"Africa Unite".

"Africa Unite". By Rudzani Floyd Musekwa

“Africa Unite”, said Bob Marley a good few years ago.
As if he saw it coming, in his song titled Zimbabwe, Bob 'Nesta' Marley urged Africans, and all those listening to unite Zimbabwe, and back then things where not even as half bad as they are today.

The recent scandal of the MDC opting to not partake in the Zimbabwean election runoff should be seen by all as the last straw to how bad things have become in that country. Obviously we don't know what the real motive behind the decision by Tsvangirai is. The question is whether that decision is an innocent one, and that can be debated for many days to come.

The Zimbabwean situation has ceased to be a national or regional matter, and as far as I am concerned it is now an international issue because it is people, and not some untamed animals that are at stake here. We have heard statements by a certain faction of the African National Congress (ANC), and by some political parties, and their focus, unfortunately, is to an individual rather than the matter at stake.

Blaming Thabo Mbeki and his government is not going to help us as Africans in anyway. We need to unite as the people of the world and find a solution for the suffering majority in that country. The media, especially in South Africa, should also play its rightful role of being the voice for the voiceless and stop focussing on some angry young man that was not even famous 7 months ago and only became famous controversially.

The focus by the media for the whole week about what Julius 'Rotten mouth' Malema made me to think twice about what the role of journalism is. When we are faced with more important things like the Zimbabwean situation one expects some quality responsible journalism from our journalistic institutions. Today Zimbabweans face a bleak future as a result of Morgan Tsvangirai pulling out of the elections.

The media is supposed to be vigorously interrogating the underlying factors behind that decision. Is it an honest and innocent decision by the opposition party, or is what Mugabe always says about Morgan and his party true? Can there really be the force behind this whole thing? And why does Tsvangirai go and seek refuge in a foreign continent when we have so many countries here in our continent that can or are supposed to help?

Has he lost hope to his fellow leaders here? Why write an opinion piece in a British newspaper and not talk to his people through their accessible mediums? Mugabe is drunk with power right now, and that is a fact, but if an opposition is always going to play victim knowing that the people of the world are going to pity him then we might be having far more serious problems than we thought we had. Tsvangirai should try and solve problems not from a distance. Every time he goes away he is moving further away from his people.

First published by the Cape Times