Issues of justice, compensation, racial ownership of land, and competence of new land owners will undoubtedly continue to engender heated discussion for some time to come. Unfortunately, this debate will be a red herring, distracting us from the real threat to future social justice

What I am most concerned about, is that it looks as if the MDC is making the same mistake as ZANU-PF did in 1980: i.e. focusing on gaining political power, but forgetting that real power lies with those who control the assets of production.

If ZANU-PF heavyweights are allowed to retain their ill-gotten gains (houses, money, businesses, factories, mines, farms) that they have acquired through Mugabe’s political patronage, they will cement themselves as the future controlling elite of Zimbabwe, able to buy political influence for the next century. Knowing how evil and duplicitous these people are, and how self-centred is their value system, it will be the common Zimbabwean and his children who will lose out again.

If the MDC really is a party of the workers and the common people, they must ensure that future political justice and equality is combined with economic justice and equality. We need a clean slate from which people can emerge and grow their wealth and influence based on contribution, merit and skills, not on theft and political connections.