Changes for Zimbabwe

I VISITED Zimbabwe in June 1997.

I had been USQ’s Vice Chancellor since September 1996. We had a group of quality students in Harare and surrounding areas. A visit to them and their local agents seemed like a valuable thing to do.

I combined the visit with a side trip to Johannesburg where USQ also had students. It was, overall, an extremely instructive trip.

Those were the days before Zimbabwe went broke; President Mugabe appeared, then, to be peacefully leading the country.

The general atmosphere was civilised and orderly. We had excellent agents representing us and providing excellent services to our undergraduates.

My overwhelming impression of Harare was that it was like Toowoomba, lifestyle-wise and in terms of student opportunity.

I felt safe throughout my visit and my wife, who accompanied me, and I were extremely well looked after and made to feel very welcome.

I think the local scene began to change (for the worse) not long after our visit. I am not sure why that should have been and I don’t feel comfortable in trying to offer a commentary.

Maybe we didn’t read the signs but we certainly came away from Zimbabwe very confident of the future value of the market for USQ.

That just shows how hazardous international education can be. Things can change very quickly, and for many different reasons, some outside the control of the University.

However, yes, Harare in June 1997 was a decent place to deal with and I am very sad to see the way things have declined.

Zimbabwe people are obviously delighted to see the demise of Mugabe and I can only think of the many good, peaceful people who helped us out in those exciting, productive years.

Johannesburg was a different proposition. We arrived, with our hosts, at their very pleasant house in a very pleasant, prosperous suburb.

We noticed the eight feet high walls that surrounded it and our host’s warning “do not get out of the car until all entries to our garden are securely shut”.

Unlike in Harare, there was an air of concern and wariness wherever we went. People were very pleasant and welcoming... but very wary of who might be watching!

There were streets where it was not a good idea to stroll and a good idea to notice any fellow strollers! Maybe it was all in our own minds, but there was a general uneasiness.

Basically we did our business as quickly as possible and got on our way!

The one, and surprising, exception to the general air of tension was “down the road”, at Pretoria, less than one hour by car from Johannesburg.

It is the administrative capital of South Africa and the centre of many government departments.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the freedom to move around and the ease with which we could have a close look at administrative and other public buildings.

There was very little “security” and we were welcomed.

I really liked the place but I am very ready to believe that things have changed radically in the twenty years since my visit.

Overall I found South Africa very tense and I certainly would not wish to live there.

When my wife and I moved to Australia in 1971 one of the “rules” before we made the magic choice to move here was that we would go anywhere .... except South Africa!

We believed that regime, with its history of discrimination, was not one with which we would wish to be associated.

With the greatest respect to the many happy South Africans, I think we made the right decision!

South Africa, like Zimbabwe, is a very beautiful country. It would be even better by removal of prejudice based on the colour of a person’s skin.

I think the local scene began to change (for the worse) not long after our visit.