The rabid rantings of a cornered dog…

So, what’s it like to be in urban zim right now? The first thing is the atmosphere has become electrically charged over the last 24 hours. I loved the response I got today from all the shops I went into, and believe you me, it was many shops for I was stocking up in siege mentality for what may be “the days of uncertainty” to come.

My favourite salutation of the day was, “See you for the independence party!” – it was great to see people smile for once.

One thing is for sure, there is a far greater sense of tolerance on the street in the urban areas. I cannot speak about the rural atmosphere as it has been over a week since I was there.

If you put aside political rhetoric, endless newscasts and internet surfing, you will hear what real Zimbabweans are really talking about. Everyone is wondering about Simba’s authenticity vs Morgan’s many sacrifices for democracy. There are a tiny minority who still support the regime, but when you approach the Mugabe t-shirt crew you discover that most of them are wearing them because they were given for free. There is debate and discussion and amazingly - tolerance.

I was parked at the traffic light coming home this evening from my long day of foraging for supplies, when an open truck came whizzing towards me filled with festive MDC supporters and halted on the opposite side of the busy intersection. I hooted and waved and I got a great shout of camaraderie and raucous cheering.

The next thing is one of three men in the van next to me raised a fist and shouted “Pamberi ne ZanuPF”. I waved at him with the open MDC gesture and shouted, “Goodbye ZanuPF!” The men laughed, the guy sitting on the back of the van threw me the clasped hand gesture coined by the Makoni gang, then the light (only one traffic light of four is actually working – hence the singular “light”) turned green and we all carried on down our separate yet combined potholed journey.

Tales are flying. I just had a call from a very connected friend who claims that the police have now all voted…. overwhelmingly against mad bob. Then there are the more than serious rumours that the CIO rigging machinery is hard at work… against bob!

Yesterday I had a call from a mate in Harare who spied 4 tanks and troop carriers heading towards the air base close to bob’s palatial home. Apparently a few fists were brandished in support of the armed forces, but the overwhelming response from the pedestrian filled route was one of extreme humour. People are openly laughing at the paranoia of the nutty dictator. He may frighten a few Zimbabweans with his bully boy tactics, but most sensible citizens understand these are the rabid rantings of a cornered dog.

There is a great anecdote I got from my painter who doubles as a pastor, this is one of my favourite stories of the week. Bob addressed an Apostolic community in rural Matabeleland last week, where it was requested that he did not use the church as a political platform. He finally got up to lead them in prayer, when he launched into a mad frenzy, shouting at the congregation “Chinja! (the slogan of the MDC since 2000) “Yes, there is change coming and it is coming fast, you must all work for change”. Apparently the church was stunned into silence and he simply stepped down from the podium and slunk off. He really has gone bonkers.

I have just put down the phone to a close friend who is getting up at 3 am – she wants to be the first to vote for hope, for our well deserved positive destiny. Her 5 sisters will be joining her with their picnic baskets and blankets, waiting for the sun to come up and the chance to be a part of something great.

Just for one day we will allow ourselves to feel hope.

Then, we will wait the painful wait for election results in Zimbabwe.

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This entry was written by Still Here on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 12:02 am. You can follow any comments on this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.