Promoting Understanding and Peace

BULAWAYO SOUTH ROTARY CLUB

Ladies and Gentlemen

Rotary has a proud history of promoting understanding and peace in the world and as I understand the position it is one of your prime objectives. I first had a taste of Rotary’s role of promoting understanding and peace in 1985 when I was fortunate enough to be a member of a group study exchange team to the United States. Two South Africans, two Zimbabweans and one Malawian made for an interesting combination.

One of the South African team members was extremely conservative, just right of Attila the Hun. Our team leader as well was not particularly impressed by any notions that there was life after apartheid. There was one black Zimbabwean and one black Malawian and I was very much wet behind the ears having recently graduated from the University of Cape Town, or little Moscow on the hill as it was quaintly described by the Bureau of State Security in South Africa, and thus was a lily livered liberal.

At the time South Africa was in great trauma. Whilst we were in the United States there were daily reports of violence and increasing unrest. Because of this the Americans wanted to know what was going on and we very soon had to agree on the tour that we would not comment on each other’s internal affairs. Accordingly the analysis of what was going on in South Africa was left to our South African team members who insisted that 99% of the people were happy and that the unrest was caused by a small clique of agitators. Of course it was untrue and history has borne that out. Truth is stubborn and will come out. It cannot be silenced permanently like a person. However at the time it required immense restraint on behalf of the non-South African members of the team to keep quite.

I learnt a great deal from that tour and despite our obvious political differences at the end of the tour we had established firm friendships both amongst ourselves and with our American hosts. Dialogue performed wonders in establishing friendships. Indeed it is dialogue which promotes understanding. Dialogue and understanding are prerequisites of peace. And peace is a prerequisite for development. If my logic is correct as we look at our own country Zimbabwe and the region as a whole the promotion of peace is fundamental to the success of the structural adjustment program and development.

Since 1985 we have been fortunate in the region to witness a steady progression towards peace. In Zimbabwe a unity accord was signed in 1987 and that was followed by a transition to dialogue and democracy in South Africa and Mozambique.

My concern however is whether we are building true peace, whether we are building sustainable peace in the Region and especially in Zimbabwe.

Martin Luther King once said “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice”. I believe that this statement gives us another prerequisite to peace, namely the presence of justice. I think that we can say with confidence that peace is founded on understanding of each other’s problems and the presence of justice in any country.

Applying those principles to Zimbabwe can we say with any confidence that true peace is entrenched in our society. Are we secure in feeling that the absence of conflict which characterises our society at present will last? I fear that there are serious cracks appearing in our society which could result in the superficial peace we have at present being destroyed. I would like to touch on a few areas of concern this afternoon as I believe that there are ways that Rotary and Rotarians can promote in bringing about true peace in our country.

The first area of concern relates to the effects of structural adjustment and the resultant widening gap between rich and poor. Zimbabweans are long suffering and to that extent the economic suffering felt by many in this country has not resulted in serious civil unrest. It is interesting to note that through history different peoples have endured great sufferings without resorting to civil unrest and yet other peoples have rioted without being subjected to much suffering at all. An obvious example of the former is given in the fortitude shown by both British and German people in the face of catastrophic bombing. The people showed tremendous resilience and got on with their lives without complaining. I am sure that the reason for that was because of their perception that everyone had to tighten their belts together including the leadership of the country. Certainly the photographs of the King and Queen and the Prime Minister walking the streets of London reinforced this perception in the minds of many. As a result in the midst of immense destruction there was true peace amongst the British people if not between themselves and their German enemies. That true peace came from their perception that justice was present in their own country. The danger in Zimbabwe is that many poor people perceive that they are the only ones who have to tighten their belts. One of the ironic consequences of structural adjustment is that consumer goods are more readily available to tempt people; to remind people of what they are missing out on. When poor people are battling to buy a loaf of bread and they do not see expensive consumer items on shop shelves then the perception in their minds is that all people are suffering. However when they are struggling to buy bread and they see others driving around in flashy new cars there is bound to be a perception that there is an injustice somewhere.

The problem is ultimately an economic one and I do not propose to offer solutions today. It is for Government to address the economic problems this country faces. However if we as individuals and Rotarians are to promote peace we must start with ourselves. Perhaps this is just a token suggestion: I think that all people who are reasonably well off need to consider, for example, how much they pay their domestic workers. Have we stopped to consider who much it costs to buy a loaf of bread or a pint of milk these days? Even if we are paying over the minimum wage is what we are paying sufficient for our domestic workers to survive?

