“IF you have a name of an African who inspires you, please help add to our bank of hope by giving us the name of the person and why you believe such a name is a point of light that not only Africa needs to know but the rest of the world. Let us not surrender but use our role models to give Africa a new sense of hope at this critical and defining moment in world history.”
This was the challenge thrown at Africans by entrepreneur and columnist Mutumwa Mawere two weeks ago ahead of Africa Day commemorations on May 25. He said the initiative sought to identify about 5,000 Points of Light (POL) of the best of personalities Africa has produced in different categories such as entertainment, movies, sports, academia, civil society, business, politics, science etc.
“Africa’s 5 000 POL provides an opportunity to profile lives and exploits of Africa’s sons and daughters,” wrote Mawere.
Off-hand I could reel out a number of names: Strive Masiyiwa, Trevor Ncube, Philip Chiyangwa, Nigel Chanakira, Oliver Mtukudzi, Chiwoniso Maraire, Walter Kamba, Mutumwa Mawere, Peter Ndlovu, Ngwabi Bhebe, Safirio Madzikatire, Cont Mhlanga, Kwame Nkrumah, Robert Mugabe, Nelson Mandela. I could go on.
That was before I asked myself, “And then what?”
For every Chanakira, Europe has 10 or more, for every Cont Mhlanga, America has 20 if not more; for every Idi Amin, Emperor Bokassa, Sani Abacha, Europe has had its Nero, Hitler, Mussolini or Franco.
But it is not too hard to understand what pushes people like Mawere to come up with such projects. Ghana got its independence in 1957. It was followed by many others in the 1960s and 70s, and South Africa closed the colonial chapter in 1994. Unfortunately independence from colonial rule has not yielded the utopia promised by those who led the struggle.
By most neo-liberal development indicators, most of these independent countries are poorer now than they were in the 1960s. What went wrong with independence? What are we not doing right? Why is Africa apparently slipping backwards? The same colonial powers have a stock response: corruption and mismanagement.
To me, this is too simplistic an explanation meant to shield the dark hand of neo-colonialism, among other factors, especially given the cause of the so-called global financial crisis and the exposure of embarrassing expenses claims by MPs in the UK.
The difficulty, however, is why the same ethical principles and management skills which have produced Mawere’s POL in private business and entertainment are not transferable to the management of government business, to the utter ruin of an entire continent.
Whatever the reasons for Africa’s current circumstances, the points of light (POL) initiative is not the way forward. If anything, it is, with all due respect, condescending, completely retrogressive and escapist.
The problem is that after raising this canvass of achievers, I don’t see this even approximating a solution to the continent’s backwardness. The initiative represents the “surrender” which Mawere purports to warn against. In other words Africans cannot match the standards set by other entrepreneurs, entertainers, academics or athletes. They can be inspired only when they see one of their own performing a “miracle”. What further “role models” do we need besides Bill Gates and Richard Bransons?
But the very idea of listing our own heroes smacks of a return to negritude politics, the black is beautiful matrix. In other words, when the West boasts about its heroes, we can also show them that we have our own, that Africa is the cradle of humankind, that Egypt was the home of science or that Jesus was black, etc. Is this a source of hope or escapism?
I also have a problem with the expression “a point of light”. I was reminded of cartoonist Tony Namate’s evocative depiction of power outages in which tiny white circles on a black background represented eyes. There can be no better homage to the concept of Africa as a dark continent than to see only irregular “points of light” out of thousands of its sons and daughters trained at great expense to the taxpayer. I would have thought that it was in Europe, the US and Canada and Australia that Africa’s emigrant workers represented as points of light!
Mawere also asks a disturbing question: “Why is it that President Mandela has been accepted as a custodian of the kind of values that ought to inform post-colonial Africa’s development and yet the reasons he chose to participate in the liberation struggle have yet to be addressed? The poor of apartheid still remain locked in a world filled with less hope and promise.”
What we need to make clear is that there is a fundamental difference between Mandela the legend from Robben Island in the 1990s whose magical name brought a miraculous transition in South Africa in 1994, and Mandela the freedom fighter and politician of Rivonia. That distinction is important because all too often, Mandela’s name is being abused in the name of racial harmony to undermine the very values which he would fight for today were he physically able.
