Generalisations and judgements about Matabeleland people’s political conduct, especially the alleged political apathy, are dangerous; generalisations of any nature are rarely true and often completely inaccurate; they deny the people their humanity and their story in Zimbabwe. All action has a story behind it, Matabeleland people’s is no different. Those who feel the need to play judges must acquaint themselves with facts; take time to directly engage people to understand the story behind their decisions and choices.
Stigmatising Matabeleland population groups to protect a powerful but bad Zimbabwean system is an easier burden to carry than to try and challenge a bad but powerful system to protect all population groups. To avoid prejudiced perceptions of certain population groups and turning generalisations into facts, we need wholesome research into the truth and understanding of electorate behaviour.
Those who care to look at facts will agree that far from political apathy Matabeleland has been an active political hub, home to strong organised opposition politics since independence. All the while Matabeleland has offered projects that represent alternative policies, only to be hijacked by opportunists from Mashonaland who have come in inspired not by the chance to change the status quo but by the chance to take control of existing systems. It is no surprise that opposition parties always end up with internal structures that seem like and act like ZANU PF.
Context is important if we are to appreciate Matabeleland people’s ‘wait and see’ behaviour with regards to Zimbabwean politics. We argue that people do not just act in certain ways but there are push and pull factors behind every reaction, and the reason for Matabeleland people’s behaviour lies not so much within the people themselves as in the prevailing political system.
The Zimbabwe political scene is shaped and maintained by violence, tribalism, and intolerance to difference. To ignore the fact that Gukurahundi shaped Matabeleland people’s relationship with politics in Zimbabwe and ethnic Shona people would be naive. People do not see a difference between the two and trust neither. The systems in Zimbabwe control and manage than empower Matabeleland.
We also need to understand the far-reaching impact of Gukurahundi as a deliberate political shaping operation and process. That brutality was legitimised via the narrative that people of Matabeleland were dissidents and a direct threat to Shona people’s safety and security thus, the ZANU PF murderous operation sort to address that manufactured insecurity.
ZANU PF and its ethnic Shona supremacist elite invested on an ultra-tribalist, historical revisionism, and misplaced narrative that purports people from Matabeleland are not Zimbabweans but foreign invaders from South Africa who raided Shona communities for cattle and women. This social and political shaping meant ordinary Shona people would not trust or accept anyone from Matabeleland as a national leader, and it remains so.
When we appreciate the above political scene shaping, we will understand why in mainstream Zimbabwe politics it has become the norm for excellent opposition political leaders from Matabeleland to readily give way for inferior ethnic Shona counterparts to take up leadership roles. And ethnic Shona people indulge in the perceived superiority and would at best offer deputy roles to Matabeleland people in national organisations.
Public fear and consideration of personal safety not policy have become overriding factors in the decision-making process when it comes to choices in Zimbabwean elections. And ZANU PF officials, including the president, do not make it a secret that violence against dissenting voices is not off the table.
Today people of Matabeleland are resigned to the view that it really does not matter which politician or political party you vote for; and they have settled on the notion that it does not even matter if you do not vote because they have realised Zimbabwean elections are just a charade, a way for ZANU PF to appease the public – a way to keep the masses in line by making them believe they have had their say, thereby perpetuating the lie that there is democracy.
Virtue signallers from Matabeleland would naively reject as tribalists local groups that object to mainstream Zimbabwean polity as entirely exclusive, extending favour to ethnic Shona people while withholding same from Matabeleland people. It is not victim mentality to highlight discriminatory processes where they clearly exist or are reasonably suspected.
Choosing to shame one population group to shield another group is not justice; likewise, attacking Matabeleland people’s conduct in response to a Shona supremacist regime is contrary to justice. And accusing people from Matabeleland of only complaining instead of taking the initiative in Zimbabwean politics is a typical display of ignorance.
Anyone blaming Matabeleland politicians for not entering the Zimbabwean presidential race is doing a good job of victim shaming. Factors causing political non-participation in Matabeleland are intertwined and must be addressed in whole not generalised. Gukurahundi instilled fear in the psyche of Matabeleland people and that remains an essential factor in how the older generation make political decisions. It is also not entirely true that Matabeleland people are politically apathetic, Matabeleland has been at the forefront of progressive politics. Reality does not cease to exist because critics choose to ignore it; the Zimbabwean political regime is a tribal Shona supremacy.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 