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The
Mbeki - Mugabe papers: A discussion document
Mail
& Guardian (SA)
August 31, 2001
http://www.mg.co.za/uploads/mbekimugabepapers.pdf
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Zimbabwe is
confronted by a number of problems that require urgent solutions.
For these solutions to be found, the first requirement is that the
people of Zimbabwe themselves should define the nature of the problems
that need to be addressed.
A correct characterization
of these problems is a necessary condition for their resolution.
Failure to carry
out this characterization must necessarily lead to the adoption
of wrong policies or the adoption of correct policies by accident.
The question
must arise - who shall carry out the complex task of elaborating
this correct and objective characterization of the problems facing
Zimbabwe!
Our view is that this task must be carried out by the party of revolution
- ZANU-PF - which has the capacity both to understand the
challenges facing all sectors of Zimbabwe society, and the ability
to play the vanguard role in addressing the interests of all these
sectors.
This Discussion
Document is a humble contribution to the work that ZANU-PF must
carry out. It will necessarily have all the deficiencies that emanate
from the fact that it is the work of outside observers who can only
make their observations from afar.
Nevertheless,
we must make the point that the challenges that ZANU-PF has faced
over the last 20 years are qualitatively no different from the situation
we face.
We too have
been and continue to be faced by the same imperatives and pressures.
As the party of revolution in Zimbabwe had to, so must we also respond
to these imperatives and pressures, which relate to the very reasons
for which the masses of the people.
The First Phase
of the National Democratic Revolution consisted in the struggle
for national liberation from foreign and white minority rule and
the establishment of an independent national democratic state.
Whatever the
problems at the time, it would be correct to say that the successful
conclusion of this phase constitutes a major victory of the national
liberation movement of Zimbabwe, with ZANU-PF at its helm.
However, we
must also observe that certain features of the First Phase were,
and are, of great significance with respect to the Second Phase
of the National Democratic Revolution. We refer here especially
to the matters of white property rights and the relative autonomy
of the state administration.
We will return to these matters later. At this stage, we would like
to reflect briefly on the issue of the central tasks of the Second
Phase of the National Democratic Revolution. These are:
- ending poverty
and underdevelopment especially among the formerly colonized masses;
- bridging
the disparities between the formerly colonized and the former
colonizers in terms of wealth, income and opportunity and de-racialising
the patterns of ownership of productive property;
- ensuring
that the economy grows and develops in a manner that can sustain
the two objectives above;
- further
entrenching democracy by ensuring the greater involvement of the
masses of the people in the system of governance, while ensuring
the continued allegiance of the masses of the people to the party
of revolution; and,
- securing
Zimbabwe's rightful place in Southern Africa, Africa and the rest
of the world, bearing in mind the objective circumstances brought
about by the process of globalization.
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