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Will statesmanship ever come?
My observation of politics is that you get three types of people operating in this profession. The first - and most rare - is the Statesman who puts the welfare of the country and all its people above that of himself and his party. A prime example of such a person is Nelson Mandela, our much beloved 'Madiba'.
Then you get the straight line politician who enters the profession in the belief that he/she can make a difference. This is the professional type who studies Political Science or some other related degree and tries his or her best to do the job in the best interests of the electorate. Such people play a valuable role in society and are a credit to their profession and their country. A prime example of such a person is our former Minister of Transport, Mac Maharaj.
Then you get the third type - and unfortunately there are many of these in Africa. They are the small minded, selfish, tatty little people who call themselves politicians but who are, in fact, a disgrace and embarrassment to their profession and their countries. The actions of these people are normally cleverly disguised as being in the best interests of the country and its people but in truth, are structured around self vested agendas designed to entrench positions of power and fill already bulging pockets rather than enhance the lives of the electorate. A prime example of such a person is Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.
After a recent visit to this country, I came away amazed at how one man can isolate himself so totally from the reality of the damage he has, and is, causing. This once admired 'leader' is on a sole mission to keep himself in power no matter what the cost to the country or the region. And the costs are proving to be very high with the country being in dire straits on many fronts.
A recent study by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries reports that at least 400 Zimbabwean manufacturing companies closed last year while 750 companies laid off nearly 10 000 workers. The latest company to close its doors is Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries, the country's largest car assembly plant which can no longer operate given the shortage of forex needed for the importation of assembly kits. This has affected some 300 workers who are now out jobs.
Wherever you go in Harare, you confront some adverse impact of Mugabe's actions. During the time I was there, the 'war veterans' were running amok invading businesses - from restaurants to large industrial concerns - demanding back wages for fired or retrenched workers (some from as far as five years back), repayment of medical aid contributions and other such ridiculous demands. And this from companies stretched to their financial limits. I visited a number of trucking companies and without exception, each expressed the fear that the 'war veterans' could walk in at any moment.
Also on everyone's mind is the fuel shortage. You have to see the fuel queues to believe it. And while the people wait patiently in those queues, Mugabe passes by in grand style in his convoy. He's OK. He rides where he likes, as often as he likes - and he has a whole entourage joining him. I saw this convoy and counted the vehicles. It was led by nine motorbikes, followed by about three C-Class Mercs and a couple of Volvos, then by a bakkie carrying armed-to-the-teeth soldiers, then an ambulance, then more Volvos, then another bakkie with more armed troops and finally, a second ambulance bringing up the rear. What does the man think of when he looks out the tinted window of his luxurious Merc and sees the people in those fuel queues? What does he feel for them - the ordinary people of Zimbabwe? My guess is he doesn't give a hoot. They're the ordinary people. He's the politician. Never shall the two meet.
It is in this quagmire of mayhem that the trucking industry has to operate - and one can only admire the resilience and total determination of the truckers of this country to make it work
(see the next issue of FleetWatch).
I wish President Thabo Mbeki could have been sitting next to me as I sadly watched a transporter hang his head in resigned defeat and mutter: "It's bad. The economy is broken. We're suffering." I
wish President Mbeki could have been with me when I stopped to talk to people in those fuel queues. "If I don't get fuel today, I can't get to work tomorrow." I wish President Mbeki had been with me to buy the newspaper which showed a picture of a man whose back bore the horrific scars of teeth bites courtesy of a group of 'war veterans' and Zanu PF supporters. Perhaps, if he had been there to see all this, our President might have decided to drop his approach of 'silent diplomacy'. Sure he's made noises but they have not been loud enough and the danger of this approach is that some might see him as being in sympathy with Mugabe - a man once widely regarded as a champion but who has now been widely relegated to tyrant. As it stands, there are many Zimbabweans who view South Africa as one does a bank. When all goes well, the manager is all over you. When tough times hit, he runs as far as he can leaving you to fend for yourself.
And given that there seems to a be connotation of racialism injected into every debate nowadays, I point out for those who might be thinking this is a Whitey sympathising with other Whities, that the transporter who hung his head in despair was a Black man; the colour of the faces in those fuel queues were both Black and White; and the colour of that back bearing the teeth marks was black. No, there are no 'Whities' or 'Blackies' in this equation. There are just people - ordinary people who are waiting for statesmanship rather than shallow, self vested politics to emerge in Africa. Will it ever come?
Patrick O'Leary
Managing Editor
FleetWatch
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