Yes, I am presumptuous enough to think what I and many of my colleagues wrote made a difference to what happened in Polokwane. At the very least we raised our voices, and there was still a political party willing to stand up to its own leader.
But sometimes I just think Zimbabweans allowed Mugabe too long a reign. The arguments were the same as the ones advanced for a Mbeki third term  uncle Bob was Zimbabwe’s philosopher king. We even sent a delegation that came back praising one of their elections  despite the clear violence that Mugabe’s thugs used against his opponents. Already there are allegations that the ruling party has printed millions of extra ballot papers. As an MDC spokesperson put it, this election is not going to be lost by beating up, locking up and even killing opponents. It is going to be lost through the computer.
I thought the Zuma camp were just being difficult when they insisted on a manual count of the ballots at Polokwane. They knew better than the Zimbabweans how to stop dictators dead in their tracks.
We must bear a great deal of responsibility: with the support of our government Zimbabwe became the most tragic example of how racial nationalism can literally bring a country to its knees, and its monstrous leader can take a bow to thunderous applause. Sheer madness, if you ask me. But true nonetheless. I have no wise words for Zimbabwe, just a prayer.
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