Letters to the Editor

The main purpose of my visit was to study the job market here and then go back and come back later to look for employment. I was met at Park Station by my nephew who had lived here for some time and his first words were (in Shona) Mazouyawo sekuru? Chero mabofu aona kuti hakuchagariki kwenyu uko [You have finally decided to come, uncle. Even the blind can see that your country is no longer inhabitable). Today Zimbabwean beggars are found in almost all taxi terminuses and other busy intersections in affluent suburbs of Johannesburg.

The country that used to be the bread basket of Southern Africa is now contemplating importing maize even from Malawi. Since when did Malawi, a mountainous country, which is almost one huge lake, gain a reputation as a maize producer?

Surprisingly, most Zimbabweans have recently been declared Malawians. I have a friend who was born in Zimbabwe, by a Zimbabwean mother (who is now late), educated and trained as a teacher in Zimbabwe, taught in Zimbabwe for five years before deciding to come to South Africa in 2007 using her Zimbabwean passport. Her passport expired in 2008.

When she tried to apply for a new one in 2010 she was told that she is a foreigner and has to go to Malawi first and denounce her citizenship because her father (whom she never knew) was from Malawi. She knows no-one in Malawi.

What kind of a country wastes state resources educating people and then declare them foreigners?

If I am not mistaken, in terms of good arable land, we are second only to Zambia in the SADC region. Its time for the region to act. You cannot get rid of cockroaches in your own house if the neighbours house is dirty.

The opposition parties have failed to deliver. Their policies and principles offer no change or solutions to the problems currently facing Zimbabwe. Their leaders have also declared themselves Life Presidents. What is needed in Zimbabwe is separation of State business from Party business, proportional representation in government and devolution of power. Of all the Political Parties currently flooding the political landscape in Zimbabwe, only ZAPU seems to be fighting for the people and not for the Presidency. When will Zimbabweans ever enjoy their political independence?

One day, our country will belong to everyone who lives in it, regardless of where their grandfathers came from. – Mpumelelo Ndlovu, South Africa

Dialogue is the way

EDITOR – Government should be proactive, lend an ear and be accommodative to its citizens’ voices particularly on devolution of power to provinces. Mthakazi is a case in point and not the Western Sahara or Niger Delta. Dialogue is the way to go. – M. Muda, Bulawayo

Zanu (PF) has hijacked ZAPU in SA

EDITOR – In what has left members of the opposition ZAPU party in South Africa baffled and shell-shocked, it has emerged that the partys leadership there has been hijacked by Zanu (PF).

Zapu, which under the chairmanship of Dubizizwe Joli had the most vibrant political presence in South Africa, held a controversial conference last month in which a new provincial executive council led by Dingilizwe Mpondo was voted in. The outcome of that election is still being hotly disputed by the majority of the party membership who argue that the Council of Elders rigged the plebiscite in favour of the Mpondo-led faction.

The alleged rigging is said to have taken several forms including the withholding of information about the date of the election from party members in the districts known to be opposed to Mpondos candidacy until just two days before the conference. This led to some delegates from the disapproved districts failing to attend the conference. Their proxies were also denied the right to vote on the behalf of their absent comrades by the partisan Council of Elders. This, together with the exclusion of Branch executives, youths and women, literally delivered the province to the Zanu (PF) agents.

Those with Zanu (PF) background clearly enjoy the trust and favour of members of the Council of Elders (most of them Zipra war veterans) who are also strategic as an Electoral Supervisors. The pro-democracy group which enjoys popular support is viewed with deep suspicion as they are perceived to be too radical for the comfort of party bigwigs.

The ZAPU party members are particularly riled by the double membership of Mpondo and most of his executive members and cronies who include Luke Sayi, Pretty Ncube and Ngqabutho Sibanda who have not resigned from Zanu (PF) up to now.

Mpondo, whose real surname is Nkomo from Lower Gweru, is a member of a Zanu (PF) economic empowerment forum whose patron is Saviour Kasukuwere, the Zanu (PF) Minister for Indigenization and Economic Empowerment.

The Business Forum is chaired by Ngqabutho Sibanda,a seasoned Zanu (PF) activist who is also a co-owner of Founders School in Pretoria with Mpondo and the two, together with their wives, are the Financial/Marketing and Academic Studies Directors respectively.

In a communication with Kasukuwere, Ngqabutho Sibanda, who also sits in the Zanu (PF) South Africa District as Coordinator of economic activities wrote:

Hon Minister, I am proud of you as the Minister responsible for Indigenization and Economic Empowerment but I have to request your assistance in our newly formed Business Forum. We need your wisdom.

In March Dingilizwe Mpondo wrote the following lines in praise of Zanu (PF) and the strategies that had to be adopted in dealing with the media in its presentation of Zanu (PF) as a violent party:

This is one of the best ways of winning in the Media Circles. U.S. Secretary of State said they are losing big time on media war to RT and Al Jazeera. Lets make sure they lose one against Zanu (PF) and the people of Zimbabwe. Our land our Pride.

Among the many planned activities of the Forum in its bid to promote Zanu (PF)s financial capacity and to fundraise for the party.

The last ZAPU provincial conference held on 20 March, 2011, at which Mpondo was elected chairman, was presided over by members of the Business Forum who included Mike Moyo who was the first Zapu South Africa interim security secretary before he resigned from the post citing conflict of interest as he claimed he had big business tenders with the Government of Zimbabwe.

What is particularly worrisome to genuine Zapu supporters is that the Zanu (PF) crew appears to be enjoying the trust of the senior party leadership who may not be aware that they are misplacing their confidence on elements bent on destroying the party.

Mpondos deputy, Thulani Dube, doubles as Chairman of a Zanu (PF) branch in Soweto. Luke Sayi, the chief strategist in the Mpondo group, is Emmerson Mnangagwas cousin from Silobela. On the recommendations of Mnanangwa, Sayi was recruited into the CIO in 1989 and sent for a scholarship in the USA that same year.

Where have you ever seen an opposition party which gets assisted in its fundraising efforts by members of the ruling party? Is it normal that an opposition party enlists the services of a genocidal ruling party-aligned business forum to conduct its internal elections? – Ntombizodwa Luphahla, Johannesburg