same leadership, acting under secretary general Welshman Ncube,
that deserted Tsvangirai in October 2005 to form a breakaway MDC party,
which they later invited Arthur Mutambara to return to Zimbabwe and lead,
with quite predictably disastrous consequences.

Unless the situation has changed so radically, there is no way Tsvangirai
can agree with Sipepa Nkomo that the country be parceled out to various
groupings. Even Tsvangirai himself, a descendant of the Ndau-Msikavanhu-Save
clan, with roots along the Save River in the far south-east of Zimbabwe,
could easily find himself without a territorial claim if the Nkomo plan were
to become reality.

Zimbabweans have long moved away from ethnic out-bidding, score-settling and
traditional tribal identities, common two centuries ago. The people cannot
be seduced by the Nkomo idea - even if it may still appeal to some, today.
The idea is totally unnecessary and an unmanageable proposition.

Above all, it is not the policy of the MDC, contrary to Nkomo's claim.

"Here, we cry that we are marginalised," Nkomo told his constituents on
Monday. "The time is now to talk about regional governments."

But, truly speaking, Nkomo did do too badly in Harare. He landed the top job
of chief executive officer of the wealthy Mining Industry Pension Fund.
After he screwed that one up he miraculously landed the even more powerful
post of executive chairman of ANZ. He screwed that one up as well. Meanwhile
he had built a business empire of his own right in the centre of Harare. Now
that he is back in Bulawayo, after he abandoned his family in the capital
city, he complaints about being marginalised there.

Jonathan Moyo, hailing from the same Tsholotsho District as Nkomo, did not
perform too badly in Harare either. In quick succession he spearheaded
government's constitutional amendment campaign in 1999, then took charge of
Zanu-PF's election campaign before landing the most influential job of
Minister of Information.

He virtually became Mugabe Number Two. He was in charge of Zimbabwe
Newspapers, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Ziana and the Community
Newspapers Group. He appointed the nation's editors and influenced the
content of the main newspapers; that was apart from writing a regular and
vitriolic column of his own under the pen-name Nathaniel Manheru.

Far from being marginalised in Mashonaland, Sipepa Nkomo and Moyo, in fact,
marginalised many in both Mashonaland and Matabeleland. The fact that the
majority of Zimbabweans have poor memories does not mean that their victims
have all also forgotten.

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Zesa to resume meter readings

http://www.herald.co.zw

Monday, June 01, 2009

Business Reporter

ZESA consumers will start receiving electricity bills reflecting amounts
based on actual meter readings by end of this month.

Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has been
experiencing problems within its meter reading section resulting in
customers receiving estimated bills instead of actual bills since the
inception of foreign currency billing in February this year.

In a statement, the power utility said it was working towards improving the
situation and in the absence of bills, customers were urged to pay average
bills based on their actual bills.

The power utility has since dispatched meter readers and June bills will
reflect amounts due based on actual meter readings.

The company secured motor cycles for efficient and effective meter reading.

Meanwhile, customers can pay up to US$30 for high-density suburbs and US$40
for medium and low-density areas every month starting February until actual
bills are received.

Zesa reversed all foreign currency domestic bills for January and encouraged
customers to read their own meters and present their readings to their
nearest ZETDC customer service centres for actual bills.

Customers have been for some time complaining of the poor services being
offered by Zesa while the company was blaming consumers for not paying up
bills.

Zimbabwe generates power at Kariba South Hydro-Electricity plant and Hwange
Thermal Power Station.

Kariba produces 750 MW when operating at full capacity and Hwange generates
about 900 MW.

However, due to the recurrent breakdowns and coal shortages, Hwange is
producing less than 250 MW.

South Africa's power utility Eskom, cut electricity exports to Zimbabwe
owing to recurrent breakdowns at its power station.

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Chiadzwa deaths not linked to diamond mining - ZNA

http://www.herald.co.zw

Monday, June 01, 2009

Herald Reporter

THE death of four soldiers around Chiadzwa diamond fields recently was not
related to illegal diamond mining but misconduct, the Zimbabwe National Army
has said.

In a statement yesterday, army director of public relations
Lieutenant-Colonel Overson Mugwisi said investigations into the misconduct
were underway.

