Don’t believe gold will never rust

AS THE NEWS broke that President Robert Mugabe – one of the leading African revolutionaries in modern history – is under house arrest in an apparent coup led by his army, one was reminded of a famous quote: “If gold rusts, what will iron do?”

Mugabe corrected this statement and said: “Pure gold does not rust. It was iron which had been mistaken for gold.”

It is a tragedy that Mugabe’s rule had to end like this. There are few people with better revolutionary credentials than that of Mugabe. His was the icon of the revolutionary struggle in Zimbabwe. He spent 10 years in prison for his political beliefs.

After independence, he started a massive programme to educate his people and that is why Zimbabwe has one of the highest literacy rates on the continent.

He was firm in his opposition to imperialism. He was one of those few African leaders who had vowed to die defending his independence than to live on his knees as a beggar, living on charity from the West. “I bow to one God, and he is in heaven,” Mugabe once proudly said.

There is no doubt that in his earlier years, Mugabe ran a good administration that ensured that Zimbabweans were in full control of their country. He gave Zimbabweans dignity and was unapologetic in giving his people their birthright – the land. He gave his people national pride.

However, in the latter years, he started making serious mistakes that undermined much of the good works that he had implemented earlier when he ended British colonial rule in 1980.

Many of Mugabe’s serious blunders can be traced to his young wife, Grace. Perhaps because of age, he was beginning to be too reliant on the first lady for most of his political decisions.

Grace was too ambitious and she started a campaign to purge all possible contenders to the throne. The purge of senior Zanu-PF leaders started a few years ago. Mugabe had a fallout with senior Zanu-PF stalwarts such as Ibbo Mandaza, General Solomon Mujuru, Didymus Mutasa and many others. However, the expulsion of Mugabe’s long-time pillar and ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was the last straw.

Mnagwagwa was the real power behind the Mugabe throne. He is trusted by the military and the entire security apparatus in the country.

The economic mismanagement of later years by Mugabe and his administration drove millions of Zimbabweans into exile. People with university degrees were forced to do menial jobs in South Africa such as gardening, being petrol attendants or working as waiters.

Back in Zimbabwe, the economy continued to slide to such a degree that the local currency became completely useless. The state was essentially bankrupt.

The health service in the country collapsed. Unemployment reached record levels and inflation was so high that it could no longer be recorded, because it was expressed in millions.

And while ordinary Zimbabweans were trapped in poverty and unemployment, the ruling Zanu-PF elites were living in luxury. Grace was the modern day-version of Imelda Marcos, the wife of Filipino dictator and the kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos.

While Mugabe continued with his anti-imperialist rants against Britain and other Western countries, Grace continued with her addiction to shopping in London, Paris and Singapore. And when Mugabe needed medical treatment, he did not worry that health care had collapsed in Zimbabwe, jetting off to Singapore and Malaysia for medical treatment.

There was huge social distance between him and his people. Only the military kept him in power. But when he moved against one of their own – Mnangagwa – the military turned on Mugabe.

As the Azanian People’s Organisation (Azapo), we welcome the intervention of the military to end the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe.

There are lessons for Azania (South Africa) from the Zimbabwean experience.

The most important lesson is that the masses, and not the ruling aristocrats, should be the defenders of the gains of the revolution.

Ordinary people, and not the elites, should be the guardians of our revolution. As people, we should not be passive recipients of benefits from the government. We should play an active role in shaping the direction of our country.

As it is, many of our people have surrendered the responsibility of holding the government to account to the politicians. The politicians become the referee and the player. The attitude is that the politicians know what is good for the masses and all that the masses should do is to vote every five years and then give the politicians a blank cheque to spend as they like.

According to Statistics SA, more than half of South Africans live in poverty. The number of those in poverty is actually rising, according to Stats SA.

Unemployment is also rising. While the official rate of unemployment is at about 26%, the labour movement argues that the actual figure is as high as 40%, because most people who are unemployed have given up and no longer apply for jobs, believing that there are no prospects of a job.

In addition to unemployment, many people in rural areas lack basic needs, such as water. You would think that as a government that claims to champion the plight of the “poorest of the poor”, we would be moved by these shocking statistics. No. Billions of rand are unaccounted for and lost through corruption and mismanagement, according to the Auditor-General.

As if that is not enough, the government is pushing ahead with the nuclearbuild programme, despite the fact that the country cannot afford it.

The rot in Zimbabwe can be traced to the throttling of the opposition – the whipping of Zapu’s Joshua Nkomo into submission and forcing him to join Zanu-PF. Despite regular elections, there was no real opposition in Zimbabwe that enabled the population to hold the ruling class accountable.

The insecurity of tenure is an important driver of accountability. When a ruling political party is not guaranteed of victory in an election, there is an incentive to respond to the needs of the majority. Zanu-PF would have been a better ruling party had they not destroyed the opposition.

As in Zimbabwe, in South Africa too there is a stampede to join the governing party. While this may have short-term benefits, such as good jobs and state tenders, in the long-term it will weaken the opposition to such an extent that there is no incentive for the governing party to treat the population with respect.

A Zanu-PF politician once boasted that you can put a Zanu-PF sticker on a donkey and that donkey will win over any opposition candidate in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe is in ruins because the masses put too much trust in the ruling elite, which has resulted in the country being destroyed. It was much easier to destroy than to build.

We, south of Limpopo, can take some lessons from our neighbours in the north. But the key lesson is that the masses should be active participants in shaping their destiny. It is not enough to believe gold will never rust. How sure are we what we see glittering in front of us is gold? Thokoane is the president of Azapo. He was in exile in Zimbabwe for more than 10 years