No fundamental social change occurs merely because government acts. It’s because civil society, the conscience of a country, begins to rise up and demand – demand – demand change.
Joe Biden
To change Matabeleland’s social and political situation, we need to change the way we see things. Complaining is only as good as an expression of nonacceptance of what is, an extension of irritation, frustration and dissatisfaction about injustice or inadequacy of conditions, but it can never be the driver of change to our social circumstances. We have often used complaining to avoid recognising the problem and finding the solution for it. Complaining has thus become our way of pushing responsibility away.
Instead of complaining and turning ourselves into victims thereby taking the agency away from the people, let us take control and speak out with force. We need to encourage public action to force change in local environments and beyond. We recognise that the constricted Zimbabwean civic space is not always receptive to civil society action, but we must fight for that civic space.
The civic space refers to the physical, virtual, legal, regulatory, and policy space where people can securely exercise their rights to the freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression.
According to the World Bank, “Civil society … refers to a wide array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental organizations [NGOs], labour unions, indigenous groups, charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations” (World Economic Forum, 2018).
It is important that people are aware that civil society encompasses both formal and informal civic networks, and involvement – in person or online – is entirely voluntary at individual and collective level to champion shared interests, needs, values and beliefs within communities.
The importance of these civic and social structures cannot be overemphasised; they play a fundamental role in influencing public policy, provision of relevant information to help citizens make informed decisions about their lives and environment, holding local and national leadership accountable, defending basic rights, fostering civic engagement and equipping citizens with the tools to solve social challenges.
However, the effectiveness of the civic and social structures is often subject to the prevailing civic space. In heavily policed countries, governments introduce legislative and administrative policies that stifle civil society operations through frustrating freedom to assemble or access essential communication Apps yet in most democratic countries, it would tend to be easier for people to exercise their rights without undue state interference.
To be truly independent is to have a voice, not to be disenfranchised, not to have things happen to you without you. We need to be awake, creative and actively breakdown all systemic barriers that, for years, have unjustly disenfranchised vast communities of people in Matabeleland. These communities need to be able to tell their stories.
What we have always argued in Matabeleland is that mainstream politics of Zimbabwe poses innate systemic impediments to the development and growth of Matabeleland society; the politics is not reflective of our unique social and cultural needs hence it is unable to address our interests. For instance, the policy bias tends to invalidate, minimise and/ or ignore the traumatic effects of the State perpetrated Gukurahundi violence that swept across Matabeleland in the 1980s yet to its victims Gukurahundi caused profound and life changing effects, including impact on socioeconomic development, the type, the level and extent of political engagement.
Voluntary public engagement is essential to making responsive policy decisions and public engagement in politics. We believe changes to occupants of the State House will not transform our lives, but purposeful decentralising, devolving decision-making to locals and renewing civil society will. With a robust civil society and more localised decision-making structures, our communities will be safer, more secure, and more prosperous.
While some civil society groups in Matabeleland have been active in addressing social problems, their effectiveness in bringing about real change is limited due to varying factors, including increasing public distrust, partisanship of civic society groups and ongoing uncertainty about their relevance and legitimacy.
Responsive governance institutions are essential to the process of galvanising civil society because real and transformational change will only take place when relevant institutions of civil society and relevant laws are embedded in the mechanisms of governance.
There must be an intentional expansion of citizen awareness and engagement in civic processes. We must focus on making information more accessible to citizens and civic groups, and on increasing awareness and understanding of how citizens can constructively apply this knowledge in decision-making processes that impact their lives.
We have identified mainstream Zimbabwe politics as a hindrance to our liberties, but local inaction against it hinders meaningful civic activity, we need to ensure internal mechanism is strengthened to bring back courage and re-energise Matabeleland civil society because a vibrant civil society is a foundation of effective democratic governance and thriving communities.
MTHWAKAZI INDEPENDENT 