Posted on 7-1-2001
Zimbabwe's
Black Days
by Cathy Buckle
On Tuesday a 24 year old farm manager, Duncan Cook, was attacked
in the
fields of the farm where he works. He was slashed across the
right side of
his forehead with a machete by a government official.The photograph
of this
man, barely out of school, deathly pale, lying in blood saturated
bedding
with a massive line of stitches from his right ear to his eyebrow
has left
me in deep, deep shock. Please visit my website to see this
for yourselves,
to see that violence on farms in Zimbabwe has not stopped and
that every
day the farmers of our country are literally risking their lives
to keep
putting food on our tables. Their desperate attempts, against
overwhelming
obstacles are not enough though. Too many farmers have now been
chased off
their farms, too many have been told they may not grow food
and people are
already starving. On Tuesday this week the Daily News reported
that two
children died of starvation in Hwange on a farm where people
have been
resettled. A relative of the deceased children said: "There
is no maize
meal in the shops. More people will die, especially children,
because we
are going for days without food." Shop owners in the area confirmed
that
they have stopped selling maize meal because they are making
serious losses
due to the price controls on the staple food.
While people are now literally starving to death, our President
and 7618
delegates held their annual Zanu PF congress in the Victoria
Falls. The
Zimbabwe Independent estimates the cost of the transport and
accommodation
alone to have been Z$440 million. The gap between the rich and
the poor is
now an enormous chasm. This week it was officially announced
that
Zimbabwe's inflation rate hit 103,8%. This is the first time
in the
history of our country that inflation has gone into three digits
and it has
become almost impossible for most of us to survive. Newly re
settled
farmers this week told the Financial Gazette that they were
having to sell
the fertilizer and seed maize they had been given by the government
under
the fast track land re-distribution scheme. One settler said:
"What will I
be living on until next year...? If I manage to sell some of
the fertilizer
to make a living and send my three children to school then I
do not see
anything wrong with that..." Zimbabwe's new farmers simply do
not have the
resources to grow the food needed to support 13 million people.
I shudder
to think what we will be facing by this time next year.
So why do I stay here? Why are so many farmers, now holding
90 day eviction
notices, still staying in the country? Why are farmers who have
not been
allowed to farm for more than 6 months still here? Why are men
and women,
black and white, who have been tortured, beaten and raped, still
here? So
many people ask me why I bother, why I don't just leave Zimbabwe.
Let me
speak only for myself. I was born and went to school and university
here. I
have lived here all my life and my son was born and is being
educated here.
My neighbourhood is a mixture of black and white people. My
friends are a
mixture of black and white people. My son goes to a multi racial
school and
as I write he is playing with his best friend Brian who has
a different
skin colour to him. I stay here because it is my home and it
is my right. I
stay here because 85 people have died to give me a free and
democratic
government. I stay here because I believe in my country and
her people. I
stay here because I know that 99% of Zimbabweans want me to
be here. I
speak out because so many hundreds of thousands are unable to
do so and we
all know this will not last. As the laws close in on us, every
word becomes
harder and more dangerous to write or speak. Throwing a stone
at a
government building will soon attract a 10 years prison term.
Giving food
to a starving person without government permission may also
land me in
gaol. Writing letters like these will soon be a punishable offence
but I
will continue to speak out as long as I am able. This week a
new radio
station began broadcasting to and for Zimbabwe. SW Radio Africa
at 6145 khz
on the 49 metre band is telling us the truth every night from
6 - 9pm. The
tears ran down my face as I listened to their first broadcast
and the
closing message, sung by and for Zimbabweans was: "Hold on,
just a little
bit longer." I must close by thanking all the hundreds of people
who
continue to give me moral and emotional support. Without you
I would have
given up. I wish you all a peaceful Christmas with family and
friends and
hope we may all see an end to the terror that has become the
way of life in
2002. To all my Zimbabwean friends and family - Hold on just
a little bit
longer.
http://africantears.netfirms.com
|