INSIDE AFRICA

USAfrica View From Southern Africa Truth & Reconciliation in Southern Africa


Summary of Essay:
Since the release of Nelson Mandela and the nation's first all race elections in 1994, much has been done in South Africa to heal old wounds. It was understood that the 'Rainbow Nation' dream would never come about unless all was revealed about the past. A tortured national psyche is not a sound foundation for nation building. So began a formal process of Truth and Reconcilliation, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. The road has been a difficult one with testimony often so traumatic, as to move the audience to tears. The latest test sees the murderers of Chris Hani, pleaing for amnesty, arguing that the political motives of their actions entitles them to their freedom.

Beyond the horror of the war to achieve Zimbabwean independence in 1980, was a ray of light. Robert Mugabe, rather than chasing out the whites who had demonised and imprisoned him, invited them to stay. Seemingly, the worst of the redneck 'Rhodeys' emigrated with the rest of the Rhodesian diaspora. Clearly, the white Zimbabweans that remained felt a deep affinity with the land of their birth, sufficiently compelling to throw in their lot with the new black majority government. If those in power could tap the technical expertise and economic might of their white population, the nation would forge ahead as a beacon for other African nations.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, P.W. Botha led an apartheid regime backed ever futher by international opinion into a 'laager' mentality. The army had demonstrated its capacity to carry out operations in 'front-line states'. Enemies of apartheid filled the prisons, hoping not to pass away as a result of 'slipping on a bar of soap', 'falling down the stairs' or some other self inflicted condition. Special units were employed to eliminate elements of resistance. Others worked at dividing the African community, to the extent of arming and tr# aining Inkatha militias to fight A.N.C. supporters. Nelson Mandela, reluctantly, still called Robben Island his home. Yet, the breath of hope was borne on chilly Cape winds, whispering words of freedom.
Sadly, for Zimbabwe, it wasn't long before tribalism reared its ugly head. Mugabe employed North Korean instructors to train his 'Fifth Brigade', composed mainly of Shona recruits from Zanla, his independence struggle army. They were deployed in Matabeleland to crush the 'dissidents'. These were mainly ex-Zipra soldiers (the Ndebele equivalent of Zanla), reacting to the persecution of ZAPU (the political voice of the Ndebele people) supporters. Mugabe's ZANU party sought to portay the dissidents as a ZAPU attempt to seize what they had failed to achieve in earlier elections. Shona speaking people form a majority of Zimbabwe's population, with IsiNdebele speaking people at around fifteen percent. In March this year the Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice presented their report to Robert Mugabe, detailing the horror of the years 1982-87. While it's true that dissidents were responsible for atrocities of their own design, these were small in scale to the retribution taken by the Fifth Brigade forces. The report chronicles a trail of systematic murder of thousands, of sadistic torture, destruction of villages and crops leading to starvation. Mugabe has been loathe to comment on the period, warning of "mischief makers" who seek to "wreck our national unity"# . Nor is Joshua Nkomo eager to enter the debate. Following his power sharing agreement with Mugabe in 1987, the ZANU (PF) party was formed. In his senile dotage Nkomo remains vice-president of the nation. He and the ex-ZAPU men now in power are widely reviled by the Ndebele people for growing fat at their expense, and that of the truth. While working in Matabeleland I sensed that the population of those provinces are tired of war and in no hurry to renew the fighting of that period. The scars of the dissident period are near to invisible, yet they still burn. Within the culture of fear that continues to permeate that society, people are reluctant to discuss past events in too open a forum. In more private circumstances, the valves are loosened and the pain released.
One of the more respected figures in Matabeleland is ex-mayor of Bulawayo Joshua Malinga. "The word 'I'm sorry' or apology in Africa is not expressed in words only but also in actions", he said. "You don't do something wrong to me and say you are sorry like what whites do. We Africans don't do that. When you say you are sorry, I must see an expression in your face, voice and tone. Mugabe and his friends in ZANU should have apologised a long time ago by way of seeing chiefs and going around the country to apologise and setting up projects to help## the victims recover. What happened here in Matabeleland, people will not forgive until they get an apology"#.
Since the release of Nelson Mandela and the nation's first all race elections in 1994, much has been done in South Africa to heal old wounds. It was understood that the 'Rainbow Nation' dream would never come about unless all was revealed about the past. A tortured national psyche is not a sound foundation for nation building. So began a formal process of Truth and Reconcilliation, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. The road has been a difficult one with testimony often so traumatic, as to move the audience to tears. The latest test sees the murderers of Chris Hani, pleaing for amnesty, arguing that the political motives of their actions #entitles them to their freedom.
Visiting South Africa in 1994 I found a country still grapling with its past. Apartheid related problems will continue to haunt South Africa for generations. But at least, I thought, people are talking candidly and generally with an open mind about the past. Therein lies the hope that the dream of a Rainbow nation may one day come to fruition.
I believe South Africa has come much further in the seven years since Nelson Mandela was released than Zimbabwe has since independence, in dealing with the past. Whites in Zimbabwe understand Africans no better than they did way back then, and vice-versa. As described, the tribal pot continues to simmer. Many would argue that Mugabe prefers it this way. By concentrating the people's attention on t#´heir mutual antagonisms and fears, his power and the bungling of his government remains less likely to be chalenged. This may well be true.
Still, I believe that Mugabe is a vain man with an eye to the history books. He may yet realise that future critics will judge him as another African despot, scarred by Fifth Brigade activities in Matabeleland. Apology, as Malinga suggests, or a process of Truth and Reconcilliation pose grave risks to those in power in Zimbabwe. But for Mugabe and Zimbabwe, such action remains the only way forward.
Hodge is an avid traveller who spent three years as an Australian Volunteer Abroad, teaching in Zimbabwe. Currently he teaches at an International School north of Melbourne. He will write this regular column exclusively for USAfricaonline.com and USAfrica The Newspaper.

by Peter Hodge, Contributing editor & Columnist