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Message to all Zimbabweans in South Africa from Simba Makoni President 2008
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February 29, 2008

There cannot be a better moment for the people of Zimbabwe to reflect on their lives and society than this past weekend when some of our compatriots celebrated 84 years of our President's life. Indeed it is a great moment because, if these celebrations are honestly understood for what they truly represent, no one should be left in any doubt that we are indeed witnessing an end of an era, and are sitting at the edge of a new Dawn/Kusile/Mavambo.

It is a new dawn because the old is giving way to the new. It is an inevitability that only the naïve would dispute. It is a new dawn not because we have planned it this way, but because it is what nature desires.

For the past eight years, this country has witnessed crisis after crisis. The fall of Robert Mugabe's government has been a constant matter for speculation for a long time, but the events of the past twelve months have lunged the president's stock so low that the question which now dominates discussion among many in every quarter in our society, is how long can the President continue to deny the inevitability. It is not just his enemies who believe that the end is nigh, but the solid center of ZANU-PF is rapidly coming to the same conclusion. Even those he can still count on as friends and allies admit as much in private, whatever their protestations of loyalty in public.

President Mugabe has shown a great deal of resilience over the years, but the truth is that we know enough of his weaknesses and we have come to one simple conclusion; that he and those around him are incapable of mounting a credible strategy for a sustained recovery of this country. He and his team have dug one big hole and they are sitting in there unsure how to claw their way out. Moreover, the truth is that this government is unable to draw a line of their mistakes and start again.

All attempts for economic recovery have failed largely because of this government's desire to depict principle when all around it is crumbling. In any other enterprise that has not faired well, the first questions that would be asked are; "who is in charge here? Who has been making decisions?" One great achievement of this government is that it has been able to deflect these questions, and instead has masterly transferred blame to any other person within sight, but never itself. Scapegoats have been found at every turn.

But the ruling party's mistake has been the shifting political terrain. The leadership of this country has arrogantly assumed that the electorate has remained constant in their attitudes and aspirations, and yet every one of us hates what we see around us. We are ashamed of what we have become, a laughing stock around the world. We are ashamed because we walk with our eyes closed because we do not want to face our reality.

Yes, we have been badly governed, but at this same time we now have a great opportunity to harness this hate which is born out of frustration, so that we transfer it into happiness which comes from the knowledge that our society is on the verge of a dramatic change for the better.

One great triumph of this year's election is that the electorate and not politicians are marking the political terrain. The people of this country have had enough of a mediocre existence, are now focused on one thing - CHANGE. This desire for change is being shaped by the new realities in Zimbabwean politics. For far too long now, there have been an assumption that the political terrain is a battlefield for two parties, ZANU (PF) and MDC. This has emanated from a mindset has been deliberately allowed to emerge that thinks in pairs.

For ZANU (PF) a single opposition in a more or less two party system is a creature that is desirable, because it is to defeat. And for the commentators the distinction between the two protagonists is much easier to explain, yet the electorate have moved dramatically further. They see politics three dimensionally. The electorate is the third force that is bound to change the face of Zimbabwe's politics for good.

This is going to be a great year for the people of Zimbabwe, like one politician put it, "those seeking real reform must choose between a party that looks over its shoulder and one that looks over the horizon".

Support in cash or kind from Zimbabweans in South Africa is welcome. For financial support we have set up a trust account:

Cheadle Thompson and Haysom Trust Account:
Bank: First National Account
Branch code: 251905
Account: 62015395397
Swift code: FIRNZAJJ950
Reference Number: SMFC01

MAVAMBO KUSILE DAWN

SIMBA MAKONI PRESIDENT 2008
simbamakonipresident2008@gmail.com

Simba Kuvanhu! Simba Ebantwini! Simba for the People!

Let's Get Zimbabwe Working Again

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