I was watching South Africans on TV the other day demostrating
against Julius Malema, the ANCYL leader for uttering that he
would die for Zuma. Their argument was that he was regarding
Zuma like a little God and such over-zealous fanaticism from a
youth leader if allowed to take root threatens to encourage the
ANC youth league to oppose violently anyone who is against
Zuma and in so doing act against democracy.
I couldn't help but be impressed by these South Africans. Here
are a people who know what they want for their country, namely
democracy and are prepared to stand up bravely for what they
believe in (democracy) and not only speak out when it(democracy)
is threatened but also guard it (democracy) with actions.
How very different South Africans are from Zimbabweans?
Zimbabweans are just too passive, docile and cowardly
so much that they let politicians kick them left, right
and centre without uttering a word of protest or reacting
against the kicks. The man-made hyper-inflation that has
reached a world record high and caused an economic collapse
in the country is kicking Zimbabweans right there where it hurts
most and causing them to fly in the air from the kicks and then
land on hunger, starvation and poverty. Instead of speaking out
and protesting against the policies of the Reserve Bank governor
that have reduced most people to paupers with his unrealistic
bank withdrawal limits and his authorisation that businesses
charge their goods and services in US dollars and Rands, yet most
employees in the country are paid in Zim dollars, Zimbabweans just
allow him to do what he pleases. All you hear are useless reactions
like the Zimbabwean haves rejoicing over the fact that they can
now buy mayonnaise with their US dollars or Rands, whilst the
Zimbabwean have-nots cry wondering where they are going to get
US$10 or its Zim dollar equivalence to buy 10kgs of maize-meal.
This passivity and docileness really makes me wonder if we
Zimbabweans really know what we want for ourselves, our children's legacy,
and our country. If we did and really believed in it, why are we not
standing up bravely for it like what the South Africans do. Why are we
not speaking out for what we believe in, saying out what we want and
guarding jealously the legacy we can leave for our kids and our
grandchildren. Is this cowardice really lack of courage or it is a
cover of our selfish minds that can only think about what is good for
me and my family and not the greater good of the nation as a whole,
taking into consideration the disadvantaged.
Even if the Zimbabwean leaders agree on cabinet power-sharing there
is no guarantee that our lives will change to the better forever.
The change in our lives is only guaranteed if we learn to speak out and
stand up for what we believe to be the greater good of the nation. A
paradigm shift that kills passivity, docileness, selfishness and cowardice
is what Zimbabweans need.
I am going to post this article on the Motivated for Greatness social
network of mostly Zimbabweans of which I am a member and see if other members
are going to comment about it speaking out their thoughts concerning this
provocative and controversial article or see if they are going to passively
decide not to comment, afraid of saying anything political as usual.
Just wait and see if Zimbabweans on the Motivated for Greatness social network
are going to show their greatness by exercising their human right of freedom
of expression by responding to this article. If they do my article would
have managed to shift their minds, if they don't my article would have hit
a brick wall.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
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What really frustrates me about the economic situation here in Zimbabwe is that people are living in poverty yet they have a lot of money in their bank accounts. All because of one man, the RBZ governor, who is always lagging behind the increase in prices when setting up the bank withdrawal limits. His reasoning is that by keeping the withdrawal limit low he is keeping inflation in check but can't he see that that method of controlling inflation is not working at all. Prices are continuing to rise even if the daily bank withdrawal limit per person remains very low. If he where to let people withdraw 2million dollars a day the number of people suffering from hunger and starvation would be greatly reduced.
ReplyDeleteNot only is the Reserve Bank Governor's unrealistic maximum withdrawal limit driving us to poverty, it is also killing our children, parents and relatives. Imagine if a person falls ill suddenly in the middle of the night and all you have in your pocket is $50 000 which is not enough to have that patient admitted in hospital or to buy medication. If you need to withdraw more than the useless $50 000 from the bank to pay for medical treatment you must apply to the Reserve Bank and submit supporting proof that you need the money to pay medical bills. Imagine going through all that to get your own money from the bank. The red tape involved in having that application approved is very frustrating and slow so much that the sick person will die before you get the money from the bank and when he/she dies you have to apply again to the reserve bank so that you can be able to withdraw a lumpsum amount of money from your own account to cover funeral arrangements. The dead body will decompose before you get the money.
ReplyDeleteLet me conclude my comment by saying that it seems the Reserve Bank governor enjoys seeing the ordinary people suffering. Let him prove that statement wrong if it is not true.
South africans have not demonstrated against Malema, a maladjusted maladroit who lives up to the first half of his name, viz. "mal" meaning MAD in Afrikaans! In fact, if truth be told, his surname was actually "malady"! How true that would have rung....
