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Sustainable Development and Violence
World Summit on Sustainable Development - was it relevant for Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe Civil Education Trust (ZIMCET)
September 10, 2002

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) whose curtain came down in South Africa on September 4, 2002 was hypocritical and irrelevant to Zimbabwe, as no one quizzed President Robert Mugabe about political violence. Despite Zimbabwe being geographically close to South Africa, the closest the deliberations were to Zimbabwe’s situation was Mugabe’s tired rhetoric reminding British Prime Minister Tony Blair "to keep his England and let me keep my Zimbabwe".

Before the majority of the delegates had packed their bags, just North of the Limpopo hundreds of would be candidates in the forthcoming local government elections had been left out of the race. Elections will not be conducted in more than seven hundred wards in district council elections as opposition candidates were either intimidated, some experienced violence or they were just barred by legalities introduced by the ZANU PF government. Government made it mandatory for all the candidates to have the more detailed birth documents-the long birth certificate. Not many among Zimbabwe’s older population have these birth documents that came with the advent of independence.

Ideally WSSD would have presented an opportunity for the full scrutiny of the issue of violence. The Zimbabwe Civic Education Trust (ZIMCET) is of the opinion that violence is just a symptom of more deep rooted problems which if not addressed, sustainable development will not see the light of day in Zimbabwe.

Sustainable development according to the Brundtland Commission has been defined as "Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." The needs of the present generation are hardly being met let alone those of future generations. The truth is that the present generation has mortgaged the future generation. This is evidenced by food insecurity, shortage of basic commodities, a collapsing health delivery system, high unemployment, high cost of living, the sprouting of squatter camps, human rights abuses and the muzzling of the independent press and any other voice deemed to be out of tune.

Perpetrators of violence find a source of income in violence. They can maim, even kill for a container of opaque beer the "scud". The perpetrators of the violence at times do not even know why they are involved in these acts as they are only messengers. ZIMCET therefore deplores the use of young members of society by political big wigs for their own selfish gains.

The leaders at the world summit failed to fully articulate issues such as rape, child abuse, abortion and gender equality. The event therefore raises eyebrows of a majority on whether it was just a talk shop or an opportunity for others to shop.

If African leaders are at all serious about the promotion and realisation of sustainable development, ZIMCET feels that the first step to be taken should be that of ensuring an environment that is conducive for the same. Such an environment should be democratic, peaceful and generally characterized by good governance. The summit should therefore have held the leaders accountable for the lack of commitment to sustainable development. The so-called solidarity with Zimbabwe by some African and third world countries is totally unacceptable in the face of collapsing democracy.

Visit the ZIMCET fact sheet

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