Calendar marks days of suffering (21-12-06)

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IN JOHANNESBURG

Crisis in Zimbabwe’s media manager, Elinor Sisulu,
with Jacob Mafume, Zimbabwean human rights
lawyer and Crisis’ co-ordinator, at the launch of the 2007 calendar.

The Crisis in Zimbabwe coalition has launched a 2007 calendar, a record that speaks volumes about Zimbabweans’ suffering under the regime.

On the cover is a poem by Zimbabwean-born Dennis Brutus, Somehow We Survive. It describes how Zimbabweans toil each day through deprivation and loss, yet somehow they survive.

The cover also shows how vendors survive, as they fend for their children, constantly running because municipal police say they are not allowed to sell their wares in certain places.

Like all Zimbabwean-action organisations, Crisis believes another Zimbabwe is possible. “Zimbabwe has the unfortunate distinction of having the highest rate of inflation (over 1000%) and the lowest life expectancy (34 years for women and 37 for men). The vast majority of Zimbabweans are poorer today than they were a decade ago. The speed with which the Zimbabwean economy has declined in the last five years is unheard of outside a war situation.

“In fact, there is a war against the people – the government’s operation Murambatsvina destroyed the homes of over 700 000 people. With a “militarised government that rules through repressive laws, violence, silencing of the media and the denial of people’s rights to protest, Zimbabwe is indeed a country in crisis… but somehow we survive,” reads the statement on the calendar.

The calendar depicts the difficulties Zimbabweans are forced to endure. The month of June shows Zimbabweans alighting from a bus at a bus rank in South Africa, where a large number of the country’s population have been forced to travel either to trade or to seek refuge.

The month of September shows that although South Africa’s freedom has been achieved, Zimbabweans are not yet free. The picture shows the living conditions of Zimbabweans in the Methodist Church – the only church that has tried to accommodate the homeless Zimbabweans.

Launching the calendar, Elinor Sisulu (media manager of Crisis) said her organisation was prepared to use all platforms to fight for democracy in Zimbabwe.

“Zimbabwe is burning and as Crisis we will fight for democracy on all fronts. We will use artist and poet to speak more firmly and clearly to the Mugabe government. This calendar tells clearly the story of Zimbabwe and the need for democracy.”