Though I was born in 1973, and was only seven years old at Zimbabwe’s birth in 1980, the faint nostalgic memories of my Rhodesian experience shows that those were better days than what we have today in this so-called ‘Independent’ Zimbabwe.
In fact, I had a better standard of life in my first seven years of life than what son – who was born in 2003 – had.
In our Rhodesian household there were never any shortages of our needs: we had all the food we needed (plus the luxuries), the accommodation was freely provided for by the company my parents worked for, both my parents had cars, and when I started school in 1979 – my fees were taken care of by the company.
We could afford certain luxuries, as holidaying, and eating out.
The company that my parents worked for paid them comfortable wages, on time every time, including guaranteed annual and production target bonuses.
In my one year of schooling in Rhodesia, my school had plenty of books, stationery, and good standard learning and sporting facilities.
The area we resided also had well functioning shops, recreational facilities and other amenities.
One reading this article would think that I am bragging about my highly educated rich family, living in some lavish suburb – but, it is quite the opposite.
We lived in the high density township of Torwood in Redcliff, my mother has a Standard 6 education, and father only got to Form 2.
Nevertheless, with that Standard 6 education, she qualified to be a nurse, and my father was a trained teacher – although, during those years he had been blacklisted by the Rhodesian government for his political activities, and found jobs here and there in various companies.
As such, my parents – by those days’ standards – were struggling, and at the periphery of the economic life of Rhodesian society – which is why my father was a very vibrant anti-Rhodesia activist.
However, by today’s standards – in an ‘Independent’ Zimbabwe – that ‘poverty’ now seems like ‘heaven on earth’, and I can not help but reminiscent about those days.
Even my fiercely pro-Mugabe father was now having very serious doubts about this ‘Independence’ by the time he passed away in the year 2000.
Additionally, all those that I talk to, who lived through those Rhodesian days, have the same testimony – that things were better during those days than what the ZANU PF government has done.
It would be disingenuous of me to whitewash the obvious oppression and atrocities committed by the Rhodesian government against the majority of the population – including, my own father’s blacklisting – but then, what has changed in ‘Independent’ Zimbabwe?
What testimony would today’s seven year old tell his or her children in 37 years time – if they even manage to reach that age, due to a paralyzed medical system and moral decadence?
They will tell of the complete running down of a once vibrant country by an embarrassingly incompetent kleptomaniac and repressive government – which failed just to maintain what was already there.
There will be stories on the inability of their parents to buy the very basic food stuff, buy decent clothes for them, or even pay rent – resulting in a whole family of 5 staying and sleeping in one room.
All this as a result of pathetic salaries, or even their nonpayment, and company closures.
They will tell about schools that did no have any books, whereby, their already overburdened parents were expected to buy every single book and piece of stationery.
Even though Rhodesia had only one university and a few schools for the so-called African Education, those schools were well-equipped and of a far higher standard than today’s 11 or so universities, and numerous schools.
Such is so evident in that I strongly believe that my Standard 6 mother had better nursing training than today’s medical staff.
So what is the point in the government bragging about the number of schools they built, yet producing lower standard material.
Actually, I still have the textbooks that were used in primary schools in Rhodesia’s ‘White schools’.
A few years ago, I lent a Grade 5 textbook to my nephew (who was in the same grade), who then showed it to his teacher, and she told him not to use high school material!
Furthermore, there will be stories about how their parents died due to the unavailability of the most basic of drugs in the country’s health sector.
Our children will give testimony on how they never saw water coming out of a tap, or how they have never seen the shower working, as there was never any tap water.
They will tell how urban families had to divide their daily schedules between going to work, fetching water from the nearest borehole, searching for firewood, and then the typical household chores of cooking, laundry and cleaning the house – something that was only associated with rural areas in Rhodesia.
An ‘Independent’ country, whereby, there are no opportunities for any other career except to go into farming.
I could go on and on, but this is a story that every Zimbabwean clearly knows.
I feel sorry for those born in Zimbabwe, as they are born in a land of suffering and abject poverty – without any opportunity for growth – and, indeed, I was born in Rhodesia, and very proud of it!
° Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice activist, writer, and author. Please WhatsApp/call: +263782283975, or email: tendaiandtinta.mbofana@gmail.com
Post published in: Featured
Sadly, Tendai, your story is echoed all over Africa. The citizens of every one of Africa’s 54 nations are worse off now than under colonialism. And the proof is that the income gap between Africans and Westerners is 300% wider
now than in 1960.
In Zimbabwe the picture will be even worse because as late as 1980, Zimbabweans on Independence had probably the highest standard of living and best education in Africa. In that short time, it has sunk to almost bottom of the table.
There is absolutely no intrinsic reason for this because the gap in lifestyle between Africans and Westerners could and should have been closing rapidly by now – except for an unholy alliance between corrupt African governments, Western aid & development and Western MNCs. Because it has been in all their self-interests to keep Africans in extreme poverty.
What a great and honest testimony! A stark comparison told by black “Rhodesian” about what was then and what is now in an “Independent” Zimbabwe. Unfortunately Zimbabwe will never regain those glorious days, it may improve with a new political dispensation but will never be that beacon of “second world standards” on a third world continent.
I have a very different story about the early years of Zimbabwe. I was born in December of 1969 and started school in 1976. Your story is inaccurate, especially for the first 10 years of independence. I didn’t see much of a difference in the standard of living and education between 1976 to when I finished O level. I got a job right away and did my A level through correspondence, at the UZ. The ruling party (Robert G. Mugabe made sure every child goes to school. Zimbabwe saw more black kids going to school, and we had new books and everything during that stretch. Zimbabwe became the most literate country in Africa through that same stretch and remains atop all African nations. Things got bad in Zimbabwe beginning of the 90s, by then, however, I had move to here, the USA. I don’t know what happened after then because my first visit back to Zimbabwe was in 2011.
Correction, ‘I had moved to here, the USA.’