Zambia speaks out on Zimbabwe

[duncan drennan]

Zambia has spoken out against the goings on in Zim. It seems that with the floods they are not too keen on the extra load coming across the border...

Zambia broke the regional silence on Tuesday over the deteriorating political conditions in Zimbabwe, telling its counterparts in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to stop pretending "all is well in Zimbabwe".

"We should not pretend that all is well in Zimbabwe. There is a serious problem and ostracising Zimbabwe will not help solve the problems there," Foreign Affairs Minister Mundia Sikatana told SADC executive secretary Thomaz Salomao in Lusaka.
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Sikatana said ending the sanctions is key to ending the food crisis is what used to be known as the breadbasket of Africa.

Zimbabweans, who are already jumping the border into South Africa in droves, are now also flooding into Zambia seeking food, he said.

Unless the issue of the confiscation of white-owned farms is resolved quickly, the situation will attain catastrophic proportions exacerbated by flooding and drought, he said.

Full story, "Stop pretending 'all is well in Zimbabwe'" on M&G Online

I'm not sure if we'll ever see action in Thabo's time, but I hope that he proves me wrong.

[Dave A]

Here's the real problem (from the same article):

Zimbabwe is a hotly debated issue within the 14-member economic and trade bloc, with some members, including South Africa, still feeling the need to show loyalty to their erstwhile freedom-struggle-era comrade-in-arms.

Locally, we seem to be having a bout of "struggle nostalgia". The whole period is being romanticised.

[duncan drennan]

Locally, we seem to be having a bout of "struggle nostalgia". The whole period is being romanticised.

Maybe someone needs to remind them that they were fighting for the rights of a majority group oppressed by a minority.....or is it just me that sees the parallel?

[Dave A]

For me, I'm reminded of a saying which goes something like this:

If you spend most of your time thinking about yesterday, it will be your best day.

Sorry. I can't remember the source off-hand, but it got me to let go of issues from a pretty tough time in my life.

The struggle times were horrid. Do we really want them to be our best days?

We have a generation now who have no recollection of how tough those times actually were. And we have the old "war dogs" fondly remembering wonderful moments of camaraderie that were but a small part of an otherwise miserable existence.

I think our response to the Zimbabwe situation is but one symptom of a far greater problem; a post struggle malaise of sorts that seems to be taking ever stronger hold on our leadership.