Human flight makes voters’ roll irrelevant

to arrive for work and their colleagues said they had left Zimbabwe for South Africa.
If this is indicative of what is happening in business then the human flood predicted as a consequence of this present situation is well and truly under way. The wage freeze will accelerate this in the next couple of months.
The talks in South Africa continue – progress is reported but it is very slow. I am quite sure that an agreement will emerge from this process eventually. The problem is that if nothing is done to rein in what the Joint Operations Command is doing and was planned after the decision was taken to bring the elections back to March 2008, we will be unable to run any sort of campaign and the electorate will be totally dislocated well before the elections take place.
The present movement of people will render the voters’ roll (already inflated with millions of dead and absent voters) completely irrelevant. It will be impossible to determine who lives in the wards and constituencies. The food shortages are another issue – this is placing all primary services directly under the control of the State to be directed on a political basis when required. The political repression on the ground with ongoing violence and intimidation, the arbitrary arrests and detentions of any who oppose the regime in any way simply strengthen that situation.
A free and fair election (the objective of the SA/SADC initiative) seems to be a remote possibility no matter what agreement is reached in South Africa unless the issue of the overall environment for the elections is addressed. The other issue is the possible impact on South Africa of this new wave of human flight. I have seen recent stories claiming that the extent of the existing Zimbabwean population in South Africa is exaggerated. I do not think so – in fact it is probably understated. When I visit South Africa I find I can speak Shona in most places.
One of the managers at the De Beers diamond mine 68 kilometres from Musina said to me last week that they see dozens of Zimbabweans every day on their way through the area of the mine. The whole border is a porous line over which people are finding their way every day – most (80 per cent) are not caught and sent back. Any suggestion by South Africa that they will grant these economic refugees some sort of status will simply exacerbate the situation.
Furthermore, if nothing is done to curb the present price control operation and halt the slide into bankruptcy by the majority of firms presently operating in Zimbabwe in order to prepare them for take over by Zanu (PF) and State interests, then serious, long term damage will be done to the entire business sector with long term implications. From every perspective – humanitarian, economic and political as well as the immediate stability of the region as a whole, this situation must be addressed urgently.