Zimbabwe: Mugabe’s informal death camp

Although Sky New’s Emma Hurd’s figure of 10 000 Zimbabweans crossing into South Africa every month is yet to be confirmed, it will certainly be in the ballpark as disease and starvation grips our northern neighbour. Their towns and cities are becoming more of a death camp than a place fit for human beings to live.

Inflation, last calculated in July, has risen to 231 million percent. Their life expectancy can no longer be measured with any accuracy because death from starvation, disease and government abuse stalks every corner of this hellhole in Africa. With 90% unemployment you have very little for people to do except sit around and wait for the inevitable.

The cholera epidemic is believed to be far worse than the official numbers that have been released with aid agencies estimating the death toll in the thousands not the hundreds. South Africa has also now suffered its first casualties from this latest Zanu-PF export. An aid agency worker on Sky News this morning explained the horrific conditions being found in Zimbabwe.

Children are seen drinking from cholera infested water and eating meat from carcasses with anthrax, their plight long past desperate. As “Sarah” explained to viewers, the situation can be addressed but the political instability with its attendant collapse of the country’s infrastructure is playing havoc with their efforts.

Even still they are feeding hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe but need more financial backing to help a whole lot more in desperate need.

All of this so that Robert Mugabe and a handful of fat cats can live like kings.

ANCYL president Julius Malema has already called time on Mugabe, Cope’s Philip Dexter says that if Mugabe refuses to go he should be removed by force, the ANC is patently irritated by the current impasse while the Democratic Alliance have long believed that Mugabe should be removed from power. The question is what are they waiting for?

Step back for a second:

• Zimbabweans are flooding their neighbours with exiles, the bulk of which are coming to South Africa. This has created enormous pressure on our economy in a vast variety of ways extensively covered in this blog.

• At present they are a breeding ground for diseases which, if not controlled, will create havoc in this region. They have already tried to cover up cholera while anthrax is starting to rear its ugly head.

• Left to his own devices Mugabe and the Zanu-PF will watch five million of their people wiped out. Their answer is to shoot those who rebel and drive as many as they can over the borders. Leave them to the SADC to feed. Those who stay at home can be looked after by aid agencies or die. Genocide any which way you look at it.

• In better times Mugabe was involved in military adventures such as the Second Congo War.

Accordingly where you have a situation where genocide is being committed on the people of a country and the collateral damage is spilling out onto the rest of the region you are forced to act. Where the collateral damage involves tens of thousands of desperate people flooding into your country from a health hazard like Zimbabwe the concern has to be that much greater.

What is Mugabe doing?

• Despite losing the election he demands the right to govern.
• Where the economy has failed he prints worthless banknotes.
• In response to diseases he tries to cover them up.
• Where soldiers start to rebel he prepares to “deal” with them.
• Where SADC says his land reform is illegal he tells the SADC what it can do with itself.
• Whenever he is turned loose on the press he lambastes Britain and the USA.

The very people who are expected to bail out Zimbabwe are being alienated (along with everyone else) by Mugabe.

South Africa and the entire SADC region are not only paying a huge price for the pleasure of watching this unfold but are sitting on their hands lest the great “liberator” become upset.

The only thing Mugabe has liberated is the country’s wealth and the only thing he cares about is his right to continue doing so.

Zimbabwe and Africa desperately need to be free of him.