Tendai Ruben Mbofana
This is on account of the establishment of a new political party to counter the governing ANC.
As much as there may ordinarily be nothing inciting excitement about the formation of a new opposition entity in South Africa – as this is quite a common occurrence – there was something unique this time around.
In December 2023, some veterans of the South African liberation struggle – uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) – announced the establishment of a political party of the same name.
MK was the military wing of the ANC during the apartheid era.
In announcing the new formation, these former combatants alleged that the ANC had since betrayed the ideals of the liberation struggle.
As a result, the government had failed to improve the livelihoods of ordinary South Africa’s – most of whom remain in abject poverty nearly 30 years after freedom was attained.
The country has been riddled with massive corruption, especially by top government officials – who have amassed incredible wealth for themselves, at the expense of millions of impoverished South Africans.
Yet, the fight for liberation was premised on values of equality and the equitable distribution of wealth.
What I found quite intriguing about his entire issue is that we in Zimbabwe are facing nearly identical challenges as those in our southern neighbor.
We also fought a grueling protracted war of independence against colonial rule in the 1960s and 70s – leading to uhuru in April 1980.
This struggle was similarly founded on values of equality and the equitable distribution of wealth – as opposed to the colonial system, which was characterized by racial injustices.
Thousands of young men and women (who were really just boys and girls, to be more accurate) sacrificed virtually everything, including their own lives, for these ideals.
However, what we have witnessed over the past 43 years after the attainment of independence has been a far cry from the principles for which these gallant men and women fought.
In simple terms, the struggle for Zimbabwe’s independence was hijacked by a cabal that had no interest whatsoever in improving the livelihoods of the ordinary citizenry.
As much as ZANLA (as the MK in South Africa) was the military wing of the now ruling party ZANU PF, the organization always appeared to stand firm by the ethos of the struggle more than their counterparts in the political arm.
That is why there were always some serious disagreements and divisions even during the war for independence – as military commanders as General Josiah Magama Tongogara felt the struggle had been hijacked by self-serving greedy individuals.
It has widely been reported that Tongogara was most suspicious of then leader Robert Gabriel Mugabe and his hangers-on like current president Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa.
He saw through their charade of fighting for the people – yet, only interested in power and personal glory.
As a matter of fact, during the 1979 Lancaster House negotiations for Zimbabwe’s independence, in London, Tongogara is said to have pushed for the two liberation movements (ZANU and ZAPU) to contest the 1980 elections under one banner (the Patriotic Front).
In so doing, ZAPU leader Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo would be the leader – who was considered the more authentic revolutionary – as opposed to Mugabe and his caboodle.
To be expected, Mugabe was livid!
This is why it is suspected, Tongogara ended up dead in a most dubious car crash, only a few days after the Lancaster House conference.
He was on his way back from ZANLA military bases in Mozambique to Zimbabwe to announce the agreed ceasefire to combatants on the ground.
It was then no surprise at all that our post-colonial leaders never prioritized the welfare and well-being of ordinary citizens.
The shameful hallmark of the ZANU PF regIn n me has been tainted by massive corruption, looting of national resources, and the barbaric crackdown of any dissenting voices.
As a result, a once prosperous ‘jewel of Africa’ was, seemingly overnight, turned into a disgraceful basket case.
As we speak today, a local currency that was once stronger than the US dollar before independence now hovers around an unbelievable ZW$12,000 to the greenback on the more used black market.
The official exchange rate is not something to be proud of either – as one US dollar goes for ZW$6,000.
This economic instability is predominantly blamed on the corruption-inspired overprinting of the local currency in order to feed the black market where those aligned to power profit immensely.
What we then find is an inflation rate that is reportedly one of the highest in the world – meaning that most basic commodities are out of the reach of the majority of ordinary Zimbabweans.
In fact, about 47 percent of Zimbabweans are classified by the UN as living in extreme poverty, whilst at least two-thirds of the workforce earn below the poverty datum line.
What are we to expect when most employees now take home less than US$150 a month, as pensioners get as little as US$15?
At the moment, it is actually estimated that 5 million Zimbabweans, both in urban and rural areas, are facing insufficient food consumption, according to the WFP (World Food Program) HungerMap Live.
The rural Livelihoods Assessment Report projects that more than 2.7 million people in the countryside are facing hunger in 2024.
This is the meltdown people like Tongogara foresaw occurring in independent Zimbabwe at the hands of the leaders he personally knew as selfish, crooked, and murderous.
Now, we live in a county with public hospitals lacking even the most basic medications (as paracetamol), vital cancer machines, or functional ambulances, with a staff that is highly demoralized due to poor remuneration.
Our children do not have adequate educational material, whilst those in rural areas still lean in the open, under trees, while sitting on bricks!
Our towns and cities have been transformed into glorified rural villages – as there has not been any meaningful infrastructural development in water supply and road construction since 1980.
Our industries are screaming due to a volatile schizophrenic economy – compounded be a severe electricity crisis that can result in over 10 hours of darkness.
How can a country that has been independent for over four decades still mainly rely on antiquated colonial era power generation equipment?
I could go on and on, but the failures of the ZANU PF regime can never fit into one article that is supposed to be limited in length.
However, in all this, my question is: Where are the custodians of the liberation struggle?
What happened to those who valiantly fought for the people of this country to finally enjoy the wealth given them by God?
Where are those who stood against Zimbabweans being treated as second-class citizens in their own country when this still continues in ‘independent Zimbabwe’?
How can they merely watch as those in the ruling elite enrich themselves with our resources – as they live a life of opulence and pleasure, in the midst of an ocean of poverty?
It is common knowledge that there are some amongst the former fighters who have been incorporated onto the gravy train – who are enjoying this ill-gotten wealth.
Over the years, we have also even witnessed, in utter disbelief, as some of our erstwhile liberators led in the persecution and atrocities committed against those disgruntled with the oppressive kleptomaniac system.
Nevertheless, there have to be some remaining veterans of our war of independence who still subscribe to the original values and ethos of the struggle.
These people find themselves languishing in poverty, as the rest of ordinary Zimbabweans – who have been abandoned and discarded by the ruling elite.
Where are they?
Are they simply going to watch as the country for which they so bravery sacrificed is looted into oblivion?
At this rate, there will be nothing left for future generations.
What will be left when our gold is actually being delivered to homes of those in power, to be smuggled to countries as the UAE (United Arab Emirates)?
Is it not time that our living heroes and heroines of the struggle for Zimbabwe finally took charge as the custodians of what they fought for?
What happened in South Africa in December last year should serve as a good emulable example for what needs to be done here in Zimbabwe.
Of course, there could easily be, as so often happens in politics, a hidden agenda in this decision to form an MK party – what with the involvement of discredited corruption-riddled former president Jacob Zuma.
Nonetheless, this should never distract us from the principle and idea of genuine veterans of the struggle for Africa’s independence reclaiming their countries from the charlatans who took over power.
We now need veterans of the war for Zimbabwe’s independence to form a strong opposition to the cabal that hijacked our struggle.
These people who have run down our country need to be removed from power, through constitutional means, and the values and ethos of the struggle restored.
Only then, when we have in power, those who fully understand what this country and the value of our freedom really mean, will Zimbabwe move forward.
That is only when all ordinary citizens can finally enjoy the fruits of our independence – something we have never seen in the past 43 years.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. Please feel free to WhatsApp or Call: +263715667700 | +263782283975, or email: mbofana.tendairuben73@gmail.com, or visit website: https://mbofanatendairuben.news.blog/