Thus we need to question who has “accepted” what “values”? What is the nature of the “development” trajectory embodied in these values? Is it being intimated that Mandela would endorse as democracy what has happened in the Western Cape or that the “poor of apartheid” should stay poor in the name of racial harmony? Whose values are being “accepted” and by whom?
Let the real Mandela speak: “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people… It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die…” That was in 1964.
He also explained the ANC’s closeness to communism which he said South Africa’s whites did not understand. “…for many decades, communists were the only political group in South Africa who were prepared to treat Africans as human beings and their equals; who were prepared to eat with us; talk with us, live with us, and work with us. They were the only political group which was prepared to work with the Africans for the attainment of political rights and a stake in society.”
Mawere would be very much aware that there isn’t much equality to talk about between blacks and whites in South Africa and that the majority blacks are still where Mandela left them in 1964 to waste 27 years of his prime on Robben Island. There is a need for a more fundamental change in property relations in Africa between descendants of former colonial powers and the indigenous people.
Often, it is those who benefited from racially-inspired apartheid policies who want to maintain the status quo and abuse Mandela’s policy of reconciliation. We know why Mandela adopted that policy at that particular stage in 1994. Unfortunately that approach is being abused and held up as the model for a “good African”.
New South African President Jacob Zuma will have to decide between being a good African and an economic liberator of apartheid’s poor. Mandela rejected the patronising image of good African when he said he was prepared to die for black people’s dignity. He didn’t choose to emigrate to the US, Britain or Canada for the good life which today’s inheritors of political freedom place as a priority the moment they receive their qualification certificate.
Mandela and his colleagues had good qualifications and they could easily have taken their skills elsewhere. They faced the same if not worse political repression which today’s professionals use as an excuse to go and become points of light in the developed world.
Certainly political commitment and personal integrity appear to play a decisive part in how choices were made then and now on whether to emigrate or fight. Mawere’s POL is a form of escape from confronting the reality of history.
Joram Nyathi = Tafatona Mahoso + Goerge Charamba + Jonathan Nathaniel Manheru Moyo
You are so full of sh*t…and your beloved Mugabe is missing on the dictators list
Joram,
You are one of the africans I know out there, who can put things into the right perspective. Iwe Sahwira Unogona iweeee!
That is the point!. Mandela’s image has been used over the past years to brainwash africans, who still remain poor and with no control over what is supposed to be rightfully theirs. Mandela himself, has begun realizing that the use of his image does not mean anything to the people he went to prison fighting for. Recently (2008) he appeared on the TV asking people to share riches with their poor brothers. He is begging rich people (whites) to share riches with the poor black, just imagine. Just across the border Bob had to “enforce” them to succumb to the need to share, because the approach of asking Rhodies to share land with poor blacks did not work.
The funny thing is that “THE SAME PEOPLE WHO IMPRISONED MANDELA FOR THAT LONG, ARE THE SAME PEOPLE EXPLOITING HIS IMAGE BY ELECTING HIS STATUES TO ATTRACT TOURISTS, WHILE THE VERY PEOPLE HE WAS FIGHTING FOR CONTINUE TO STINK POVERTY IN THEIR OWN LAND”.
Yu have said the truth, but I guarantee you you will be scolded on this column. Your sin: you are saying the inconvenient truth that billions of dollars have been used to bury. Truth will out
What you say should be expressed as an opinion not a fact. Pluralism is what we seek and should not be lost due to individuals who think their thoughts are facts. If you call the POL project simply escapism, then your message becomes SIMPLY biased.
If you could explain why you think, as suggested by the absence of any praise; that there is not an ounce of a positive result that would come from such a project.
You mentioned very well how corruption, poor governance, and the effects of neo-colonialism have adversely affected Africa’s development. Is it not worthwhile to instil hope by giving relevant examples of people who have excelled despite such conditions, examples of people who have overcome or are overcoming such negative forces and people whose history others can readily emulate?
Tell me how wise it is of you, and easy it will be for people in the remote areas of Zimbabwe to find many relevant lessons in the lives of Bill Gates and Richard Branson when their operating fields do not have similar technological, market, economic and social advancements to ours? Zimbabweans need to leave University or some form of educational establishment to start magazine publications and invent some electronic gadgets in Zimbabwe at this moment? Or can they put more effort into the businesses/activities relevant to the Zimbabwe situation after being encouraged by the Points of Light whose success they can readily witness and celebrate?