"The two reported incidents involving our soldiers that took place in the
Chiadzwa area are related to misconduct, which the army is investigating,"
he said.

"The deaths are not related to illegal diamond mining or any other nefarious
activities in the area," said Lt-Col Mugwisi.

Following the publication of the story of the death of the four last week,
there had been speculation the four could have been involved in diamond
deals.

Two were found shot under unclear circumstances two weeks ago. They have
since been identified as Private Gurure and Private Tshuma.

The other two died in suspected murder and suicide and are Lance Corporal
Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai.

Last week police said investigations to ascertain the causes of the deaths
were in progress.

Private Gurure and Private Tshuma's bodies were found lying about 400 metres
from a base established by security agents deployed to bring order to the
diamond fields about a fortnight ago.

Both Gurure and Tshuma had guns in their hands.

In the second incident, Lance Corporal Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai were part
of a detachment manning a roadblock between Mutare and Chiadzwa.

It is alleged that Lance Corporal Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai were involved
in a heated argument.

Lance Corporal Musonza is said to have been disarmed by Sergeant Pfavai. He
was given back his rifle a few hours later and then threatened to shoot his
colleague manning the roadblock.

Lance Corporal Musonza allegedly shot Sergeant Pfavai, who died instantly,
before turning the gun on himself. He died on the spot.

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Conversation on 'Points of light'OL initiative

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Mutumwa Mawere Monday 01 June 2009

OPINION: The challenges and opportunities that Africa faces and offers can
only be addressed and unlocked if a genuine attempt is made to bridge the
knowledge, capital and execution gaps that exist partly because of the
colonial legacy and more significantly because of an inherent inability of
many Africans to embrace and celebrate the seemingly insignificant progress
that has been witnessed in pre and post-colonial Africa.

I was not surprised that in response to my challenge ahead of Africa Day
commemorations on 25 May, Joram Nyathi, deputy editor of the Zimbabwe
Independent, chose to personalise the initiative by describing it as:
"Mawere's 'points of light' exercise in escapism".

This is a predictable and typical response of Africans to any public
discourse. The initiative is a self-standing one and should, therefore,
attract its own candid assessment without invoking my name. The choice of
the title is instructive as it seeks to undermine the entire project as an
exercise in futility.

In Nyathi's mind, any attempt to profile the lives and exploits of Africa's
sons and daughters is a form of escape from confronting the reality of
history. However, it must be accepted that the reality of the post-colonial
African experience has produced outstanding people in many fields of
endeavor and it would not be correct to characterise such exploits as any
form of escapism.

The role and place of role models in human civilisation can never be in
doubt. The importance of showcasing the best and brightest is, therefore,
self-evident. Human beings are influenced and inspired by others.

Nyathi makes the point that the reality of African history paints a dark
picture to the extent that it is irrelevant how many points of light can be
identified. He observes that the dark hand of neo-colonialism, among other
factors, has helped to undermine the African promise.

He concludes without offering an alternative that the "points of light"
initiative is not the way forward, if anything, it is condescending,
completely retrogressive and escapist.

Nyathi is not convinced that raising the canvass of African achievers will
add value to the nation-building project on the continent. Rather he
contends that such an initiative represents "surrender" when African success
stories are paired with the success stories of other nations. He makes the
point that: "But the very idea of listing our own heroes smacks of a return
to negritude politics, the black is beautiful matrix. In other words, when
the West boasts about its heroes, we can also show them that we have our
own, that Africa is the cradle of humankind that Egypt was the home of
science or that Jesus was black, etc. Is this a source of hope or escapism?"

It is evident to Nyathi that an African can only be a black person which
represents a viewpoint that may not be shared by all people who classify
themselves as African. Another viewpoint that Nyathi may not subscribe to a
viewpoint that embraces and celebrates the achievements of all the people of
Africa irrespective of their race, class religious beliefs, and gender.

It must be accepted that Africa has produced world-class brands and
outstanding personalities. Such brands anchored by Africa's rich mineral
resources include: De Beers, Anglo American Corporation, Gold Fields etc.

The diamonds that led the late Cecil John Rhodes to establish De Beers were
made by God and hidden in the country's belly. There may be an argument that
the diamonds belong solely to the people who are fortunate to live in the
area in which they are found while forgetting that more is required to
identify and exploit such resources.

