Zimbabwe's crisis

The living will die, the dead are forgotten

Born with high hopes 30 years ago, Zimbabwe is now one of the poorest, saddest and most dangerous countries on earth. Decimated by economic mismanagement, brutal repression and a largely untreated AIDS epidemic, a once-proud people have been forced to their knees by Robert Mugabe’s regime. In recent years, Zimbabwe has experienced the highest inflation in recorded history and the lowest life expectancy in the world. Nearly 10 percent of the population—one million children—are AIDS orphans. International institutions rank the government as one of the most corrupt and violent on earth and up to a third of Zimbabweans have fled the country. It is one of the great catastrophes of our times. It has not abated. And yet it has faded from the popular consciousness. Today, in Zimbabwe, the Old Testament cry rings true: 'the living know that they will die ... the dead know nothing ... and even their name is forgotten'.

'30 years of torment, torture and death'

How has the Zimbabwean cataclysm come about? The nation's slide into oblivion first captured global attention in 2000 when Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party launched a 'revolution' against white farmers. But repression in Zimbabwe is not new. As the opposition's Roy Bennett recently remarked, Mugabe’s regime brought '30 years of torment, torture and death'. Away from the glare of the media, Zanu's spokesmen boast: 'Zanu ndeyeropa'—'Zanu is a party of blood'. The people need little convincing. Within three years of independence, Zanu-PF had begun the wholesale slaughter of the opposition and its supporters. In 1983–4, an estimated 20–30,000 civilians of the minority Ndebele ethnic group were butchered by a North Korean-trained unit of the army in an operation dubbed 'Gukurahundi', meaning 'the rain the washes away the chaff'. The killings in this period were marked by their extreme sadism and barbarism:

'[They] found him milking. They shot him and broke off his lower jaw and cut off his tongue. He ran away ... They fired again and broke his left arm below the elbow. We found him on the 2nd day ... We brought him home but [he] died the following day.'

'We were made to sing ... we were then beaten indiscriminately ... Large sticks were used ... Some young men were made to dig a large hole about 2 metres deep ... [three] were asked to jump into the hole ... Six [soldiers] then fired several shots ...While the three were still moving villagers were made to cover up the hole. We were made to lie with our faces down and they worked on us. Sticks used for roofing were used in torturing us. I was unable to move until the next morning ... [a soldier then] pulled out a pistol and shot Mable and Kate. [Another] tore open Kate's womb. They laughed when they saw the foetus moving and said, "the dissident wants to run away"'.

2000: the land 'revolution'

Having annihilated its main political rivals by the late 1980s, Zanu-PF focused on self-aggrandisment and corruption over the next decade, but the economy began to go awry from 1997 under the weight of graft and government overspending. Growing poverty and anger emboldened opposition groups, culminating in the formation of the Movement for Democratic Change in 1999—and this, in turn, triggered a vicious response by the regime. Threatened with a loss of power, the government returned to the methods it had used in the 1980s.

Cloaked as a revolutionary means of redressing the legacy of colonialism, the land invasions were, in fact, a key element in the strategy of preventing political change through the use of violence. With his party hemorrhaging at the polls, Mugabe hoped that murder, intimidation and a free-for-all on land would reverse a rapidly deteriorating position. And he wanted to punish the white farmers and their workers, many of whom joined hands with urban voters who had become enthusiastic supporters of MDC.

Using youth militias supported by the security forces and loyalist veterans of the 1970s civil war, Zanu-PF unleashed a bloodbath in Zimbabwe's rural areas. Many white farmers were beaten, some were murdered—but it was their employees who bore the brunt of these mob rampages. Recalling that period, Bennett—himself a farmer and a victim—said that 'Farmers and their workers, many who had maintained remarkable life-long relationships, became the wretched of the earth: shot, raped, and beaten with chains and logs. Many died long and agonising deaths, without medical care of any kind. For those of us who lived through it, we can never forget. These things are seared on our memories'.

Many of those that survived the initial onslaught did not live long. One study estimates that around 50 percent of former farm workers—half-a-million people—have since perished due to a lack of food, shelter and medical care.

The economic cost was also massive. Zimbabwe's agricultural sector,
the backbone of the economy, was laid waste and the knock-on effects were devastating. Once sub-Saharan Africa’s second most powerful economy, Zimbabwe has now suffered its tenth national food deficit in a row and a previously vibrant manufacturing sector is effectively dead.