The denial of such projects is a stifling act and debilitating illness to a change of culture; a culture of only politicians setting the agenda yet people themselves can empower each other. Do you want kids to grow up seeing success in only the most corrupt, most violent and culturally deviant? Those who have made money out of illegal diamonds, scrupulous deals and politics are the success stories that surround them. Is there no need for a re-oriantation/re-direction to what acceptable and lawful success is?
Is it escapism that Africans should be celebrated too? Is it escapism that some people fear such projects will leave them out as they do not resonate with the popular views?
Is it escapism that when there is imminent change, solders for the past are readily and uncompromisingly dismissive of the ideas that seek a better future? Mr Nyathi, I disagree with your thoughts here.
unotaura chokwadi,the real truth,yekuti mukadzi wa baba ndi amai,but l seem to have a problem with your opinions because they are always one sided.You seem to spend a lot time talking about colonialism and not mentioning anything about how much the so called freedom fighters have milked out of our continent at the expense of the liberated,and to make matters worse hidding the very African resources in Europe.What do you have to say about the Gracelands,the diamonds in Marange ,ziscosteel etc.You seem to have turned a blind eye.Until you start reporting in a balanced manner,all your collums just seem to be a joke
Mr Nyathi…I beg to differ, Mandelal is being praised by the former colonialists because he has indeed risen above the stature of ny living polpolitician that is if indeed we can call him that , I mean a politician…See I know for a fact that every corner of this world has its poor…India China ,Japan, America, UK you name it save for state support there is no other way you can economically liberate people who expect everything on a silver plate. I know for a fact that the people you are claiming to be living in poverty in RSA are actually the African with one of if not the best standard of living in Africa and indeed I would go as far as to say better than some countries abroad. This tendency to blame colonialism for the fact not all of us drive cars in Africa and that not all of us live in townhouses…is either political mischief or Lazziness…Open your eyes Mr Nyathi the good resources of this world are scarce and not enough for us all to have a decent share…Thats exactly why each and every country in this world has its few living below the poverty line just like those in the slums in RSA if you disagree you need to travel a bit more. Mandela did his part and again no man has the job of eliviating another from poverty except himself…The mere fact that some have done it againts the odds suggests it can be done and the scarce nature of resources will not allow us to implement a system where every one has a decent share…That my friend I am afraid is the reality of life…Political we stand together but once that is achieved each man needs to stand for himself white man included, and if anyone is given a head start by affirmative action his surname of his ancestors then let it be…We are in a situation I’m afraid where we cannot all will but at least we can all complain but those who know the facts and can do something about it are not listening because its not practical.
Interesting perspective mr Nyati. not wanting to make anyone who has contributed wrong let me add my own perspective to the discourse here, my “POL” would be vakadzi vemusika who eke out a living everyday providing for their families. These women have given many the opportuinties they enjoy today not because of the government or the NGOs but inspite of these instititions. These women are the true heroins of Africa.
the most popular pesornalities in africa are politicians and those closely connected to them no matter how dull they are.what mawere is trying to do is to decentralise power so that the youth can have confidence in the ability to make it with or without politics.its a starting point.we are sick and tired of useless people leading us simply because of their political connections.it will be the first step in professionalising politics i.e if we can prove that you are crap then you you go!period!every politician will operate knowing the score.
education first!!!!!!!stop tryin to carry water in a basket,africa is not yet free,from cape to cairo,because of racism by europe and america.
“until the philosophy which holds one race superior and the other inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned,until there’s no first class and second class citizen of any nation,THERE WILLBE WAR.”
Nyathi you are a fool. You are obessed with the west and neglect to realise the incompetence of your leaders
Your journalism is for Africa Joram, it is good for us all, it empowers us mentally as we prepare to compete with the former colonialists and slavemasters.
True the Mandela that has been crowned a nobel prize winner by the north is not the Mandela that we knew from 1964, this current Mandela is their benchmark or expectation of an African. In summary the north want an African who would not rewind back to the abuses of Africans by the north done years back, they want an all forgiving African leader, they want an African who would not strive to address the colonial economic imbalances as Zimbabweans are doing.
