Arresting NGO leaders. Searching for weapons in MDC houses. Hate speech on the TV. Good morning, Zimbabwe. ZANU (PF) doesn't change. It just changes tactics. And the little hope that was born with the unity government slowly gets eaten away.
Once again it seems things can only get worse before they get better. ZANU (PF) is deploying it militias again. Ready to beat people into submission in any referendums and elections. The hard liners seem in control. Running scared of being arrested for their crimes against humanity they would rather die in power with red blood caked on their iron-grip hands.
'Zvakadhakwa' is the saying on the streets. Literally, life is drunk. Pathetic. While the government is supposed to be creating decent jobs and providing affordable social services to the people of Zimbabwe it is instead eating itself. So Zimbabweans create their own petty jobs: selling air time cards and bananas for a dollar in our banana republic where we hope to buy air to breathe. Just scratch below the surface.
Back to the land of jacarandas. Hot streets paved with purple. Dry air. Passing cars. The Avenues.
On the road again. We've carried the word from festivals in Jo'burg to the shores of Cape Town. And now to Lesotho for the Southern African Social Forum.
It kicked off 2 weeks ago in Joburg with 5 shows in the space of a week. Comrade Fatso solo gigs. Explosive concerts with the band and Outspoken. And two conferences. Then from there me and Out carried our tired bodies to Cape Town for an activist summer school and a show. And now I'm back in Jozi waiting for the Zim delegation to arrive so that we can bus it to Lesotho for the Southern African Social Forum. We'll be building the case for regional solidarity for the Zimbabwe struggle at a huge forum of activists from across the region. Then the band arrive for the closing Resistance Concert on Thursday. Carrying the word folded in our overloaded suitcases. Ready for the region.
