Partisan Free Politics

At the risk of penning yet another unreadable post, I feel I must share this article in the Guardian, which discusses a recent South African report blaming the UK for Zimbabwe’s economic demise. According the South Africans: “The most worrisome thing is that the UK continues to deny its role as the principal protagonist in the Zimbabwean issue and is persisting with its activities to isolate Zimbabwe.” This, to borrow an English phrase, is complete bollocks. While I agree with South Africa’s claim that “targeted sanctions,” which would only impact the Mugabe administration and their families might be preferable, no one but Mugabe himself is to blame for the almost unanimous international scorn the country is now facing, and for that matter, the 10,000% inflation rate (seriously). I laughed at Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata’s comment that Southern Africans should “join hands and launch strong protests against attempts by the west to recolonise Zimbabwe” but the truth is, this is quite characteristic of the mentality of such die hard African socialists like SA President Thabo Mbeki and Mugabe. Which leads me to the title of this post (kind of sounds like an Onion headline, doesn’t it? I know, I flatter myself).

The real issue here is that South Africa, which is like the America of the continent (crass commercialism and all) is failing to act on an embrassing problem happening right on its doorstep. I am convinced that the reason that Mbeki and other African leaders have done so little about Zimbabwe when they all know that it’s a catastrophe is because they are all throwbacks from the same era, and that while they might whimper a little in protest of what Mugabe is doing, he is still a member of their exclusive club. The late sixties and seventies weren’t just a big time for revolutionary protests in the U.S.; young (mostly socialist) intellectuals in Africa were leading the charge for revolution (in the form of decolonization) in their backyards as well. And because this was pretty dangerous business, most of them found refuge in friendly countries like Mozambique and Zambia, which is were they all trained, and I’m sure, bonded over their similar struggles. And even though they all run their own countries now, they must still be reading a heck of a lot of Frantz Fanon, since most are trapped in a mindset in which in the 21st century, “imperialism” and “colonization” are the biggest threats to black Africans and not say, I don’t know, AIDS, starvation, or poverty. Everything is the fault of the “West,” the classic boogeyman for all leaders of rogue states, which explains our BFF status with Venezuela. This annoys me, since it’s such a disingenous arguement that it makes it difficult for serious critics to hold Western governments accountable when they ought to (the “blame America” club, anyone?) and more importantly, retards any serious attempts at progress, which are predictably seen as Western subversion.

So I have just one last thing to say, in the form of an open letter to El Lider, El Duce, my President Robert Mugabe:

Comrade,

While I appreciate all you did to liberate us from colonialism and ensure that I grew up loving my black skin, this is no longer your time anymore, and you are making life worse for all of us. I know it must be such a scary paradigm shift for you to no longer live in a world of segregated parks and all-white, all the time, but we can’t afford to keep indulging your fantasy that it is the summer of’ ‘67 and that you are a still young revolutionary.

Sincerely,

R. Mudiwa