To me the best economic deal for Africa is to empower Africans in terms of land, property and and business ownership in Africa equivalent to what the north have in their north. If for example in Europe the indegenous Europeans own 99.999 % of land, property and business in the north so shall it be in Africa in favour of Africans. Meaning as long as that milestone is not achieved we have to continue to fight for it by taking more land, more business equity, till we achieve that level. Why would the north own 99.99 % of the north plus 95% of Africa? What would be the future for us and our children? How would we be expected to survice as a race with such level of of poverty and disempowerment?
You will notice Joram that as we fight to achieve this milestone we will be labelled all sorts of things, dictators, lawless, barbarians, but for me no problem because my dream is to give my child, his/her right – their rich Africa – What is the merit of being labeled a living saint like Baba Mandela when my children would be confronting a pauper’s life?
Why is it that when the north confronts a crisis, or an enemy they do not dispatch a saint to deal with that? It is Africans who are required to give another chick to qualify themselves to goodliness, while every aspect of their aspect is a disaster. There is great need for an Economic Revolution.
Joram, I have always known you to be a Mugabe supporter. The way you think about whites is the same way that Mugabe thinks about them. The truth is that whites are far ahead of us in almost everything. that is why they enslaved and later colonized us. (Prove me wrong). We have to co-habitate with these people and make sure we gain as much as possible while at the same time learning to be independent. We can only dwell so much on neo-colonialism at our own peril
Apa washaya zvawa nyora, trying to create a storm in a tea-cup ndiyo inonzi zero chaiyo iyi. The biggest problem in Africa especially Zimbabwe is people like you who for reasons only known by yourselves think that yours is the only point of view that counts and you have some GOD given right to govern or speak for everyone else. Anyhow maJourney-alist not journalists epa tuma website tweZanu muno penga.
Joram, Yet again you have missed the point. The only reason Africa is lagging behind all other continents interms of development is leadership. Yes we were colonised but so were economic giants such as Malasia, India, Brazil etc. Infact Malasia got its indepence from Britain in 1957 the same year Ghana got its independence and now these two contries are UN comparable at all. What we as Africans have done wrong is taking independence as an event that ultemately leeds to the revesal of the status quo. Many africans took it in a simplistic way that if during colonisation whites were industrial leaders and commecial farmers then at independence this should be revesed thus you get Vana Mugabe advocating violent take overs of these factors of production by people who may not be as commiitted or competent to run them. What Mandela proposed for for South Africa was to take independence as a process that will take time but will ultermately deliver fair distribution of resources to all citizens. The process allows blacks to develop and aquire wealth without prejudicing the present owners. The result is you gradual see an emerging rich blacks owning and aquiring business and farms. ie) the Strive masiyiwas, the nigel chanakiras, the Mutuma Maweres etc. As this process gathers momentum more and more blacks will emerge as business people, commecial farmers, land owers etc. We got it wrong in Zimbabwe by allowing grabbing of factors of production by people who were not patient enough or resiliant enough to work hard and aquire instead of taking over somebody else’s business. Surely we all could not become farm owners over night.
The question is how did the leaders allowed this chaotic form of wealth distribution? The answer lies in the heart of what makes the difference between us and other continents. Mugabe at first adopted all the policies that Mandela would copy and implement in the new South Africa. Yes Mugabe was aware of the need of land redistribution from day one and he implemented it cautiously up until 1996. Land was designated and acquired for resettlement in a orderly fashion and people were moved to these new properties fairly although in most cases he was still failing to provide adquate infrastructure that would see further growth. Productivity of the country actual increased dramatically during this period to the extend that in 1997 there were more indigenous business than ever before, the economy was at its best, an average civil servant could afford to buy a car, build a house in any town and go on holiday at Kariba or Vic falls all from savings. The situation only changed when Mugabe’s leadership was challenged and the African syndrome hit Zimbabwe and we all know what followed. Because we are greedy to the extend that we don’t want to see our neighbors prospering or taking over leadeship from us, Zimbabwe and Africa is in this mess. Its not colonizations because we are not the only ones who suffered this. We have resources but as long as we are selfish and continue saying because Tswangirayi is not a war vet then he should no go to the state house, nothing will come out these resources and our people will always be poor and vulnerable.
