George Mkhwanazi
The Zimbabwe Civil Society has proved itself to be a conflicted bunch of useless donor-funded entities who are not driven by the cause they purport to fight. They have proved that they have no business with the oppressed and democratically suffocating masses and activists from Matabeleland but are merely grandstanding and even extending their sympathies to those who contradict their stated cause.
From around 2000 I can demonstrate that the so called pro-democracy elements in both Civil Society and independent media react differentially to Matabeleland violations of human rights compared to the rest of the country. When activists who are fighting a tributary cause to the MDC or even Zanu PF factions get arrested they scream their lungs out whilst maintaining a loud silence when activists from Matabeleland get arrested for fighting for their localised cause.
This collusion by these forces (the axis of evil) which claim to be on opposite sides even takes open condonment of the brutalisation of Matabeleland activists in their quest for justice.
Check how they reacted to the following human rights abuses which which deservedly attracted their responses:
1. When Munyaradzi Gwisai and 45 others got arrested for their treason case in 2011 they came out guns blazing.
2. When Jestina Mukoko got abducted and subsequently tortured by State agents they decisively acted and forced the a regime to release her.
3. When Evans Mawarire briefly got arrested for his ill-fated "This Flag" Campaign they wasted no time in drumming up support for him.
4. When Solomon Madzore and other MDC youths got incarcerated for their treason case they whipped public sympathy for them.
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5. When Last Mayengahama and others got arrested for the alleged murder of a Police Officer they did everything possible to win sympathy for them and present them as heroes.
6. When Victor Matematanda and Douglas Mahia were arrested for factional fights within Zanu PF Civil Society mourned bitterly for them.
Contrast that with the following deafening silence when activists in Matabeleland were in similar circumstances.
1. In 2002 Paul Siwela and George Mkhwanazi got arrested for condemning the Zanu PF Grand Plan and were incarcerated for a month without bail. Civil Society was conspicuous by its silence. In an article written by Mduduzi Mathuthu, The Daily News even mocked them for their arrest just because their activism was not tributary to the MDC cause.
2. When Mthwakazi Youths got arrested and tortured in 2015 for the Makuzeze School incident in Mangwe District in which they sought protection for the local community from being academically molested by outsiders, Civil Society kept quiet.
3. When Paul Siwela, John Gazi and Thomas Gumpo got arrested for their views about Matabeleland as a colony of Zimbabwe, ZLHR (a Civil Society body) didn't just keep quiet; they condemned them and refused to represent them in court. The despicable behaviour of ZLHR caused the the emergence of the Mthwakazi Abameli (Thanks to Advocates Matshobana Ncube, Sindiso Mazibisa, Kucaca Phulu etc for that revolutionary initiative).
4. Just recently 5 youths died on the Gwanda Gold mines after being attacked by State organised and armed hordes of invaders from outside Matabeleland. Like the Zimbabwe government, Civil Society has kept mum. Only members of MRP tried to agitate against the incidents. Neither Government nor Civi Society officials visited the bereaved families or the injured in hospitals. Instead the ZRP arrested the victims and chained them to their hospital beds.
5. Last Week in Bulawayo, Wisdom Terrence Mkhwanazi gave a verbal testimony before the Kgalema Montlhante led Commission which is investigating the deaths of 6 people who got killed in Harare last August in the post election violence. He recounted how he lost his parents to Gukurahundi in the 1980s when soldiers murdered them in the same style as those killed in Harare. For that testimony Mkhwanazi earned himself a cell in Grey Prison for a week in leg irons. Thanks to the intervention of Bekezela Maduma Fuzwayo for aŕranging legal representation. Other than just that representation Civil Society is once again quiet. These double standards by the Zimbabwe Civil Society are sickening.
We are observing all these things and making a Roll of Shame.
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