Our living nightmare
November 23rd, 2006
Our nightmare began when we heard a car drive up to the farmhouse gate, and a person in senior military uniform stepped out and gruffly announced to us that he was taking our house from us and that we had 24 hours to leave.
We felt particularly threatened by him and his tone and his threatening attitude towards us, as well as the fact that he was from the army.
Over many years of hard work we had built up a productive farming enterprise that employed hundreds of people who would have otherwise been in complete poverty in this particular remote rural area. Our work also earned the country valuable foreign currency. We even had a tourist lodge on the farm and offered a warm welcome to much needed foreign tourists.
The military guy who told us to leave only gave us enough time to load our personal belongings on board a truck and then set out on a journey to Harare.
We are now left destitute: we have lost our livelihood and life savings and everything that belonged to us – everything except the few items we could load on the back of a truck. We feel helpless as victims of callous and brutal authorities who have instituted a vicious policy of ‘cleansing’ anyone they think might be a political rival. Our hopelessness and frustration is exasperated by the fact that the world looks on and in its silence seems to condone blatant violations on international law and basic human rights.
If this was to be happening on the doorstep of Europe, in the Americas, or indeed even parts of the rest of the developing world, there would be uproar. But we in Zimbabwe are committed to suffer in silence.
November 23rd, 2006 15:09
Hopelessness is the right word – when the world just turns its back against you, whether you are just one person or a nation, that is what one feels. ‘Lafa elihle kakhulu’ is e Ndebele/Zulu saying that describes Zimbabwe. No words can describe how you feel/because I know how it feels to feel alone and abandoned in the midst of vultures. No promise means anything because I know how it hurts when that promise is broken. But what I can honestly say to you is ‘help is at hand.’ These are Malcolm X’s words ‘By any means necessary.’ He was referring to what we want/need today. To live in peace and justice.
So we have all got to learn from history. Unless one person stands up and start organising something, no one else will do anything. Foreign invaders will just leave Zimbabwe as Iraq is today. It will be stupid to stand up alone to murdering lunatics like the Mugabe regime. I know because they killed my brother. What I know is that when any living animal is cornered, it kicks out. You may not believe this but Zimbabwe’s plight is known all over the world. The only difference between you who are currently suffering is that you are also deprived of the news of situation of our world in general. Mugabe is no different from Tony Blair, George Bush or any dictator driven by greed in the name of civilization. The only difference is that Mugabe is killing and stealing from Zimbabweans and the other two are killing children, old people, innocent people all over the world in the name of capitalism, neo-liberasim, globalisation, where a few people steal from the rest of us.
I believe that it is time for Zimbabwean people to realise that any change in this regime is unlikely to come from outside. Charities and NGOs will help with day to day requirements for some but not all. My advice, how-ever far-fetched it may sound is that, only organised Zimbabwean people who are going through this hell will change this regime. History is there to teach us, and it will be a history that Zimbabwe makes for itself.
In Solidarity
Florence Durrant
November 23rd, 2006 23:31
All I can say is that I, like many others, have you in our thoughts. I regret that I agree with Florence – very little help comes from outside Zimbabwe; to our eternal shame. Have courage.
November 27th, 2006 19:10
You will suffer in silence – your post provides no details. Apart from a reference to a road to Harare this could have happened anywhere in the world, what is the farm name and address, and who was the evictor. There is nothing by which this story can be checked for authenticity.
November 27th, 2006 21:00
Ann,
Publishing identifying details like the ones you refer to exposes the person who sent us the email to considerable risk – we assure them of total anonymity.
This is what happened to Roy Bennett’s family and work colleagues. Roy was a farmer and MP who consistently exposed the truth behind zanu-pf’s terror campaign aganist him, his family and his farmworkers. We applaud Roy’s bravery in being so outspoken – to most of us he is a heroic figure – but we also recognise the horrific situation which most Zimbabweans are living in. When faced with risk like this, each person has the right to make decisions for themselves regarding how much they want to say.
Sok.