To Potipha Jerenyenje
If you were informed you would understand that the ‘white’ people (note that white is in quotes because there is no whiteman but pale skinned people – my brother look at your bond paper in your office and confirm if anyone looks like it – these are some of the racial supremacist theories based on propaganda – righteous white and black evil – righteousness and evil both have no colour) lead other races in two things 1) Globals Pollution and not in technology – The essence of technology was started by the African fathers as in the Egyptian Pyramid technology, the Shaduf irrigation technologies and the Great Zimbabwe Pure Stone Mortarless Architecture. When our fathers were doing this your ‘white’ men where living in the Caucasus mountain eating raw flesh unable to make a fire at the least. Then they came to Egypt and took the technology to the north, they rebranded it and called it names like Archimedes, Newtonian, Peniciline, Theory of Relativity, Bernoulli, Pascal. Armed with their rebranded and misunderstood African technologies they have polluted the globe and the threat to our survival as a race today is global pollution which is a result of your ‘white’ man’s failure to apply African technology objectively. The essence of technology is what they saw in Afica when they came for colonialism – a well balanced African ecosystem with unpolluted rivers, thriving forests with all forms of life and a sustainable rainfall pattern.
2) War proliferation is another field that the ‘white’ man leads other nations and rightfully as you have stated they have used barbarism to annex other people’s territory as in colonialism and they continue to make nuclear or barbaric weapons which is in fact another threat to humankind’s existence. In the same regard they have enslaved Africans and colonised Africans and Africans are the few known human species that have not colonised, annexed third party territory or enslaved any people for reason of an advanced human understanding, hospitality and compassion – Jerenyenje you ever have thought of owning another person as in slavery? Why?, Have ever thought of annexing Liverpool or Scotland? The answer in a good no because you are an African born and bred in Ubuntu. Colonialism and enslavement were like animal instincts – we have not stooped so low as a people for the reason that we are tremendous leaders in compassion and human psychology and and general goodliness (ubuntu/unhu).
The key thing in life Joaram is balance rather focus. Even nature thrives to acheive some kind of balance. In this way racial balance through the diversity of culture and experiences is what will develop our nation.Racial discrimination against the white folk will not take us anywhere. Lets bear in mind that the most successfull countries in the world have the a large populations of nationals who are citizens by registration and not by descent.Such is the case in the USA and the UK for example. The formular is the same for our neibour RSA. Lets thrive to be economic and political players in the world not just in our country.This requires racial acceptance and the ability to objectively and gainfully balance between ourselves and the rest of the world on our land and offshore.Also important is to noter that the greatest economies are built on sound entrepreneurship and not rhetoric politics….
Joram, there are very few people who see the things that you see. The “Who is Who?” nonsense that lackeys of neo-colonialism like Mutumwa Mawere and others are asking for is not going to help Africa. Africa has to look into its inward strength and fight for total emancipation. Africa has to dislodge the colonialists, whether they come through the front door or through the back door, that is neocolonialism.
Mandela whom you widely quoted did his part, to pacify the warring parties and position blacks so that they can takeover power in South Africa. This was important because power had to be transferred from the Whites to the indigenous people in South Africa with minimum bloodshed. What is now needed in South Africa is a visionary who takes a cue from Robert Mugabe and take the bull by the horns. Wealth in South Africa must be equitably shared. The “Who is Who?” of the sloppy Mutumwas of this world does not help anybody. What is disturbing about Africans is that they are just looking for means of getting into political power, regardless of what it means to their own people. Look at how the MDC fought against the principles of justice that Robert Mugabe was pursuing in the interest of marginalized Black people in Zimbabwe.
Look at their priorities today, now that they are in power. Their talk is about removing Gono, Tomana etc. That is their priority, regardless of the sewage that is overflooding our streets, of course the result of their “West is good for sanctions thinking”. You hear them talking about trivial issues like “Even herdmen should have access to internet, iPode and iPhone” when the people are hungry because they can’t even afford to buy food. Maybe instead of Mawere’s POL we should have a “Who is Who of the Dumbest in Africa?” I am sure the Maweres, Chamisas and Bitis could feature strongly in that. Do you use iPode when you are hungry Chamisa? Mugabe whom they are still fighting tooth and nail today and castigating as a dictator for daring to give his own people access to what can make them a real people – LAND – and give them the opportunity to grow their own food and feed their families is seen as an enemy and not as a brother. Shame on them!
