Inequality and inequity will always exist in society, but that does not make it tolerable, or at worst acceptable; we cannot afford to fold our arms in resignation. Injustice as demonstrated in Zimbabwe’s politics has destroyed livelihoods, stripped individuals and families in Matabeleland of their dignity and split communities. Instead of putting up a fight for justice, we have -through silence – become unwilling accessories to acts of injustice. Hopelessness must not be given space; we all have the duty to ensure Matabeleland cannot be home to injustice; injustice can be mitigated if there is public will to deal with it.

Barriers to individuals optimising their abilities are often a function not of their personal limitations, but policymakers consciously or unconsciously creating spaces that exclude certain population groups. Focus should be on making structural adjustments that reduce inequality and connect diverse communities in our society; we need to be intentional in involving the public to co-create a system and institutions that promote equality and equity.

Systems must be responsive to public concerns and interests if they are to gain public trust. If we create conditions that make it easier, rewarding, and safer for people to speak out whenever and wherever they see injustice, they will.

Unfortunately, but predictably, those in a position to deal with inequality and inequity in society happen to be the same people who directly benefit from it. They will wait as long as it takes the public to awaken and respond to it. We must not give them that option.

Normalising bad conduct is unconscionable. We argue that the major problem is that there are many people – in both public and private enterprise – profiteering from injustice, and they will do everything in their power to create, fund, protect and perpetuate injustice by abusing legitimate societal and political institutions to enact laws that legitimise oppression of other humans. Injustice does not cease because there is a law that makes it legal.

There are systemic inadequacies that make systems we have in place often incapable to respond in a timely manner to reports of abuse of power, negligence, and threats to undermine safety of the most vulnerable in society. In rare cases where they do respond, there are no accountability and safety measures to ensure cases are followed through and justice delivered promptly; the elite, rich, and powerful well-connected abusers easily buy their way out of accountability at the expense of the safety of victims.

Corruption is a scourge in our society that opens and leaves open all doors to injustice. Unchecked corruption performs exactly as prescribed; it undermines legal protective mechanism, protects and emboldens criminals and leaves victims without access to justice. Also, a lack of education and poor communication hinders efforts of fighting inequality. Arguably, at times both perpetrators and victims are least aware of the abnormality and crassness of their actions and/ or experiences.

Victims and witnesses of injustice in our society often do not know they are victims or witnesses to it and those who do, do not often have an idea where to take their concerns to, and a toxic, disabling cycle of abuse develops and goes unreported/ unchecked.

Highlighting acts of injustice and their impact on society is the first step towards dealing with it. We must be intentional in pinpointing actions that compromise equality and equity. The damage and cost that any withdrawal of justice from any section of our population causes to the whole society is enormous.

Media has a huge role to play in informing and educating society of the types of injustice and how to report concerns. We must improve communication and education across all levels of society so that everybody knows the standards expected of them individually and collectively as society so that they can call out any real or perceived slips in standards. We need to find ways of working around and challenging state promoted shackles from the media, reduce state control and increase local access and participation in independent media production and information dissemination.

Access to technology gives us a sliver of hope to undermine partisan public media outlets. YouTube channels, personal blogs, and other social media platforms have become vital alternative sources of accessible information at times surpassing traditional media following. Despite the real risk of an equally dangerous spread of disinformation, these platforms will help diversify information sources and expand public access to knowledge.

Those in power have created weak institutions and installed even weaker, partisan overview mechanism to protect personal interests and leave the vulnerable under the brunt of the impact of inequality. We may disagree in many ways, but we have a collateral responsibility to reform our social system, which is full of inequality, discrimination and other forms of injustice, which conflict with our fundamental rights.