Zimbabwe needs SA's help now, not just talk

Zimbabwe needs SA's help now, not just talk

The Times, SA

Published:Oct 29, 2007

Having just returned from Zimbabwe, we are shocked at the disparity between
the news reports and the real situation on the ground.

The government has succeeded in transforming a 20th century country into an
18th century country.

Both Harare and Bulawayo have not had running tap water for months. Power
failures are a daily occurrence. Telephones, both land lines and cells,
hardly work.

Shops' shelves are 95percent empty. Within the last week, that situation has
deteriorated because local producers who were still in business have stopped
production. This is due to the government's price intervention and
inflation.

The streets are lined with police in full riot gear. We witnessed armed
soldiers with fixed bayonets in the street.

Daily life for the majority starts with trying to find food and water for
the day. Levels of desperation are very high.

We travelled from Harare to Kariba by road . During the 450km journey, we
saw one farm with crops and reasonable cattle. The rest, including houses
and tobacco barns, were burnt to the ground. Small villages exist with small
patches of maize and vegetables.

Pubs, hotels and restaurants had no drinks . In Kariba, we managed to buy
five cold drinks, the entire stock, from a black-market supplier.

The people are desperate and dying but cannot rise up because of the police
and military presence in the streets. The situation is terrible.

Sanctions will not help because they import nothing anyway.

If we, as a country, stand for human rights, as our constitution dictates,
then we must act and act now. Lives are being lost every day that we sit and
talk, as happened in Rwanda. - Anon, by e-mail


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Survivors or should that be Stupids!
    ... coming to an end, and the government... ... this would be patrolling the streets and calling up all reserves. ... There would have been more than enough survivors to keep the country running ... The power distribution grid would be a mess, ...
    (rec.arts.drwho)
  • Re: NBC: Just For You Joe
    ... South Korea they take to the streets en mass because of BEEF IMPORTS! ... I hardly recognize this country anymore. ... That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled across ...
    (rec.music.artists.springsteen)
  • Re: You Tell Em Garr
    ... streets at all times. ... he'd made of his life, but he fought off reform with Jim Beam, and the ... The bad boys of radio, he and Howard and Johnny J and the Big Honk, ... Occupant has done to this country, a man who lends new richness to the ...
    (soc.senior.issues)
  • Re: Survivors or should that be Stupids!
    ... soldier on the streets to maintain vital public services. ... Yer, like ... The milkmen, the post office workers, the ... keep the country running even if 99% of the population had died off. ...
    (rec.arts.drwho)
Loading