Patience Mambo submitted the following piece to Kubatana recently on the subject of expectations in regard to the new Unity Government. She believes that its good to have hope and faith, but within the bounds of reason and realism . . .

The political crisis in Zimbabwe since 1999 has led to a rise in the cost of living, an unlivable economic climate, despair, unrest and socio-psychological turmoil. That the two political rivals should finally agree to work together presented a thin thread of hope millions of Zimbabweans were desperate to clutch at. But are they placing their eggs in one basket? Are they being too hopeful for solutions in a scenario that may or may not work?

In 1980, Zimbabwe gained independence from white colonial rule. Suddenly blacks were free to walk in Salisbury’s First Street, they could stay “kumayard” such as Highlands, and they could ride in first class public transport and so on. Most (many of whom were poor and impoverished) dreamt that independence meant an instant change in their social position. They dreamt that suddenly they were in a land of milk and honey and when they realized that they still had to work for every bread crumb they ate, they got a rude awakening.

The story is the same for black South Africa. Independence from White apartheid rule in 1994 carried a huge wave of expectation. Many black South Africans thought independence would usher in a lightning bolt of social transformation. Suddenely they saw themselves rising from shacks (mikuku) to brick houses; they saw their pockets filled with the much coveted Rand; education for their children in the plushest of schools formerly meant for white South African children; the list is endless. But this was not to be and today, the majority of black South Africans are still to realize those dreams.

11 February 2009 marked a great and historic event in the Zimbabwe’s, and indeed the Southern African Development Community’s calendar. Three major political rivals formed a joint government in perceived to be impossible circumstances. Zimbabwe has had the same president for close to 30 years. The ruling party has been battling with a stubborn and headstrong opposition for the past 10 years. So it becomes not only exciting and intriguing that they should finally come together to form a much awaited and long overdue government.

The majority of the people are looking to this new political dispensation to dilute (if not erase completely) their suffering and magically transform their lives from Egypt and lead them to the New Canaan.

People should be informed that manna will not simply fall down from the sky to pick up and eat at free will. People will still have to work hard to produce and henceforth generate much needed foreign currency. If you are uneducated you will not wake up a general manager, if you are lazy, you still won’t have bread to feed your children. Those willing to give the new leaders a chance, while working hard for themselves stand a better chance. Those who think things will automatically improve have a bitter pill to swallow. It’s good to have hope and faith, I think, within the boundaries of reason and realism!

This entry was posted on February 20th, 2009 at 11:30 am by Bev Clark and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.