ReplyDeleteThat there has been demonstration against this "malady" is a misconception. In fact he has been rapped on the knuckles by some of the ANC's most senior members and surprising enough, or maybe not, there was no utterance from Zuma himself! One wonders if the adage "birds of a feather...." is applicable here:
Julius Malema scraped through matric with an H in maths and a G (MALEMA THOUGHT THIS STOOD FOR "GOOD") in woodwork, (WHICH MEANS HE WILL HAVE LITTLE CHANCE OF GOING TO CABINET!!!!) both on the Standard Grade (SG). Malema, 27passed matric with Es in Sepedi HG and second language Afrikaans HG, an F in geography HG, D in history SG and a C in second language English HG, the latter being his highest mark.
When initially approached for comment on Malema's results, which he reportedly obtained at the age of 21, youth league spokesperson Floyd Shivambu was adamant that Malema's results were a fabrication and made to discredit the ANCYL leader.
And yet, Malema has previously admitted that he failed both Grades 8 and 9, but said this was because he could not contain his excitement about joining Cosas (Congress of South African Students). How convenient!
He reportedly never achieved more than 60 percent in any of his school subjects during this time.
Malema has publicly stated that he is prepared to "kill" for Jacob Zuma yet, The ANCYL said it would "never encourage or engage in violence for whatever reason! If Malema's statement is not tantamount to even the vaguest hint of a threat, then he could change the soap he uses so his colour could run!
Zuma' level of education could be termed a personal best achievement for a retard.....a lowly Standard 2Whether he passed is anyone;'s guess! hence...'birds of a feasther...." or maybe more apt, "empty vessels'.
Malema has shown a total disregard for fact and total disrespect by African standards, for all older statesman, a level he aspires to but probably not reach in this or his next 2 lifetimes!
Zimbabwe, also has its own Malemas and maladys.....in the war veterans..... Time for change in Zimbabwe is drawing to a close.....and Bob's your uncle!
Let's take our hats off to Lekota and Shilowa in SA, Morgan in ZW and Obama in the USA! They have the courage of their convictions........and display it quite rightly. Here's to men of credibility!
I think I know exactly what is wrong with Zimbabweans. They are just too nice but actually their niceness is a disguise for cowardice. When Zimbabweans are wronged by the government, politicians or policy makers like Gono, they are afraid to confront them, they choose just to be nice. They remain silent as they are exploited, disadvantaged and treated unjustly. In the effort to be civil in conduct, Zimbabweans actually dilute their firmly held views to avoid appearing judgemental. They curb their tounges not only in form but also in substance. This is not civility, it is cowardice or well-intentioned self-deception at best.
ReplyDeleteSome say what is wrong with Zimbabweans is that they are abnormally God-fearing but I beg to differ on that issue. Christianity should not cause people to become zombies who let leaders sway them whatever direction the leaders choose. On the contrary in Matthew 9V4 Jesus wasn't concerned about being nice. He looked the Jewish teachers of the law in the eye and said, "Why do you think evil in your hearts." Nor was he worried about being civil when in Matthew 23V27&28 he said to the Pharisees, ".....you hypocrites, you are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of wickedness."
So my fellow Zimbabweans sometimes being nice is not nice. I hope that niceness you try to portray to the outside is also in the inside because if its not you are just like those Pharisees that Jesus was rebuking.
Maybe we need to look for the answer as to why Zimbabweans are so passive, docile and cowards in their history. I did and came up to the conclusion that this is something that started after the independence of Zimbabwe. I know for certain that the Ndebele had their spine broken by the Gukurahundi massacres perpetrated to their tribe by the Korean-trained Zimbabwean army soldiers who had been sent by Zanu-PF leaders to kill Zapu opposition. About 20 000 Ndebele people were brutally murdered during that time and ever since that terror the Ndebele haven’t been able to gather the courage to voice their opinions in an effective manner. The Shonas on the other hand have always been a selfish lot who are so full of themselves that their motto is, “One man for himself and God for us all.” It is this lack of co-operation and teamwork that makes other Zimbabweans who would want to protest decide to keep quiet because no one or very few people would support them if they do, so their protest will be ineffective. However there was a time when the Shona did protest and that was during the food riots and stay-aways which were organised by the ZCTU with Morgan Tsvangirai at the helm. Zimbabwean army soldiers where then sent to beat them up in their homes and ever since then the Shona people have lost their voice and have become so passive and docile. Also worth mentioning is the recent violence after the March 2007 elections when some MDC supporters were killed, maimed beaten up and had their houses and livestock burnt by Zanu PF green bomber militia. It is because of such spine breaking treatments that Zimbabweans have become so passive and docile.
ReplyDeleteThe real problem lies in the communist doctrine that was instilled into most Zanu-PF leaders’ heads during the liberation struggle. Even if they say that they have since moved away from the communist ideology, their actions say otherwise. For example this idea of thwarting all forms of opposition through violence exudes communism at its worst form. Why South Africans are more outspoken than Zimbabweans is because soon after their independence they decided to follow democracy ideology unlike Zimbabweans who for some years after their independence followed the communist ideology and only abandoned it later on when the Berlin wall was pulled down and the Russian empire was dismantled. If only we had elected a democratic party back then in 1980, we Zimbabweans would not have been brutally forced into this passivity and docileness.