admin
When there is a problem, it is the nature of small minded people to point fingers and squabble about who caused it. The same people tend to precipitate actions that do not solve but exacerbate the problem.This is the mentality being exhibited by people calling for mass demonstrations and strikes. It is fortunate that this political manoeuvre by Tsvangirai and his allies to gain political relevance after their trouncing in the 2013 harmonised election is bound to fail. Otherwise the very people they profess to represent would come out worse for their ill-thought actions.
The world over, companies are facing an uphill struggle when it comes to keeping their heads above water in the face of a prolonged global recession and other factors affecting profitability. In Zimbabwe, the situation has been worsened by a lot of factors unique to us.
For workers to pile pressure on the same companies trying to find money for pay would be suicidal. Any loss of productive time will tip those companies over the edge into abyss, which should result in the workers sliding into immediate poverty. Many jobs will vanish overnight.
Similarly, if workers heed the reckless call to engage in illegal industrial action, chances are high that they will lose their jobs. And there are many others waiting to step into their shoes at less cost to the employer.
From what we have heard so far, those planning these strikes for jobs have no capacity or wish to cushion the workers that they intend to use in the event that they lose income. Meanwhile, Tsvangirai and company would be crowing about, claiming success as more people join the hordes of the unemployed. For Tsvangirai, the endgame has nothing to do with the welfare of the worker or the unemployed. It is all about a forlorn hope that his Western masters might use the resultant chaos to come into Zimbabwe and help him to power, a feat he has repeatedly failed to achieve through the ballot box.
Before signing up for the protest, everyone needs to ask how we ended up in the economic situation we are in today. One side says that the illegal sanctions imposed by the West are to blame. The other side says mismanagement right here at home is the sole reason for the downturn.
A more objective view is that there are many factors that have brought us to where we are. Corruption has obviously derailed national programmes that would have strengthened the economy if they had been carried out in the spirit they were planned.
But it is foolhardy to ignore the other factors; Tsvangirai and his cohorts actively campaigned to have the country placed under sanctions and got their wish.
More importantly, years back, the same Tsvangirai called for mass action which wreaked havoc on the balance sheets of the same industries whose closure they are now decrying.
Years later, Tsvangirai has no better ideas to win State power. Instead of accepting plans by his own party to put him out to pasture like the tired horse he is, he wants to sacrifice everyone just to keep his tainted name in the limelight.
We trust that the people of Zimbabwe will not allow their better judgment to be clouded by a few misguided elements pushing their personal agendas.
The promised 2,2 million jobs are part of Zanu-PF’s five-year programme, not delusional miracles. Investors are just beginning to flock in and Tsvangirai wants to scare them away through violence.
Online Reporter