I hope I find you well, dear comrade!
The developments in Africa are exciting and at the same time very challenging. The African youth has found its voice and courage to stand up against despotic regimes across Africa: Zimbabwe is one of those countries that have never really enjoyed Uhuru. I quote you: Mnangagwa has “nothing to offer at all”, you said. You are dead, right? However, calling for a ground-breaking revolution in Zimbabwe needs careful preparations: if not, it can cause great disturbances in the southern African region. Conditions that disfavors’ a revolution in Zimbabwe are disparaging in relation to countries north of us, different from Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria. There is no formidable opposition on the ground, firstly. Do you really think a posh leader of the moulds of Chamisa can stage a revolution? Much as Nelson Chamisa wants an all-out demonstration in Zimbabwe, he wants it done without him. Chamisa will not be in the mix of rough roughs in the streets: he is too posh. Chamisa cannot afford to leave the bubble of Highlands of Harare. Again, Chamisa does not convince anyone how he is going to bring change in Zimbabwe under CCC leadership. He is an advocate but with scant knowledge and understanding of general and constitutional law. To talk about government fiscal cash flows and how they will benefit the poor, is to ask too much from him. Chamisa still imagines himself in Carrol Lewes’s story of Alice in Wonderland, with an antidote of self-entitlement.
Let me walk you through the current political changes in Sudan. The people braved it to kick out Al Bashir from presidency, there were no plans whatsoever on the ground, what his replacement would be like. The war in Sudan has been going on for years, mainly because the revolution was sporadic and unplanned: the critical mass was reached, yes, but without careful organization of future replacement: what the demonstrators knew existed and wanted to take were bales of money and alcohol in Al Bashir’s residence. (Our African leaders do not trust their own institutions e.g. banks to keep their ill-gotten wealth.) Tell us about Phala Phala bank account made between Ramaphosa with his mattresses. The Sudanese people successfully managed to get the president kicked out of power and bales of money in his residence were looted, the situation became very chaotic after plan-A was exhausted; there was no plan-B. I do not want to teach rosary prayer to the Pope: Malema you must know how planned demonstrations meant during the apartheid times, bloody but successful.
I am emphasizing the importance of careful planning of revolutions especially in Africa. You are telling us; we must rise and claim what belongs to us by right of citizenship. Even Karl Marx in his “Das Kapital” maintained the importance of the intelligentsia in any revolution Zimbabwean’s intelligentsia is in South Africa in millions. They are also migrants in UK, USA, New Zealand, Australia, and other English-speaking countries on Earth. Who is going to advise the masses what to do and say at every curve of the revolution? I would advise you to carefully follow the revolution in Kenya and Nigeria. It is my strong belief that Nigeria will be successful earlier than Kenya for many reasons. The demographics speaks for them: remember Nigeria has a population of over 250 million. Going out to demonstrate in great numbers is very effective and it threatens the government of Nigeria. Both countries; Kenya and Nigeria, judging by their intelligent social media discussions will inform that the educated middle-class is present and effective in bringing about a successful change they want to see. The political caliber and content of discourses in both countries are enviably advanced: what is not the case in Zimbabwe. The leadership in these countries know what do at every curve whereas Zimbabwe has no leadership to give such ground-breaking demonstrations. Forget the CCC leadership for once! They have become our Achilles hill, to live with it for the coming generations.
The Sahel region needs to stabilize first. The war in Sudan is still going on with no signs of a ceasefire: Ethiopia and Tigray are still on their throats; in Kigali, Kagame openly threatened an all-out-war with DRC. Remember not long ago, in Eswatini, the people nearly overthrew the Eswatini Kingdom: an action that spilt over to South Africa, triggered by the incarceration of Jacob Zuma. These chain reactions are commendably good if there is leadership on the ground: however, Zimbabwe does not have.
Again, we have a segment of learned Zimbabweans who have just lost it. They are pushing for a leadership ascendency of Vice President Dr. Chiwenga, even worse than Mnangagwa: He can barely read and write but somehow, wholly unexplained adequately, he holds a doctorate degree. (Grape vines say it was written for him) It is not clearly explained why the educated elite in Zimbabwe are pushing for his presidential ascendency: are they budgeting on his doctorate degree? This is how screwed we are in this northern neighborhood of South Africa, dear Sello. However, I strongly believe a revolution should come from within: internal forces must organize and not external dictate the course of a revolution. You meant well, telling us to rise, remove the despotic Mnangagwa. No revolution can ignite by external forces alone. Something extra ordinary must happen inside Zimbabwe to echo an external force assisting us to rise.
Dr. Chiwenga is painfully weak against his adversary Mnangagwa, but lethal when he deals with common people without guns on their hands. I still do not understand how a ruthless man like Chiwenga, without fatherly instinct; how he treated his former wife Merry like his backside, how he looted billions of country’s diamond revenues together with his tribesman Robert Mugabe could suddenly become the best foot forward to take over from Mnangagwa. To put it kindly, to suggest Dr. Constantino Chiwenga as replacement for Mnangagwa is tired thinking, bereft of enlightenment and everything that is progressive. There is a vast difference between building a primary school in Matabeleland to please Chiwenga’s newly found Ndebele in-laws, successfully, and to manage complex fiscal synergies of a country, Zimbabwe.
Dear Malema, there is no critical mass to stage a revolution in Zimbabwe. If at all, it can turn out to be a regional disaster. Zimbabwe has had several favourable situations that could have triggered a revolution on the ground. It never happened because the critical mass that could have staged such a revolution are in your country, South Africa and in millions I can say truly in Zimbabwe we are really screwed. Not to be pessimistic, miracles happen, still happen; it can be miracles that can bring change in Zimbabwe.
Yours truly,
Nomazulu Thata
Post published in: Featured
Your letter was going to be meaningful and relevant if it was not motivated by personal hatred of individuals: Chamisa is no longer the leader of any political part worse still the CCC. So I don’t know how you are still referring to him in your arguments to evidence the readers that there are no organised opposition leaders, leaving out the real leaders of the opposition D. Mwonzora, Sikhala, Ngarivhume, W. Ncube, and the ZAPU leader, as well as those in the POLAD. With your level of education and of understanding of world politics portrayed in your letter, i would not expect you to stoop yourself to the level far below an ordinary citizen living in the remotest part of this country – by picking a non-political leader into the Centre of opposition politics failure, while neglecting real players.
Your letter instead of sending useful advice, has sent useless personal hatred of Chamisa, and I hope this hatred is not derived from tribalism. Instead you could have dissected how the opposition is weakened by state institutions like police, army, zec, judiciary systems, parliament, relevant government ministries, faz .
Your letter is one such a course of failure to the successes of opposition politics in Zimbabwe.