Romanticising Rhodesia is ignorance

Nick Mangwana View From the Diaspora
Collective effort is needed to thwart the insidious plans by those who wish to beguile the nation by turning our Independence into negatives. A clever person once said that, “patriotism is the ability to see injustice in one’s own land more than any other”. The perception of an injustice is as bad an injustice itself because it affects the security of the nation. There is a call to stop romanticising Rhodesia for it is nothing but counter-revolutionary.

In the last piece of this column some historical facts were established. An expected divided body of opinion was evident. Surprisingly nobody challenged the posited concept that a lot of Zimbabweans suffer from lacunar amnesia a diversionary schema to block traumatic memories, thus ending up calling the days of Rhodesia good old days.

Of these days it was argued that the amnesiacs have phenomenal filters in their brains through which the trauma of those bad old is days held back and the sediments buried while few perceived positives of that era are misrepresented as the glamour and galore of those days.

This is diversionary schemata which is sadly some people’s psyches.

It is time to awaken this. After all the ruling party has a slogan that says vasingazive ngavadzidziswe (those not in the know should be taught).This slogan has been abused by some who completely refuse to accept glaring facts.

The streets have now aptly altered the slogan to vasingazive ngavadzidzisike (those who ignorant should be prepared to learn) dramatically laying some learning responsibility on those that need it.

For how can it be right to equate a period where black people were not allowed in the Central Business District (CBD) of any town between the hours of 9pm to 9am in the morning? Imagine, one lives in a city later to be known as Harare for its perpetual night life and one is forced to be in bed by the system. As Zimbabweans celebrates Independence, it is time to celebrate the abolition of that settler system

The other day Greece was asking Germany for £200billion in Second World War reparations but a Zimbabwean celebrating Independence cannot speak of how it was during the colonial days without being accused of concentrating on the past. But reader, there should be a reason why people can say they are independent. It means that they were subjugated and that yoke is gone.

How can people say a system blacks where not allowed such mundane things as drinking clear beer was a great time by lying that they could buy four for a dollar?

How disproportionate is it to compare an economy which had been primed to be catering for a privileged few to an economy that is now catering for 13 million people? People talk of a load shedding, they talk of disrupted piped water supply to households.

In 1980, how many houses inhabited by black people had electricity and running water? Wasn’t the very provision of water and electricity to all households part of the post ’80 progress?

If someone wants to compare the Zimbabwe of the ‘80s and today’s Zimbabwe and then conclude that the ‘80s were better, then that can arguably make sense. Of course in the ‘80s life was cushy. What, with subsided fuel, mealie-meal, school fees, and all basic commodities!

Remember these were only removed when ESAP was foisted upon us and then hardship started.

Lest we forget the repression and poverty of Rhodesia, let there be a reminder for those who were there and a lesson for those who were not there: black people could not live in low density suburbs. Only a certain race could. Black people lived in the ghettos. A lot of them lived in units called hostels with no proper sanitation to talk about.

There is a still a challenge to completely regenerate some of these ghettos but now whoever has the means can relocate northwards in Harare as witnessed during the hyperinflation era when those known as (New money/ Newman) were” burning” moneys and changing dwelling locations.

This is the freedom that is being celebrated.

It is the freedom to make that decision uninhibited by one’s race. That is the independence people celebrate.

It is the abolition of the Urban Registration and Accommodation Act of 1954. As if that was not enough there was the disgraceful and humiliating Pass Law which transcended generations from as far back as 1902. Black people could not go anywhere near where the white people lived without that “pass”.

Dare anyone to compare Rhodesia and Zimbabwe!

These injustices afflicted mainly those in urban areas. How about going back to the rural areas where the majority of the African people lived?
The miserable life visited upon the African knew no bounds. The land issue and the marginalisation through “Reserves” and Tribal Trust lands has been exhaustively discussed so it will be left alone here.

But escaping scrutiny was a law that stopped Africans from breeding cattle. White farmers could breed as much stock of cattle as they wished.

But the black farmer was restricted to six per household. This of course had a legislative backing of the Land Husbandry Act. On April 18, black farmers will be celebrating independence to choose how many cattle they can have subject only to the capacity of their land to sustain the herd.

That’s it. Not because they are considered second class citizens.

Were mines spared? Not really. In mines black people were not supposed to compete with white folks for jobs.

It was anathema for a black person to try to have the same social status with a white man. Skilled jobs were for whites. Apprenticeship and artisanal jobs for “Coloureds” and unskilled for blacks. The “colour bar” allowed that much.

Currently, Zimbabwe has too high an unemployment.

This is unsustainable. However, there is no law restricting anyone from entering any profession or doing any other job. The only problem is that there are no jobs.

There is also a privileged few who now perceive the poor as an eye-sore, with their relevance being only for their votes. One hopes this group will miraculously have empathy for the suffering masses so that the Independence people celebrated will have more meaning in their day to day life.

So much socio-economic transformations have taken place since the attainment of independence. But that independence should not need to be explained.

That independence should be tangible. That independence should be felt and not be a subject to debate.

For that independence to be thus, it should be independence that can only come with economic security for the individual.

That Independence should never be inhibited by poverty. Independence should not only mean the removal of ethnic inferiorities. It means total eradication of injustice.

One major achievement brought in by independence was the eradication of ignorance (except for those that choose to be so).

Servitude and slavery as represented by the forced labour (chibharo system) was eradicated.

But injustice eradication is work in progress.

Unsurprisingly those that shun the Independence Celebrations also shun The Heroes and Defence Forces Day which are on the 12th and 13th of August.

Who remembers that this holiday replaced another two day holiday that was taking place on July 5-6? That holiday was called Rhodes and Founders holiday.

That holiday had commemorated since 1902 and was called Rhodes and Founders Day: the 5th being the Rhodes Day and the 6th Founders Day.

The former was Rhodes’ birthday. It is a holiday that could not remain on our calendar and of course it was removed.

The hypocrisy of some is that they don’t see anything wrong with celebrating Rhodes’ birthday but they see a lot wrong in celebrating or commemorating a movement that coincide with President’s birthday. They don’t bother with the Heroes day either. This is evidence of selective amnesia at work.

Whenever these things are pointed out the querulous retort is, “does that put bread on the table?”

Is the nation now at a point that if something is not about food, it cannot be discussed? Is there a suggestion that where two or three are gathered all they are discussing is things that put bread on the table?

How about issues of identity? How about moral issues? Should issues of national dignity be relegated to the trash can because eking a living is a challenge? How about self-respect?

Zimbabwe as a nation has come a long way. It is common cause that there are challenges and missed opportunities, but there should never be a time when the liberated Zimbabweans would romanticise the indignity of Rhodesia.

The Independence journey is not and was never promised as a flowery bed of easy adorned with rose petals.

April 18, was never sold to the people as a destination. On the contrary it has always been said to be the beginning of a painstaking journey.

Isn’t the dignity of just achieving the right to be considered a human being worthy enough to celebrate? The Independence of Zimbabwe might today seem to some an attainment of a mundane human endeavour but only to those that have opted for selective amnesia.

The writer is Zanu-PF (UK) chairman.