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Violence begins where thinking capacity ends. This has usually been true of individuals, communities, formal organisations and nation states over the millennia of human existence.
In Zimbabwe, we like to pride ourselves on having the best literacy rates in Africa by virtue of having one of the best education systems on the continent.
As such, we rarely expect to experience physical violence stemming from an end to thinking capacity.
Sadly, violence abounds. And more worrying, it is ingrained in a section of our nation that for more than a decade has claimed to the citizens of this land and the people of the world that they are super-democrats.
Needless to say, we are talking about mdc-t. The warning signs flashed about 12 years ago when Morgan Tsvangirai threatened to remove President Mugabe “violently” if he did not “go peacefully”.
Many people dismissed this as the statement of an over-excited political novice who did not appreciate the gravity of his utterances, even though zanu-pf pointed out that such public posturing reeked of disaster to come.
And then Welshman Ncube got molested, Trudy Stevenson was pummelled into a pulp, Peter Guhu was almost killed, Priscillah Misihairabwi-Mushonga was kicked in Harvest House, Elton Mangoma was nearly stripped naked and grievously injured, and Tendai Biti was bombed.
In between, police officers going about their duties have been petrol-bombed, beaten up and insulted, and ordinary people have seen their homes razed to the ground.
Through it all, Mr Tsvangirai has stood aside and tacitly condoned the “violence” he threatened more than 10 years ago.
President Mugabe has on numerous occasions made it clear that he does not tolerate violence, that he prefers people to sit down and talk over their differences.
zanu-pf and its supporters appear to have largely heeded the calls, admittedly after quite a bit of time.
Mr Tsvangirai’s party, nonetheless, accuses President Mugabe of paying lip service to peace and tolerance. But it is his party that vampire-like feeds off the blood of its own people, perhaps frustrated that they cannot find people from other political parties with whom to fight.
We have said it here before: we do not subscribe to the brand of quisling politics that mdc-t and Mr Tsvangirai have represented over the years, but they have the constitutional right to believe what they believe and we will defend that right.
What we cannot defend, now or ever, is the tendency to resort to criminality, thuggery and downright barbarism whenever people within that party disagree on anything.
Zimbabwe needs a vibrant opposition party to keep the ruling party on its toes, to ensure that it does not fall into the trap of arrogance that saw supporters desert it at the turn of the millennium.
But with the manner in which Mr Tsvangirai and his cohorts are behaving, it is increasingly clear that Zimbabwe does not have an opposition party that is interested in taking public discourse forward, in deifying policy debate, and in furthering the national interest.
Let confrontations in Zimbabwe be at the level of ideas, not at the primeval low point of clubs and sjamboks.
Online Reporter