Vusumuzi Dube
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
ZANU-PF Bulawayo Provincial Chairperson Cde Jabulani Sibanda has urged Zimbabweans particularly in the urban areas not only to refuse to bite the bait, but realise the broader political and intellectual ramifications of sanctions and imperialist systems that are the authors of the country’s economic meltdown.
Cde Sibanda said this at the State house in Harare soon after leading the Zanu-PF provincial leadership in congratulating the President on his victory in the just ended harmonized elections.
“The strength of our opponents is the imperialist system which continues to change from generation to generation. In the yesteryears they took us in chains and made us slaves. The American and British economies were built on the sweat of our people. They then came with guns and weapons and hanged people like Nehanda using guns.
“People tried to stand up but we were defeated because we did not have guns. We then stood up again to fight and this time around we had friends who gave us food and weapons and we won and got our independence. When we got independence, yes we were governed by laws which we participated in the making but that is not all as they had already put business structures that if they do not support them we collapse,” said Cde Sibanda.
He said when the country won independence and ultimately took back its land through the land reform program, the west imposed illegal sanctions that ensured that the country witnesses.
“They then started using their economic structure to clamp us down. They had built structures that could only sustain 300 thousand white colonialists and could not accommodate the other seven million black Zimbabweans that they had driven to the reserves. They then added sanctions and the impact was felt differently by those in urban and rural areas.
In the rural areas, people can survive with what they have but in towns people depend on employment. Yesterday people used to live their homes and go to work now they leave their homes to go and sell whatever they have. This is frustrating a number of people in the urban areas,” said Cde Sibanda.
He said fortunately the country has a visionary President who is working on bringing water to Bulawayo, who has also seen the establishment of a steel company in Mvuma which is going to enhance the resuscitation of the National Railways of Zimbabwe.
“Remember we talking of a company that had more than 18 thousand workers and the City council had more than 12 thousand employees. So you will realise that during the pay days of these companies, money would circulate around the city.
However, because of sanctions and other factors big companies like NRZ collapsed. Everything in that company was British made even the bolts. You will realise that sanctions from any other country would have not impacted us but the fact that all our systems are structured in an imperialistic manner, if they interfere it impacts negatively on us,” said Cde Sibanda.
He said his province will remain resolute and fight against the sanctions through supporting Government ‘s developmental initiatives guided by the mantra ‘nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/ ilizwe lakhiwa ngabaninilo.
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