Is Mthwakazi freedom dream only limited to social nertworks

 

 

As I begrudgingly approach that inevitable personal milestone of becoming a 40 year old, grumpy middle aged man, I take a bird's eye view of the life of a struggle that has been a part of my life for at least the entirety of my life, and at most the last half a century - the struggle for the liberation of the Mthwakazi state as advocated by the growing number of pro-independence movements scattered primarily in self-imposed exile in South Africa, the UK as well as the USA.

From the remnants of the Matebele-Anglo Boer war of 1893, to the current social-media- savvy young crop of pro-Mthwakazi independence movements, this valiant struggle has always been characterised, I submit, by the following flaws, which have seen to it that the struggle runs the risk of forever remaining in the minds and hearts of its proponents, but never on the ground, where it should be;

Lack of Sound Leadership
Recently, I watched a movie called "Braveheart", starring and directed by Mel Gibson. It is the story of the struggle for the independence from the English, by a valiant, yet, especially at the beginning, rag-tag group of villagers on the Scottish Highlands, all united by their will not to be totally under the English, but divided by their individual, self-interest motives. The hero in the story, William Wallace, comes on board, and whoops this group of non-entities into a resilient and victorious army.

It is a movie script, I will submit; but it has so many similarities to the Mthwakazi question.
Ever since I have been aware of this struggle; as far back as the year 2000; there has been no proper leadership compact; and the efforts of each of the individual groups has just dissipated into thin air, leaving peripheral supporters of this struggle not knowing how to support and make the dream a reality.
The movement needs a leader. Full stop! All this talk about having multiple pressure groups with fancy names, and even fancier leaders is no good for anyone. It is anyone's democratic right to start their own movement; but does it really serve the greater good? All successful movements of such a kind in the world are led by visible, capable leaders; who have the ability to bring the people together, and carry their struggle to fruition.

Lack of Direction
What does the movement want? Independence now; taking up political space in the region, and then using this as a platform to demand secession; taking up arms against the state and demanding independence now; devolution...these are some of the myriad of directions that the movement as a whole has advocated for over the years I have known it. Observers sooner than later tend to then forget such movements, and move on to similar movements on the continent which are visible via their sustained, never changing direction. If the movement want to get independence from Zimbabwe via negotiations, then let us see it doing that; in a sustained and sustainable way; and never give up till it is done. If the movement wants to gain political space by taking part in

Zimbabwean elections, as advocated by some groups, then do it; get on the ground hold visible, well-attended rallies. Get your word out there, get into parliament, and then do your advocating.
The lack of direction is being exploited by the movement's common enemy, and the stature of the movement gets lighter with every bit of ridicule from the authorities and the world media. To be quite honest neither the world, nor the Zimbabwean authorities take the movement seriously at all.

Resource Mobilisation
Stemming from one or perhaps both of the points above is the issue of resource mobilisation. This has dogged the movement for time immemorial, and simple processes like producing flyers/pamphlets for rallies for those that are going this route, or defence fees for those that have attempted the violent means; are all huge challenges for the movement. The reality of it is that off hand, without even thinking about it, or conducting any research whatsoever, I can personally come with more than 10 names of people from the region who have an abundance of recourses, and were they to be approached with proper plans, strategies and structures in place, would be willing to come on board and get this valiant struggle on an even keel. But because of the above issues, amongst others, none of these people want to be associated with the movement; at least publicly.

Unity
The movement has such a massive base of people to work with on the ground; if one follows their reasoning and assertions that the whole section of the country; from the banks of the Gwayi River on the north, to the southern tip of the Limpopo River in the South, all belong to the Mthwakazi Kingdom - the borders of an envisaged Mthwakazi state. One wonders then, that with all of this possible support for the cause, why it is that rallies called by some of the proponents of the movement have pitiful attendances; or why, when one of the most celebrated figures of this movement attends court, only a handful of people get to attend court. These are the signs which confuse the majority of supporters of this to go underground, and continue to sympathise and empathise, but never to put their heads above the parapet for fear of being laughed out of any communication space.

Visibility on the ground
Unless their strategy is to fight a guerrilla war to liberate Mthwakazi, most of the proponents of this movement tend to be a very scarce commodity on the ground. There are no visible structures that are taking this gospel to where it really matters - to the people on the ground. I spend a lot of time back home; including in the rural Matebeland, which should be the stronghold of this movement. I would be lying if I said to you that at any one point I have ever seen or heard any visible, audible reference to the movement on the ground. Of course on the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc; we get to see the few (mostly the same now physical representations of the social media groups). As Chairman Mao once said; "The people are the sea that the revolutionary swims in,". In this case, I am not sure if the sea is at fault, or the fish that is this Mthwakazi revolution, is not doing the swimming!
Finally, I mean no harm when I say unless this movement shakes itself up from its great slumber, and learns from the other serious movements like the Catalonians, South Sudan,
and more recently, the Scots; it will remain but a painfully elusive dream that will turn into a nightmare which will haunt the current generations and generations to come!
Aluta Continua!!

by Thamsanqa Ncube. (This story was first published by Bulawayo24news.com)