For more than a decade, the Bulawayo-born Thebe has taken many punches at home and in South Africa, where he has been exiled for the better part of the last 12 years, having fled political persecution alongside many other fellow MDC-T activists.
Throughout those ups and downs, one thing has remained unchanged – his dream to achieve a prosperous and politically stable Zimbabwe. “There was a time when almost everyone was proud of being called a Zimbabwean, when political unrest and hunger were only read of in newspapers and seen on television in other countries,” Thebe said in a recent interview.
“In those days, we were happy that we were not born in countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Mozambique or Angola, which were torn apart by civil war and hunger. But the wheel has turned and Zimbabwe has become a producer of more refugees than some of those countries. That pains me.”
To show his love for his country and its people, Theba became his brother’s keeper in the Diaspora, receiving and assisting those who had just been displaced by Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 and the multitudes displaced by political violence in 2008.
His work with the humanitarian organisation Southern African Women’s Institute for Migration Affairs, which provided shelter, paralegal and counselling services and food vouchers on a voluntary basis to refugees in Johannesburg, is well-documented. He was also influential in the formation of the Southern Africa Men Against Women Abuse, after realising the need for men to take a frontline stance against domestic violence and other forms of gender imbalance.
“I am the kind of a person who believes that life cannot be complete if your countryman sleeps on an empty tummy and violence flares in the next household every day,” explained Thebe.
“I am glad that, despite them remaining in the foreign land, where they are called derogatory names, my countrymen still managed to have a few nights’ sleep and got something to get them going till they found somewhere to settle.”
When the migration crisis caused by political violence subsided, Thebe began to get involved back home, where his heart still remained, taking up charity and social cohesion programmes as a way of trying to re-build his community.
His vehicle was Peace Makers – a humanitarian organisation he formed to spearhead social cohesion and initiate development in Bulawayo’s high-density suburbs.
He worked with youth members of the MDC and community leaders in the city to donate equipment for social unity, bringing residents together through street soccer tournaments, debate forums and prayer vigils. He also donated basics like shoes and soccer balls to the elderly and the youth.
“I could not remain in exile forever because my country is still crying out for my services, so I had to return home and do something,” said Thebe, who studied Peace Building and Monitoring and Action for Conflict Transformation during his days in exile.
His biggest dream now is to join the vanguard of those spearheading development from the front by being a lawmaker.
“I have lived my life as an ordinary resident, activist and exile, but all that has been done with the most downtrodden members of the society, whose real problems I now know and, with empathy, I know they can be solved.”
Thebe’s biggest ambition is to further pursue his peace building programmes to end political violence that has eaten into society and destroyed communities.
“Political intolerance has been a major hindrance to social cohesion and economic development in most parts of the country, so my biggest task will be to end that,” he added.
“I would also fight for the economic emancipation of our people. I believe in a free-market economy because it rewards hard work, creates jobs and maximises human potential. Standards of living need be alleviated through the provision of income-generating projects that include the revival of sound cooperatives business models for women and the youth.
“I would also lure businesspeople to invest and support existing businesses and improve service delivery through ensuring that national and local authorities urgently respond to people’s needs.”
With elections expected sometime this year, Thebe advises members of the Diaspora to return home or assist from their bases.
“We may be enjoying life in the Diaspora, but there is no place like home, so we need to shape our country’s future now. We cannot all be politicians, but we can assist in rebuilding our country through investing, or courting investors by marketing it.”
Post published in: Africa News