2008: 'Listen to the traitors, they are dying'

Far from attempting to mitigate the effects of this self-made disaster, Zanu-PF took the process a step further, exploiting and deepening the crisis by using the central bank as a private money-printing machine. Mugabe and his cronies made extraordinary and instant fortunes while the people were reduced to rags by skyrocketing inflation, which peaked at a world record 500 million percent in 2008. Meanwhile, political violence increased over successive elections in 2002 and 2005, climaxing in apocalyptic brutality during 2008. In the face of monumental odds, not least Zanu’s control of the electoral machinery, MDC defeated Zanu-PF in 2008's parliamentary elections and its presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, beat Mugabe in a first round of the presidential vote. Prior to the release of results, Mugabe warned had warned against a vote for MDC; Zanu-PF would not allow 'puppets' to rule Zimbabwe—'they must know we are of the fist and we will punch anyone who crosses our path'. Now, reacting with undisguised rage, he said the decisive second round of the presidential election was being held in 'circumstances of an all-out war'. Watch presentation on 2008 violence »

'We are soldiers ... We do not ask for things; we force things ... we are going to make sure that you go and vote, not for any person of your choice, but for President Mugabe. We are not going to give up our country for a mere X on a ballot. How can a ballpoint pen fight with a gun?'

A carefully-orchestrated military operation, military units were despatched across the country and, supported by youth militia, they organised 're-education' meetings where the people were 'disciplined'and taught to vote the 'right way'. Thousands were assaulted in the most horrific ways, others were burnt alive. Hundreds died.

'They said the victims must confess they voted for the MDC. When the three men refused to say anything they were taken into the dark away from the crowd. Next we heard the whips and screams. Every time someone screamed hard the chairman of the meeting would stop his lecture and say: "Listen to the traitors, they are dying"'.

'They grabbed me, threw me to the ground and stripped me naked ... As if possessed by evil spirits, they started beating me up ... one of them crushed my testicles with his boot ... they have killed me for nothing, these Zanu PF people, just because I'm MDC. I am dying, take care of our kid.'

'I was woken by the sound of a person crying in anguish. I ... saw about 20 uniformed and armed soldiers in my yard. Some of them were beating up the security guard on duty with their rifle butts. The guard was screaming agonisingly and begging for mercy ... One of the soldiers kicked him in the head several times with his booted feet until he lay still.'

The 'lucky' ones crawled away with multiple fractures and developed necrotic tissue—their flesh rotted on them as a result of deep tissue bruising. Those that were saved had to have huge chunks of flesh cut off their bodies. They bear on their bodies lifelong reminders of Mugabe’s ruthless and pitiless rule.

2011: 'The demons are stirring'

Fearing a mutiny after riots by unpaid members of the army, Mugabe reluctantly consummated a so-called 'inclusive government' with Tsvangirai in early 2009. Predictably, this coalition has proved an unhappy arrangement. While inflation has dissipated with the junking of the Zimbabwe dollar, Zanu-PF has retained the most important levers of power and continues to abuse MDC and the people with impunity. MDC representatives are regularly arrested on false charges and a constitution-making process meant to incorporate the views of the public has descended into farce, marred by coercion and violence. Moreover, by late 2010 Mugabe had indicated he was tiring of his shotgun marriage with MDC. New elections were needed, he said, and this time Zanu-PF would emerge a clear winner and rule alone. Faced with an overwhelmingly hostile electorate, Mugabe can only 'win' through the use of even greater violence than in 2008. And, typically, he has announced his plans in advance, using language reminiscent of the previous campaign. Speaking in the vernacular, he told a party conference: 'I have been slapped on both cheeks and this time I will use my fist'. In parallel, there have been many reports from around the country of torture camps being re-established and of army personnel deploying to the rural areas. As one MDC member of parliament commented, 'There are no more MDC ... youths here. All of them are fleeing after Zanu (PF) youths, war veterans and armed soldiers who patrol the area openly announced that they are prepared slaughter our supporters like goats before pouring acid on them'. Capturing the mood in the country, another opposition figure said that 'the demons are stirring again ... the forces of evil are coming together, licking their lips, the smell of blood in their nostrils'.