MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT

Without discipline, we will never follow through our goals, and our dreams of a socio-politically competent Mthwakazi will remain nothing but a delusion.

Forget ZANU PF for a moment and look closer to the Mthwakazi movement; organised chaos is no base for success. Lack of internal discipline is the sole reason the Mthwakazi agenda is currently struggling to take root within the Mthwakazi region. Character and commitment brought us out of the throes of political extinction back into political action, only a lack of discipline is stalling further progress.

ZANU PF political meddling in Matabeleland is as old as the party itself, but the impact remains relative, and at best irrelevant to the Mthwakazi movement. We do not control what ZANU PF throws at us, but it is within our control not to permit ZANU PF missiles to reduce us. We must stay focused on a strong future; to enjoy a genuine social, cultural and political revolution and to bring peace to all, we must first discipline ourselves and take control of our space.

It takes intense discipline not to let opponents derail your train of thought. To sustain our ideas, we need to have confidence in ourselves and close all loopholes that, to date, have compromised our journey with devastating outcomes. Truly speaking, without discipline our great ideas risk going to waste, and we will suffer the pain and indignity of regret and poverty.

Let us be cute and disciplined in our use of communication tools, including the social media. If we cannot control our communication space, what chance is there that we will one day master our political journey? The sooner we raise expectations of ourselves, the higher our standards will rise and the better for our politics; let us clean up our Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp, etc. communication platforms. The language we use defines us; let us reduce sabre-rattling and increase objectivity in all our exchanges.

We want open and fearless debates but these need to be held in a sober climate. Clarity of power structure within organisations is essential and this must be reflected in our communication space to retain ideological consistency. Organisation administrators need to be clearly identified and play the role of keeping social media debates on track and organisation spokespersons must be clearly identified to avoid ideological misrepresentation by enthusiastic fans and detractors.

At the core of the Mthwakazi movement is diversity safe politics. In the Matabeleland we crave for, no one should be left in the indignity of poverty. No one should have their freedoms and liberties withdrawn because of their tribe. In whatever we do, the safety and dignity of the people must come first over social and political factors.

I like to view the Mthwakazi movement and the space it operates in as a complex, busy rail network. The different socio-political groups and their ideologies are like trains on a rail network, and that rail network is the people’s interests, choices and needs. A rail network has a traffic control system that includes lights and other measures in place to manage or reduce congestion and avoid collision.

Let us appreciate that we are headed in the same direction on this network, the rail system can take only so much traffic at a time, train drivers will have to be attentive, patient and respond to the instruction given by the traffic controls (the people). We accept that the control system will occasionally need repairs itself on evidence of malfunction or through a real need to upgrade rail gauges for efficiency.

Just like a busy rail traffic system, we will have to appreciate that there are times when some organisations and individuals may have to wait and prioritise some routes; that is not surrender but reasonable collaboration within our political space. It is only through disciplined collaboration that we will all move forward, otherwise we face the prospect of a devastating derailment, and everyone being a loser when the movement stalls and ZANU PF continues its mandate undeterred.

We may have all the great ideas for the future of Matabeleland but let us appreciate that without discipline ideas will not turn themselves into visible change on the ground. As a people, we have a choice, we either suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.