Of course the lackeys will not see this, Joram. To them Gono becomes the enemy because he did everything to keep the country standing while the West and its lackeys was busy destroying it from within and from outside. What mattered to them was having a government of proxies installed regardless of whose interests such a government would serve. The Mugabe way is the kind of vision that Africa needs. This is the kind of leadership that can make Africa survive, especially when the continent is under the onslaught of neo-colonialism, as is the case now. Joram, the most important observation that you made is that Africa has been overtaken by escapism, making its vision dim, if it has not been extinguished altogether. Such a scenario is clearly evident in Zimbabwe. When the MDC took over the municipalities in Zimbabwe they promised clean water, good sanitation, street lighting etc. Have they delivered these? In their diversionary tactics and in their escapist approach they talk about Mugabe, Gono, Tomana, iPode etc instead of dealing with these real issues that have an impact on ordinary people’s lives. What a shame!
I agree with your Statemet Mr Nyathi. You have shed some light on a grey area; though the problem of pple is anyone who tends to be good at exposing the gritty details is taken to be associated with Mugabe, but its only Mugabe who managed to stand up against black oppression and promoted black empowerment by giving land back to blacks; which is a policy even the MDC is not gonna reverse and do support as well.
Of course; common sense Nyati. Don’t watch out who you profess to love: Mugabe is too full of fury to the extent that he lacks a sense of proportion. Shamhu yake yakarebesa, inorova mbavha neaibata zvese. If he was a revolutionary he wouldn’t have had to bludgeon “his people” to get at the Rhodies.
Mindlos
How do you become relevant internationally in business terms or otherwise when you are not empowered anyhow even in your country? How do you sound credible socially or economically to the world when you are a destitute even in the land of your fathers? If you were disempowered all along how do you become something to recognize if you are not empowered first to attain a certain level where others in the international community are at this point?
Mindlos why do you worry so much about the north? Why are you quick to defend them before you even defend your impoverished kindred in the country? How generous you are but your generosity is unreasonable and naive when you start crying about the strangers when your children in Mukhumbura have nothing in life, are you really of African descent or you are former northern commercial farmer crying in ‘african voice’? You see when you send an African to a northern university to do especially a first degree soon after high school completion in Africa, you are likely going to have an African with a mind like that one which you are exhibiting – so divorced from the larger African family and their tribulations which in essence is African disaster.
With great delight, I managed to read on NewZimbabwe, that Tendai Biti has now come over, and admitted that it is impossible to run Zimbabwe while ZDERA is in place
(read:
Biti slams West over sanctions
by Lebo Nkatazo
02/06/2009
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/NEWS-360-Biti+slams+West+over+sanctions/NEWS.aspx
Finally, they admit that Zimbabwe, one of the poorest countries with a raw material exporting neocolonial economy, made dependent through IMF debt, has been made ungovernable by the United States, the world’s one remaining superpower. And frankly, this was done under the criminal and illegal regime of George Bush, whose crimes domestically and internationally, are legion.
The big lesson is that we can survive such an onslaught, when we stand together. It is SADC and the AU, which refused to play their role in this neocolonial power game, of which the people of Zimbabwe were the victims. And it is through Africa Unity, that this threat has been lifted.
This is the way forward. African ownership of the land and factories. Localisation of government through directly funding local government from national revenues. And collective security through regional unity.
The days of the neocolonial model of depending on foreign investors and foreign ownership of the economy are over. This is true independence, not merely the political independence that was achieved in the 1960s, in 1980 for Zimbabwe and 1994 for South Africa.
How can you include Robert Mugabe among people who inspire. I did not read the rest ofthe article because of that
i am sure mawere was only saying its africa day letys remember our own african icons. nothing wrong with that. you go on to create a least which has Mugabe on it. i have a problem with that part alone!!! thats your opinion against which i differ. How does mugabe’s murders, adultery and abuse of innocent people make him an african hero? surely the women selling tomatoes on streets are bigger heroes and can not be on the same list with him coz its mugabe’s policies that caused them that poverty. during smith, there were proper market stalls and no tomatoes were ever sold so unhygienically by roadsides.
colloniallism should be a thing of the past but politicians like mugabe and writers like joram are the ones trying to recolonise Zimbabwean minds. the opression by mugabe cant be regarded as better than whites because one wishes to call him an icon.
i agree though with guy who says no one is whit3e
i may have contradicted myself on the way but all zimbabweans are heroes for being strong through the worst horriffic kind of oppression we’ve through by mugabe and for the compassion we will still have for him when he dies soon.
