Political systems must reflect the whole society, not a section of it, for them to gain public trust. We argue that public trust in governing systems and institutions is instrumental to how society functions yet trust in Government and in elected officials in Zimbabwe has ebbed away for years. The lack of trust has a corrosive impact on the collective socioeconomic and political wellbeing of the nation.
Trust in public institutions is crucial to the functioning of society while lack of it has detrimental impact on democracy; democracy is by design dependent on active public participation but where trust in the system is scarce public participation in governance processes ebbs away which in turn affects compliance with regulations which exposes the sociopolitical space to the control of opportunists.
Disturbing though unsurprising in Matabeleland is the growing concern that a crisis in public trust in public institutions is contributing to, among other things, resentment, politicisation of social events, support for extreme political views, albeit by a small but vocal section of the population, and a rise in toxic tribal tensions.
While Matabeleland public’s lack of trust in Zimbabwe’s government and dim view of mainstream politics in general is not in dispute, there is no objective evidence to suggest real increase in trust in nationalist politics and the self-determination agenda as conceived by nationalists.
Credibility issues aside, the results of the 23 August 2023 harmonised elections did not illustrate a shift away from mainstream politics nor an increase in the share of votes for nationalist political parties. Once again, ZANU PF and CCC dominated the landscape.
The losers in these elections are, once more, the people; the biggest concern is the marginalisation of the public both at national and local level government. Parties’ policies were hugely a byproduct of the political elite designs not an amalgam of diverse interests of the whole society. The political product being sold out does not stand up for those who are vulnerable to being left out or marginalised.
Questions of credibility and trust must be addressed for a politics that would stand up to public scrutiny to be set in place. An entirely different political engagement is required for a successful Matabeleland nationalist agenda; as it is right now, people do not know what the vaunted Matabeleland ‘self-determination’ would mean for them; the narrative being given to the public is that of ‘the need to rid Matabeleland of the Shona hegemony’ without paying attention to what ‘self-determination’ would look like for an ordinary person. And what does that mean for an ordinary ethnic Shona resident?
In the absence of policy detail, demagogues fill in the gaps and what we have is a mischaracterisation of the nationalist agenda as tribalism; unfortunately, some egoist members of some nationalist groups have been accessories in this mischaracterisation. At the end of the day what we have is a political product riddled with controversy and extremist views thereby raising local and national anxiety.
Like the 20th Century politics of ‘independence’ from colonialism that has failed because it became populist and focused more on getting rid of a minority white government and less on setting up structures for an effective majority government that would promote real independence, the self-determination narrative risks the same fate of ill-preparedness and associated failure.
Right now, nationalists are focusing less on the deliverable structural design of an independent Matabeleland government that would improve transparency and governance.
We suggest nationalists need to invest in democratic wellbeing by building up participatory democracy and improving transparency. There is urgent need to focus on measures of national success in keeping with people’s priorities, rather than the current one-dimensional top-down strategy.
A shift in how politics is done is paramount if nationalists are to speak to the guts of the people; instead of politicians making assumptions of public interest and drafting policies that simply project politicians’ and not public interest, politicians need to re-engage citizens meaningfully in their own democracies rather than restrict them to a spectators’ role.
Challenging times need creative minds; the public need a political climate that works for everyone. Participative democracy gives us the hope to do just that – work with society to create systems and institutions that work for everyone; this can be achieved through deliberative democracy via citizens’ assemblies.
Today our challenge is building trust in public institutions; the public need services that work for everyone and jobs to provide income security. We need public participation in local activities and decision-making processes but that cannot happen without trust. Rebuilding public trust in politics is therefore essential to the restoration of Matabeleland socio-political and economic existence. Populist solutions that seek to alienate sections of the population are disastrous to society’s diversity and a threat to cohesion and peace. Long-term that affects the business climate and investment in the territory.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 