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Criminal Negligence
Albert Gumbo
June 16, 2003
I picked up
the following quote from the movie Anna and the King. Forgive me
if I get it wrong: "Some people see the world as they are,
some see it for what it is."
I suspect Thabo
Mbeki falls into the former category and so do the thousands of
Zimbabweans who failed to heed the call to voice their displeasure
about the state of affairs in our country. Equally so, those who
remain mute in the face of the continued detention of the man they
voted for. It is one thing to cast your vote and lose a free and
fair election Democracy dictates that you accept the result. It
is another to have your vote stolen and do nothing about it, especially
if your choice is languishing in jail because he spoke up for you.
Fear dictates your reaction. Then there are the Mbekis of this world,
for whom re-inventing (and rehabilitating?) the African means that
Africans may not be accused of corrupt practices and certainly not
of dictatorship. Mbeki is seeing the world as he is: A product of
the struggle who spent most of his life in exile and therefore does
not understand the real African of the township. The struggle continues,
my foot! His leadership style is therefore prescriptive and when
he writes this prescription, it is based on a biased diagnosis anyway.
I suspect he will be making a fine and eloquent June 16 commemoration
speech today. The apathetic middle class in Zimbabwe fall into the
same category, except that their prescription is self diagnosed
and it is called fear.
Everyone in
this country, including the most loyal of loyalty knows what the
state of the country is but as Paul Simon wrote: "Still a man
hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." The result
is the Mbekis, Pahads, Zumas *2, and the middle class choose to
see the situation as they are.
The spirit of
Ubuntu says: " I am because we are." Desmond Tutu adds:
"When you dehumanize me, you dehumanize yourself." Mbeki
doesn’t get it, nor do the middle class. The upper class, by the
way is generally speaking, too comfortable to worry. They might
as well rattle their jewellery in applause/disgust depending on
how they see the world.
Ok. Let's get
positive. "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the
acknowledgement that something is more important than that fear."
- Is it right
that your neighbour should beat their spouse and you keep quiet?
- Is it right
that you neighbour should abuse their children and you keep quiet?
- Is it right
that your neighbour should abuse his pets and you keep quiet?
- Is it right
that your neighbour should leave his taps running all day and
you keep quiet?
This is not
a guilt trip. It is about seeing the world for what it really is
and doing something about it. You may ask why you should
make it your business to do anything about "things that do
not concern you." Well actually they do. Firstly, for you to
be where you are today is because thousands of youngsters woke up
one morning, left home heading for countries they did not know and
came back to help liberate the country so that you and I could be
where we are today. If those youngsters had not made that move,
citing fear, career, wife and children, parents and the crop waiting
to be harvested, you might still be deciding whether to go into
exile or not as most of you are doing today. Instead, you are comfortable.
Equal rights and justice should not be something the working class
fights and dies for and the middle class enjoys. It is not right.
Secondly, it
is simply the right and natural thing to do. Human beings are by
nature the only animals that deliberately seek out activities that
might be dangerous for their well being: Whether it is climbing
Mount Everest "because it is there" or standing up for
human rights, you cannot escape the fact that human beings are the
authors and should be the masters of their destinies. It is about
choice. God gave Adam and Eve a choice. The same applied to Noah,
Moses, Hitler and PW Botha. The middle class has a choice. Instead
of preaching ad nauseum about the naivete of the opposition, why
don’t you get involved? Surely if you have the know- how you should
be getting involved? How sustainable is your attitude? Is it not
possible that one day the daily quest for survival will turn poor
against rich instead of activist against oppressor?
Choosing to
keep quiet about the current situation is choosing a cowardly form
of self preservation and yes you might still be alive and prosperous
10 years from now you while "the heroes die" as so many
have done for you all your life, but then that is also nature. Parasites
do exist. Except, parasites are a lower form of animal life. Ouch,
that was harsh but so is prison and torture for those who are "dying"
to make your life better. Africa will not re-invent itself without
a change in mind set. The world does not owe us anything anymore.
It is not what prison did to Mandela, it is what Mandela did with
what prison did to him. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade!
Look yourself in the mirror and ask: What am I do consciously and
deliberately doing to help secure the future of my country?
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