Defending our integrity requires that we do the right things, not what is easy nor what is popular. All societies go through challenges; experiencing difficulties is not unique to us. The difficulties faced by ordinary people in the Matabeleland space are a human creation. Critical to us is the reality that they are not immutable, therefore, they can, with policy intentionality, be undone in this generation.
Forty-one years ago, Matabeleland was turned into a rape and torture zone of unarmed civilians. For a year and counting, barbaric inhumane acts of violence were witnessed; crimes against humanity were committed with full knowledge of government. Robert Mugabe, prime minister at the time, led his postcolonial ZANU government to apply force to enforce his social and political restructuring agenda.
Mugabe and his ZANU close associates were keen to reshape the socio-political space of Zimbabwe, and they were prepared to do whatever it took so that Shona language and culture dominated society, Shona creed was turned into law, and ZANU was the only legitimate political party in the ‘free’ Zimbabwe.
The Shonalisation and ZANUfication of the Matabeleland space was a very deliberate process. A new, specially designed military unit, the 5th Brigade, composed almost exclusively of ethnic Shona young men and overseen by a predominately Shona ZANU senior leadership was mandated to execute the process. The world looked away.
Safety and security were intentionally withdrawn because instilling a sense of fear and vulnerability was important to Mugabe’s Gukurahundi project. We were stripped of our liberty, stripped of our freedoms, stripped of our political power and choices, we were purposefully marginalised and mercilessly killed for identifying as Ndebele.
Mugabe would later attempt to excuse the period as a ‘moment of madness’, but we are not fools to believe that. At what point did the process become a ‘moment of madness’?
Tribal prejudice and hatred are not symptoms of insanity but an embodiment of pettiness.
Anywhere, this is no time for pettiness but a period for Matabeleland to pick itself up and move on, an occasion to transform ourselves so that we can access the present and remove all threat to the future for our children, their children and their children’s children.
Growth will manifest only on the realisation of effective ways to stop the misery we have allowed ourselves to be subjected to. The tragedy of our life has been living our lives pursuing misplaced goals and dreams – an illusion of a united, equitable, diverse, inclusive and law-abiding Zimbabwe.
We have a clear understanding that Zimbabwe is not designed to grant space for Matabeleland people to live as equals with Shona people. We cannot change Zimbabwe, we do not want to change Zimbabwe, and we have no desire to change for Zimbabwe. We will defy the ZANU PF attempt at changing us.
The vision of our destiny resides in our strong desire for a diverse, equitable, and inclusive society, and our needs must be carefully measured, intentionally disciplined, and thoughtfully organised. And it is in our communities that action must be planned and applied to extricate us from this postcolonial socio-political quagmire.
Building strong open-minded boys and girls to get strong men and women is the primary target. Good education, both at home and in formal settings, is crucial. We need to invest in knowledge gathering and improve access to information at all levels, so our people can be genuine holders of informed opinion not filled up with stereotypes.
Tribal based discrimination cannot be repaired via a tribally blind doctrine; tribe must come into consideration when the intention is to remedy disadvantages cast on Matabeleland people by systemic tribalism. Localisation of activities is the way forward. Anything that can be done locally must be done locally. Our solutions will come from within our communities and so will be our leaders.
Intentionally changing the architecture of the politics in our communities is central to gaining control of the space. The focus now is on increasing and expanding the role ordinary citizens play in the making and sustaining of the places and communities we live in. We want to return the decision-making mandate to ordinary citizens and reverse current trends where so much is decided for so many by so few.
We must produce our own leaders based on our unique needs; let us intentionally target and train locals right from school age to take up local leadership roles. When people directly connected with the region lead local projects, they know what is at stake and understand not only the physical benefits but also connect with the emotional side; because the project bears relatable meaning, they invest in its success as failure directly affects them and everyone connected with them – the community.
It is time to empower ourselves as individuals and communities. We want to control our social, economic and political space; we do understand that the empowerment of a society does not happen by accident; we do appreciate that developing a strong sense of trust, accountability, and togetherness around community goals requires intentional effort, and that is what we will always do.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 