Zimbabwe Absurdity

Last Thursday as battles apparently raged between riot police and disaffected youth of the opposition, I was in Avondale installing software for a potential client. I was warned not to go into town but as I drove out the gate I was struck by the absence of anything untoward. No racing vehicles full of battle weary police, no chanting crowds or distant gunshots, no pall of smoke from burning barricades. Just business as usual.

In discussing the ongoing unrest with my next door neighbour she mentioned that her black staff (well educated) were seemingly waiting for someone else to  do something. I said that I thought that if the opposition did not seize the moment it would soon pass, the momentum would fade and nothing would be achieved.

It seems that this has happened and Bob has won another round. Not stupid is our Robert Gabriel. He knows that he just has to see each “event” past a few days and it all falls apart again. So on we go with the daily survival experiment. I am amazed that people who had no trouble at all picking up a weapon in what is now referred to as the Second Chimurenga (the independence war) are sitting around in a far more challenging situation just waiting for someone else to do make the changes for them. No, we should not underestimate the determination/brutality of the Mugabe government but you don’t argue with a million people on the streets. Just ask Caucescu et al.