I think Joram’s piece reads and sounds leftist but does not even get. It is then left hanging somewhere between anarchism and palyfulness, the sort of rubbish that you can expect from students of Kempton Makamure (God bless his soul) and other such failed theoreticians from Zimbabwe. I think the implied suggestion that you can correct the imbalances of the past by ideology that has no practical relevance is unfortunate.
I think it is equally sad that Joram thinks Mandela wasted 27 years of hislife in Robben Island. But he does not need to look far to see that ‘compromise’ is a daily thing of life.
As he writes he does so under the shadow of a so-caalled GNU hammered out as an imperfect compromise between Zanu-PF and the MDC. The issue is not whether it is or is not working. The issue is that it is there, whatever motivated it.
And who are its signatories. Joram’s heroe (Robert Mugabe) and the MDC (the ‘puppets’). Joram would contrast Mugabe with Mandela (the ‘sell-out’). What leftist rubbish!
and to suggest while purporting to debunk it that the african names he quotes are Africa’s role models is also a contrdiction in terms. The creation of ‘celebrity’ role models is itself a mentality created by the West. What he then fails to articulate is that, by his own intimation, Africa’s role models are ordinary people who have sacrificed for the general good, regardless of their station in life. The idea that those who deserve to be called role models are people who have made lots of printed paper (money) than others (and most of them are fronts for the ruling elite or have had their paths cleared for them by ruking elites), is an unfortunate idea now coming under siege in the West. Do I hear voices saying get real? I am.
Here is my take: I think Africa simply needs men and women who are prepared to define a new path for the continent, people who are committed to the good of Africa and who are prepared to make the difficult decisions and stick with them.
A good starting point would be to re-order Africa afresh in Africa’s own image. And that does not suggest in any way antagonising any continent, people, group etc etc. If anything, it means purposeful partnership with others, particularly those who have already been where we should not go.
Does anyone oput there understand what Joram stands for?
Joram, in my case I have chosen to write about your articles in general and not to solely respond to this one. If we revisit the Synoptic gospels in the bible, the writers were divided into two categories. There were those who wrote to highlight issues that affected the underdogs and those who sided with the elite. In your case I think you fall in the latter category. By this I do not mean you support ‘whites’ in your articles, but you are an informed journalist who deliberately side with Zanu-PF elites even if circumstances do not warrant that. Stop being a mouth piece of the emerging Zanu-PF bourgeoisie even in cases where they trod on the poor to reach their riches.
‘Mdluri’, you are very obsessed with Zanu-PF being a Revolutionary Party but what you forget is that they were not alone in executing that invaluable duty. Zanu-PF suppresses diversity by condemning their partners in the liberation struggle to poverty and ignoring their contributions in the day to day running of the country. You have always turned a blind eye towards the fact that the land redistribution was done based on an ethnic divide or depending on which party you sided with during the liberation struggle. It is very obvious that it is the ruling party elites and its loyal followers which are of particular ethnic groups that benefited most; their partners in the Unity Accord never benefited the same way and most of them still live in poverty. If statistics were to be taken, how many indigenous people from Binga do you think benefited from the land reform? Of course, the answer is very few; the majority would be government officials who work in that district.
We, the marginalised, look upon journalists like you and sociologists (if ever they exist in our country) to highlight our problems. When we talk about the devolution of power, those who have benefited most in the last 29 years label us as tribalists. “Devolution of power” is not the same as establishing “federalism”. Devolution of power is synonymous to empowering people at grass root level regardless of whether they come from a disadvantaged or advantaged background. Those structures are non-existent at the moment and the ruling party uses clandestine and cumbersome approaches to deal with issues at grass root level. Zanu-PF has always made empty promises through out its rule about empowering people yet in reality most ethnic minorities are discriminated against in education, employment and economic policies. What makes it even more insulting or painful is that they selectively reach out for one of their own and empower them ignoring the local communities. In addition to that they bus their supporters equip them with fake addresses in order for them to enrol in education institutions in marginalised regions. One of the reasons why the majority of the marginalised want devolution of power to be included in the new Constitution is that among other things it will be an effective way of dealing with problems their face in their daily lives.