Should Rhodes, for example, be included on the list? There is no doubt that
Nyathi would argue that he should not. It is common cause that Rhodes lived
in Africa and benefited from the colonial dispensation and in fact he
represented what may be described as the most unacceptable face of
colonialism and capitalism. His success and that of many of his fellow
Randlords can easily be reduced to a direct consequence of unjust
colonialist policies.

One can argue that if Rhodes never existed, a company like De Beers would
have been formed anyway. In fact, it may be simplistically argued that by
Rhodes setting up De Beers he deprived black South Africans of a real
opportunity. However, it is important to acknowledge that no one can be
deprived of something that they do not see or hold. The diamonds in question
were hidden and needed capital and knowledge to identify and exploit them.

The effort to convert a resource that is resident in the geology of a
country into a commodity that can be exchanged for cash requires an
investment. However, knowledge and capital without the resources will not
produce a commodity that can be exchanged for value.

Africa's points of light need not exclude anyone who has added value to the
African cause. In identifying such individuals one has to appreciate that
they need not be saints but it is important that we attempt to identify an
aspect of their lives that should be celebrated.

Nyathi also has a problem with the expression "a point of light". He makes
the point that: "There can be no better homage to the concept of Africa as a
dark continent than to see only irregular "points of light" out of thousands
of its sons and daughters trained at great expense to the taxpayer. I would
have thought that it was in Europe, the US and Canada and Australia that
Africa's emigrant workers represented as points of light!"

The expression "point of light" was chosen for different reasons than what
Nyathi thinks. Human beings are privileged in that they can leave a legacy.
Each human being makes a difference to life. There must be point in each
human life but what is undeniable is that in life some individuals have more
impact on life than other people. It is only through the actions of human
beings that the future is shaped.

South Africa may be smaller in size to countries like the DRC and Nigeria
but with a white population of 5 265 300 and over 1 500 000 households
residing in South Africa, it is the largest and most developed African
economy. The reasons behind the country's economic success must be
understood properly if the model is to be replicated by other African
states.

What explains South Africa's economic success story? Is it solely a result
of apartheid/colonialist policies? Is it a result of the mineral wealth? Can
the DRC, for example, develop without the involvement of whites? Why has it
not been possible for countries with small white populations in Africa to
chart their own development agenda? Should Africans continue to blame the
past for the lack of progress on the continent?

What were the dreams of our forefathers? I should like to think that they
dreamt of a progressive and inclusive Africa. They must have dreamt of an
Africa free from poverty, corruption, and disease. Whose obligation is it to
make Africa the kind of continent that we want to see?

If white settlers who chose Africa as a home could build a little Europe in
Africa why has it been possible for the natives to be the change they want
to see. There can be no doubt that the colonial experience gave a good head
start to white Africans. However, it must be accepted that there are many
white people who have chosen Africa as a home after the end of colonialism
and yet have struck it rich. The continent continues to offer rewarding
opportunities to non-whites like Chinese and Indians who were not part of
the colonial experience and yet the main reason often used for lack of
advancement in Africa is that of white colonialism.

During the post-colonial/apartheid era, white Africans have continued to
prosper under black administrations. More importantly the disturbance, for
example, of less than 5 000 white farmers in Zimbabwe has produced a less
than desirable outcome. What is remarkable is that it is black Africans who
are electing to vote with their feet than white Africans who see nothing in
common between them and Europe.

There can be no doubt that former President Nelson Mandela is a "point of
light". He could have chosen to be a bitter populist but history compelled
him to look deeper in his soul to rise above the personal injuries that he
suffered and endured. He understood that any attempt to focus exclusively on
the past would not produce food on the table of South Africans.

He also had to acknowledge that South African citizenship was not
indivisible. South Africa is a Republic and one must accept that there is
only one class of citizenship. White and black South Africans are equal
before the law. By accepting the universality of citizenship, South Africa
has managed to attract more people who are willing to give up their
birthrights for South African citizenship.

South Africa has benefited from the creativity of its entire people
including the new citizens. Africa's future will and must be shaped by all
who can add value to the conversion of its resource endowments to tradable
goods and services. Such effort will require not just the input of people
who are born in Africa but people who may have the resources, capital and
knowledge that black people, who are in the majority, may not have.