The second concern I have is more parochial in that it concerns the suffering of the people of Matabeleland. The March edition of Moto has just come out and the headline is “More Bones”. If ever Martin Luther King’s statement had application to any situation it does in relation to the horrors perpetrated against the people of Matabeleland and Midlands during the period 1982 to 1987 by dissidents and members of the Zimbabwe National Army. Moto in its editorial admits that it will be accused of opening painful old wounds but it states that it is necessary that the story be told and I agree. There is undoubtedly in Matabeleland an absence of overt tension regarding this issue. Government has persistently tried to sweep the issue under the carpet but it forgets that the issue is still very much alive in the minds of many people in Matabeleland and Midlands. Until there is a just resolution to the problem we cannot hope to have true peace in this part of the country and therefore Zimbabwe.

I am aware that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who suffered at the hands of both dissidents and members of the Zimbabwe National Army. It is important to stress that people suffered in the hands of both and to that extent this is not a political issue. Just last Friday I paid my first visit to New Adams Farm since the massacre which occurred there on November 25th 1987. A memorial has been set up to those who lost their lives on that terrible night. Those people were killed by dissidents not members of the National Army. There are unresolved issues arising from those murders. Likewise there are hundreds of others who still to this day do not know where their husbands are, who cannot get birth certificates, who no longer have bread winners and so cannot send their children to school. Concerns like these fester and until a commitment is made by Government to compensate people who have suffered there will not be true peace.

The President is on record as stating that too much concern has been shown towards those who suffered during this period and that not enough concern has been shown for those who died or suffered during the liberation struggle. With respect to the President that statement is not true. In 1980 the Government enacted the War Victims Compensation Act (Act 22 of 1980) which allows any people who suffered during the liberation struggle to claim compensation. I believe that Government needs to commit itself to amending the War Victims Compensation Act to enable people who suffered between 1982 and 1987 to claim compensation. If Government takes this step then we may be able to say that justice is present in our society. Then wounds can heal and true peace will result.

What can you as Rotarians do about this? Well obviously it is a very hot political issue but there is a personal side to this. Individuals have suffered and if Government will not compensate then perhaps organisations like Rotary and Lions should consider raising funds to support victims.

The third and final issue I wish to address today which I believe threatens true peace is the resurgence of racial tensions in Zimbabwe. In just yesterday’s Sunday Mail Mr Bornwell Chakaodza, the Director of Information of the Government of Zimbabwe wrote an article entitled “No Vicious Race Campaign in Zimbabwe”. Mr Chakaodza, for those of you who did not read the article, was responding to a February the 5th Reuter entitled “Zimbabwe Race Campaign Hitting Investors”. The Reuter article stated that a campaign to excite racial animosity was hurting Zimbabwe’s investment drive and may well affect the forthcoming Paris Donors Conference. Whilst I am the first to conceive that there is still a good deal of racism in this country I have been appalled by what appears on the surface at least to be campaign orchestrated by Government to raise racial tensions. What Mr Chakaodza omitted in his article was the fact that this debate was first started by Vice-President Nkomo way back in September 1993 when very serious threats were levelled at minority communities in Zimbabwe. Since then others have jumped on the band wagon to such an extent that much of the racial harmony in this country, such as it was, has been undermined.

It is no use complaining about what has happened. It is important that we deal with the issue now. As I stated at the beginning of this talk two fundamental prerequisites for peace are understanding and the presence of justice. Those prerequisites must be applied to the Zimbabwean situation if we are to have true racial harmony and peace.

We in the white community must learn to acknowledge the role that we have played in undermining racial harmony. On our part it often boils down to a lack of understanding. I think one of the greatest tragedies of the Colonial area was that most of us were not taught to speak a local language. I did a smattering of Shona at University but cannot say that I am in any way fluent in either Shona or Ndebele. As I said earlier without dialogue it is very hard to achieve understanding. Without any knowledge of the language spoken in the home by the majority it is very difficult for us to have meaningful dialogue with our fellow citizens. This is something I think that Rotary could address in promoting peace. Would it not send a signal to our fellow citizens if minority groups, encouraged by organisations such as Rotary, made an effort to embark on mass language courses so that more of us could engage in meaningful dialogue.

Likewise it is necessary that we understand that there is an unjust situation prevailing in the country. That black people, for a variety of reasons, have been prejudiced because of history. There is a need for some form of affirmative action. There is injustice and there is a need for justice to become more present. However I do not believe that justice regarding this issue can come about through the stirring up of racial tension and the ad hoc and peace meal allocation of resources to disadvantaged people who in many cases are not that disadvantaged. Both the South African and the Namibian Constitution have provisions which allow for a structured legal framework in which affirmative action can take place. In Zimbabwe we need a legislative framework; we need constitutional amendments to facilitate an orderly affair program of affirmative action and I believe that privileged minority groups should be coming up with ideas in this regard and that this in itself will promote peace.

In conclusion may I encourage you as Rotarians to continue the wonderful work you do. However it is important that you do not shy away from the serious issues confronting Zimbabwe and the region. Whilst group study exchanges with countries far away are vital in the promotion of world understanding and peace these must not be embarked upon to the neglect of promoting understanding and peace in our own country and region.

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