Mdluli rather than ‘Mdluri’ you are privileged to be a journalist of your status and you possibly come from a disadvantaged background. You are a respected public figure upon whom both the advantaged and disadvantaged people rely for balanced reporting. In your daily work, could you please think about the trodden poor rather than concentrate a lot on covering the emerging bourgeoisie that has replaced the previous one? If Zanu-PF at some stage benefited Sipepa Nkomo, Jonathan Moyo and you as individuals that does not transform to empowering marginalised people.
Joram we do not go overseas for a better life we go in order to support our families, it is people overseas that gave this very platform to write your pieces to,our relatives live a better life because we saw the need and left the country. Mind you people have been leaving zimabbawe as way back as WENELA days.To some of us looking for work in other countries is not a new thing.We could not stay to be beaten and starved to death by mugabe’s thugs we could not stay to work for nothing, we were not going to stay and watch as we and our relatives starved to death, izandla azihlalelwa. Indoda esebenzayo yiyo indoda emadodeni (Don Gumpo 1988)
Mr Mawere, through the AHS please add these extraordinary people and unsung heroes to your list of nominations of people who have inspired us and whose contribution to the Zimbabwean community was magnanimous:
KI an astute business woman who beat the odds in a very prejudiced time. Even now her label competes side by side with any brand on international counters. Through watching the growth of her company from using rudimentary mixing techniques to scientific state of the art methods, I have respected her capacity to embrace change and turn challenges into her own advantage. Quiet lady but her business thunders.
The man who started night school at Lord Marlven School in Waterfalls in the early 80s. Single handed at first, he gave many in the community an opportunity for dignity and progress. He is a builder and a true symbol of pioneering. Not afraid of discomfort he was always willing to pass on his his skill to those who needed it the most never mind if there was no pay for it. His contribution should be acknowledged if only to ensure that we are forever thankful to those simple people who sacrifice so much for others quietly.
The business people at Zindoga’s in Waterfalls, including Mai Muz, the Mai Zind, Mai Munh, and Mai Madzi. If money to re-establish business was being given by me, I would start with these people since they all soldered on despite all the adversity, they are winners. These women are truly symbolic of what it means to be a woman in Zimbabwe. They are sign and measure of true strength of character.
Added to the business people is Mr M in Parktown, who has shown us what it means to be entrepreneur. His shops existence at Parktown is older than most middle aged people. This man of Greek origins has remained reoslutely part of the community even when the community changed. He must be respected for his contribution to the Waterfalls. Sometimes when the change is like a hurricane holding on to the unwavering strength of people like him can give hope.
The late Mr A.D. headmaster of Lord Marlven School in the 80’s and the Late Mama M. the headmistress, and the staff of Lord Malvern School in the 80s. Many of us today are lucky to have been touched by these wonderful and dedicated cadres of the teaching profession. They never looked at the time, or where in waterfalls you were. If you were out of line, whether in school uniform or not, on school grounds or not, these teachers looked at us like their own flesh and blood. In the people they mentored their memory lives on as you will find a lot of honest and self sacrificing leadership.
Dr ZJ , a Natural products specialist whose dedication to the Zimbabwean community leaves many of us humbled out of words. He has ensured that much unsung traditional knowledge on natural products, passed on through indigenous knowledge systems comes into some form of scientific recognition. Surviving and enduring with barely any research grants let alone on his he has soldered on to preserve our heritage. If I had money for research and development, I would certainly give him a grant as a small gesture for preserving the priceless information.
The late DR LM, the first chairman of the Institute of Food Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe, the memory of her hard work lives on as the institute continues to function. When I hear the words YES I CAN, I see Dr LM’s determination to ensure that institute is set up so that many today can be schooled from appropriately. She demonstrated how public institutions benefit when their leadership take ownership. By any standards she worked beyond the expectation of remuneration, she was dedicated to her goal and that goal was not defined by personal gain. Our vocabulary as Zimbabweans ought to sing praise such people whose bold statements in their living can never be erased our from memory.
These are but a few of the people that inspire the soul and make us stand up straight and refuse to change your name and say “I am Kunta, Kunta Kinte!” each time the negative publicity surrounding being Zimbabwean, or African for that matter, is bombarded to us. For if these are not sons of the soil, I do not know who is.