I have no doubt that Nyathi will qualify as a "point of light". By choosing
to share his knowledge, I have no doubt that future generations will benefit
from the knowledge that our generation was seized with matters more
important than our personal welfare or stations in life. The conversation
must continue but to decide not to participate in the identification of
Africa's brand ambassadors i.e. "points of light" is one form of escapism
that must be avoided.

When I started reading Nyathi's article, I was encouraged that he at least
started the identification process and then surrendered. What is remarkable
is that his list excludes white Africans.

When one looks at the people responsible for producing goods and services
that dominate African markets as well as those responsible for generating
foreign currency, it is evident that white people including those that are
not African are involved in the supply chain process. It is, therefore,
important to recognize all the people who add value to the African
experience lest we forget to celebrate the contribution of those that are
critical in bringing light to life irrespective of their race, class, gender
or religious beliefs.

It would, therefore, be a sad day if we chose not to listen to the whispers
of the future and not dwell with the ghosts of the past. There is nothing
one can do to change the past but there is a lot that we can do working
together to better understand what has kept Africa going and what is
required to expand the "points of light" so that Africa's daylight can offer
more hope than the dreams that we share during the night.

We need to know more about the people that we may classify as Africa's
enemies. By investing in the knowledge on the lives of, for example, the
Randlords we should be able to know that it is possible for anyone to scale
the heights if we choose to be less cynical and skeptical of any initiative
that can bring more light to the issues that often blind us as we seek for a
better life for all Africans. - ZimOnline

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Film takes closer look at African UFO 'Sighting'

http://news.bostonherald.com

By Benjamin Bell
Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Added 43m ago

This June, we are told, there will be space aliens in Cambridge.

The tale of these interplanetary travelers began in the fall of 1994, many
time zones from the Charles River, when John E. Mack, the late Pulitzer
Prize-winning Harvard psychiatrist famed for his controversial UFO writings,
took a trip to southern Africa.

Mack was looking into a claim by 60 elementary school children in Harare,
Zimbabwe, that an oval-shaped silver spacecraft had hovered above their
playground one day.

What's more, the kids said, a strange being some 4 feet tall, dressed in a
black uniform, with black eyes the size of rugby balls, approached them,
while a similar being stood atop the alleged UFO.

There was talk of empathetic chit-chat, and Mack said 12 of the children
gave consistent accounts of the event, leading him to believe it was not a
case of mass hysteria.

"Something strange happened to the group of children that left them with the
impression some form of sentient life cared about the Earth and cared about
the environment and even cared about the children," said Will Buech, a board
member of the John E. Mack Institute in Cambridge.

He said telepathic communication reportedly took place between the children
and the being during the 5- to 10-minute encounter. Now, 15 years later, the
episode is still being investigated.

On June 12, the Mack Institute will present an unfinished film called
"Encounter in Ruwa: The Ariel School Sighting," a compilation of interview
footage shot by Mack and new footage by a New York-based filmmaker, Randall
Nickerson, 42.

Mack was killed by a drunken driver in London in 2004.

"I have more research to do, but there is a lot of corroboration that tells
me something did happen," Nickerson told the Herald by e-mail.

"It does make one think for sure and ask what we are, as a young species,
possibly unaware of."

Naturally, there are plenty of people who doubt the incident occurred.

Among the doubters is Robert Sheaffer, 60, a 32-year veteran of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and author of the book "UFO Sightings: The
Evidence."

"The bottom line is that there is no evidence," he said of the case. "We don't
know what . . . pressure may have been placed on the children to tell the
stories the way they did."

Sheaffer said it's possible that the children, who had been left alone,
decided to pull a prank. He conceived of a scenario in which the older kids
in the group convinced the younger ones to go along with the "sighting,"
which was taken to the next level when the authorities became involved.

Nickerson says the film, which he hopes to complete later this year, will
feature interviews with some of the now-adult witnesses who are scattered
around the globe.

It will be up to viewers to decide whether the truth is out there.

"Encounter in Ruwa: The Ariel School Sighting" will screen June 12 from 7 to
9 p.m. at 38 Cameron Ave., Cambridge. Information at johnemackinstitute.org.

bbell@bostonherald.com

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