On arrival at the Government Complex, the group of approximately 200 sat down outside the gates whilst a delegation of four elderly women went in to request that the Regional Department Heads of all the service departments come out and address the crowd on what is being done to alleviate the humanitarian crisis facing the country.
The group sat peacefully waiting to be addressed for 45 minutes before five riot police approached the group. Two leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, were arrested and taken to Drill Hall, which is across the road from Mhlahlandlela. The rest of the group were forcibly dispersed by being beaten with baton sticks. At least one member is receiving medical attention for the beating she received. Williams and Mahlangu were later taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station, where they are currently being held.
It appears that a group of seven women were arrested before the demonstration began as they were sitting waiting for the signal to start.
They were apparently sitting near some black market foreign exchange dealers and were arrested along with them. They have also been taken to Bulawayo Central Police Station. Lawyers are still trying to verify reports that the group had been beaten inside Bulawayo Central.
The peaceful protestors had begun their march near the High Court and processed several blocks to Mhlahlandlela, singing and handing out flyers to passers-by who rushed out into the street to receive them. A copy of the newsletter with the group’s demands has been included below.
The demonstrators also paused at two intersections to sit down whilst chanting in Ndebele – ‘ayihlale phansi ihambe umthetho’ (sit down and maintain discipline). As during their last demonstration two weeks ago, this was sang both as a way to ensure that the activists maintained non-violent discipline and also as a message to politicians to sit down and respect the deal. Other songs sang include a WOZA favourite – ‘this is an issue that men are failing to solve’.
The protest was further to a previous peaceful protest on 29 September where the theme was ‘actions speak louder than words’. The political impasse continues a month after the power-sharing agreement was signed and the crisis facing people in their daily lives deteriorates dramatically every day. The power-sharing deal mentions grave concern for the humanitarian crisis facing people and yet still nothing has been done. People and children are dying of starvation whilst the politicians continue to talk.
WOZA therefore continues to demand immediate action regarding the formation of a new government that will begin to work on solving urgent social issues, like food, electricity and water. Recognising that the situation in the country is now a national disaster we also demand that ALL Zimbabweans receive access to food aid and also seed and agricultural inputs.
In other news, both groups of members facing trial this week have been removed off remand. On Tuesday 14th, the decision on the application for review of the case of Cynthia Ncube and Trust Moyo was not ready. Whilst the decision from the High Court is pending, they were removed off remand.
The ‘Chikurubi 14’ due to face trial in Harare Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday 15th, were also removed off remand. The docket was not available and although the State tried to insist that they were ready for trial and were trying to get the group further remanded for trial, the Magistrate upheld the resolution that she had made on 26th August that if the trial did not take off on the 15th October, the group would be removed off remand.
We also ask that you call Bulawayo Central Police Station on +263 9 72515,
61706 or 63061 and ask for the immediate release of all WOZA members including Williams and Mahlangu and that they not be mistreated in custody.
More details will be given as they become available.
16 October 2008
For more info, please contact Annie Sibanda on +263 912 898 112 or email info@wozazimbabwe.org or visit www.wozazimbabwe.org
The newsletter being handed out by the protestors reads as follows:
Indira Gandhi once said, “You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.” Was she talking about Zanu PF?
AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE TO:
1.   PRINCIPALS: Robert Mugabe/Arthur Mutambara/Morgan Tsvangirai
2.   Mediation Team led by Thabo Mbeki
3.   Southern African Development Community Chairman/President South
Africa Kgalema Motlanthe
4.   African Union Chairman/ Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete
Dear Sirs,
WE DECLARE A NATIONAL DISASTER AND DEMAND FOOD FOR ALL ZIMBABWEANS Â
You all signed an agreement on 15 September 2008 with lots of taxpayer’s money being used to feed all the delegates. Now you are meeting again and spending lots of money feeding the same people all over again, they sleep with full stomachs while our children starve. You said this was an ‘African solution to African problems’ but Africans are dying slow and painful deaths through starvation. You wrote in your deal that you were gravely concerned but these were empty words. Today we have lost patience. We demand FOOD, SEED and FERTILISER; this is now a national disaster. Zimbabweans both in rural areas and in the city are starving, the rains are coming but we have nothing to plant. Â
In the agreement preamble it states that you are “CONCERNED about the well-being of our people”. THESE WORDS ARE EMPTY JUST LIKE OUR STOMACHS.
You said you “ACKNOWLEDGE the sacrifices made by thousands of Zimbabwe’s gallant sons and daughters in the fight against colonialism and racial discrimination and determined to accept, cherish and recognise the significance of the Liberation Struggle as the foundation of our sovereign independence, freedoms and human rights.”
IS STARVATION THE WAY YOU ACKNOWLEDGE OUR SACRIFICES? WHEN WILL YOU SACRIFICE POWER FOR THE LOVE OF THE SUFFERING PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE?
Â
You agreed “COMMITTING ourselves to putting our people and our country first by arresting the fall in living standards and reversing the decline of our economy.”
You have put yourselves first and us last! Inflation is in the billions, the economy has collapsed. We are being told to buy food in Rand currency and yet we live in Zimbabwe. Even if we have money in the bank, we cannot get cash and it is even more impossible for us to get foreign currency. What happened to your commitment? Did Police misunderstand the word ‘arrest’ and put ‘Living standards’ in jail thinking it is the name of an opposition activist?
You said “RESPECTING the rights of all Zimbabweans regardless of political affiliation to benefit from and participate in all national programmes and events freely without let or hindrance.”
We are therefore demanding a national food relief programme. How many more Zimbabweans must die before you act? We are human beings needing a balanced diet and cannot survive on green vegetables like animals. We have lost patience with your kind of ‘African solution’. THIS IS A NATIONAL DISASTER AND WE DEMAND FOOD FOR ALL ZIMBABWEANS NOW.
Woza Moya
Signed by WOZA members for the people of Zimbabwe
P.S. If Police officers arrest us or beat us as we make our demand, you must take it as another sign of your empty promises for a violence free Zimbabwe and an unfortunate African solution to silence and disrespect citizens.
Post published in: News