David Miliband

As a black child of Zimbabwe born in exile in 1980 I know how the safe haven of other nations contributed to the birth of Zimbabwe. Mozambique was a critical haven during the liberation war from then Rhodesia. Zambia was also a haven for President Mbeki when the apartheid regime was active. While in exile many black Rhodesians managed to get further education and although Britian was the mother of the former colonialists of Zimbabwe many African leaders today benefited from an education remotely or directly within the British borders Mugabe and Mbeki. The question about Britain being at fault for Zimbabwe’s issues can be addressed in part by the following analogy: A scar is obvious evidence of a wound but it does not heal by pecking at it. The rest of the body cannot live if attention on other organs that contribute to the body's functions are completely ignored. Yes, colonialism cannot be ignored but that is a wound that started healing 28 years ago. It is an old scar used as an excuse to hide bigger existing wounds that are self inflicted by Zimbabwe’s own government. What makes historical icons like Mandela great is that despite obvious pain and injustice their eye was set on the prize that lay ahead in the future. We ALL need each other to make the WHOLE world a better place as imperfect as our past or present may be. A leader leads forward not backwards. As it is Zimbabwe's economy is worse than it was back in the 1940s, pointedly worse than it has ever been! How then can Robert Mugabe claim to be a leader? How can he claim like he did in his 'campaign' that he wants to have total control? Control of what kind? I can't say I recall Mugabe addressing education, health, homelessness, violence, the brain drain and infrastructure in his campaign. If anything his campaign style is of a flare of childish insults. Trust DOES need to be earned. After the Unity Accord signed in 1987 by ZANU and ZAPU to unite the government can we really say we can trust Mugabe to respect unity in any government as proposed by the failing mediation attempts of Thabo Mbeki? Any failure by South Africa through Thabo Mbeki to resolve his neighbour's fire in Zimbabwe has direct implication on the precedence set for the future of the region and Africa as a whole. Zimbabweans do not expect South Africa to feed us with a spoon, recognition that your neighbour is facing the unacceptable alone sends a powerful message. Sometimes silence can be so loud and Zimbabwe’s neighbour is screaming loudly through Mbeki’s mute stance. At the G-8 summit Mbeki suggested that sanctions would lead to a civil war in Zimbabwe. What about the war on justice, peace and democracy in existence right now due to the lack of real action? It appears that Mandela, Tutu and COSATU have seen the light of the fire on their neighbour's roof though. ‘Zimbabwe’, directly translated means 'House of Stone'. This fire need not destroy the house but no attention will cause serious crumbling, those crumbling granules have already fallen into South Africa's yard, it is time to take care of the root causes of the destruction. South Africa shares many similarities in the birth of their nation to Zimbabwe. How this matter is resolved or the lack thereof has direct foresight into what might happen in Southern Africa's own future. If Zimbabwe was back on its feet food shortages, massive migration and the strain it provides, electricity shortages, violence and instability would be on the short list of issues addressed. A Shona saying goes: Set things straight now for what lies ahead is in darkness. Leadership needs to be cognizant of the fact that what they do or don't do now lays a path for tomorrow. In Mbeki's own words “Zimbabwe is not a province of South Africa” but with all the immigrants fleeing what is ailing Zimbabwe one wonders if there really is a border anymore. Put simply: spillover.

Posted by N Hodges on July 08, 2008 at 09:50 PM BST #

"there are few problems in Africa that will be solved without South Africa." John F Kennedy once wrote a book called "While England Slept". South Africa seems to be in a coma where the rest of Africa's concerned. Numpties like Thabo Mbeki need to get a grip.

Posted by Justin on July 10, 2008 at 02:11 PM BST #