Opinion / Columnist
Great Save River and political hypochondria
08 Jul 2017 at 08:08hrs | Views
The once mighty Save River as it negotiates its way to the Indian Ocean. INSET: Morgan Tsvangirai, whose totem is Save. Below: Presidential aspirant Nkosana Moyo
IT is a name that is fraught with meaning and significance that goes beyond its geography, history and myth.
It has some great ethnological significance, too, telling us not only of the complex human relationships and life that have revolved around and along it; as well as intercourse of humans and creatures of the river.
The fish and the birds and other wild creatures in the ecosystem.
There was also wealth that flowed with the river which can be tracked and traced to places afar beyond the oceans.
The Indian Ocean, where the Save River flows from somewhere southwest of Marondera through Mozambique to the ocean itself.
There! We have tried not to bore the reader much around tales of Save River.
We are interested in one man that carries the name of this river.
He is Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (itself carrying his name as a patent on the fractious political market.)
Tsvangirai is called by his totem of Save, which speaks to the ethnological phenomenon mentioned supra.
Those who call him by his totem do so reverringly, as Zimbabweans do by way of culture, giving the so-called immense pride and sense of achievement.
Of greatness.
Which Tsvangirai once had as indeed which Save once had.
But both are dying, literally and the famed greatness sounds a hollow legend.
That is if you look at the Save River choking in sand because of siltation.
Every elementary learner of Geography will tell you.
Save River is dying.
Ditto Tsvangirai.
It's not even about his waning health since we all learnt with great sympathy that he has cancer.
His political fortunes have taken a lot of shedding from the days he used to command huge support as a trade unionist and later the worker-based party that MDC was touted to be.
He failed to wrestle power at his peak(s) in 2000 and 2008.
He lost heavily in elections of 2013.
Now the authoritative thinktank Afrobarometer says he and his party are at their weakest, a fact growing parallel to a growing Zanu-PF of President Mugabe, Tsvangirai's bete noire.
It does not require much sophistication to tell that the MDC-T is going to lose the next elections, in 2018.
We can feel the air and pressure with our noses.
No need for some barometer there.
Dying "big river"
Which brings us to a story that quite amused us.
Newzimbabwe.com quoted Morgan Tsvangirai touting himself as the big river which must be fed by tributaries.
The context of this of course is consociational politics, otherwise currently better known as coalition politics.
It is an idea we do not want to belabour here.
We also know that there is a debate and disagreement on both form and substance of the mooted arrangement.
It is an idea that recognises the individual weaknesses of political organisations, including the MDC-T itself.
But the party and its leader believe it is stronger than other weaker and smaller weaklings and has a natural right to lead a coalition.
This is how Save explains: "We are not closing the door to anyone who wants to partner with us in creating a viable alliance that is going to work with specific objections. We have an election; we have an electoral pact, let us put all our resources together and maximise our efforts to ensure that we have victory in the forthcoming election.
"No one has been closed out. No party is bigger or smaller, Nzizi dzinozara nemadiriro? And any little tributary will ultimately flow to Save which is a bigger river," said Tsvangirai.
The irony is obviously lost to Tsvangirai.
Or is it just a matter of pride; pride that stems from the fact that for all the battering and choking that Save River endures, it does lead to the ocean?
Politicians, especially perspiring, oops, aspiring ones, often want to think of themselves as some kind of Messiahs or Moseses.
I'm sure we have heard some songs to that effect at MDC-T rallies.
Or Save being told not to turn back at the sound of a whistle.
Great hypochondria
For all the boisterousness Tsvangirai and his MDC-T are weak and vulnerable.
They are also paranoid.
In essence, we are seeing some political hypochondria in which the organisation and its leader live in fear for their political health, which is worsening by the day.
That is why the party has been anxious at the entry of new players in the political arena and differing opinions regarding the coalition – if not downright hostile.
We have seen the anger that has been directed at Joice Mujuru and her National People's Party for daring to imagine leading the pack.
Nkosana Moyo has thrown his hat into the ring and MDC-T is unhappy.
It is also unhappy with one Fadzayi Mahere deciding to graduate from a "keyboard activist" to become a real politician.
Mahere has indicated that she wants to stand in Mt Pleasant, Harare.
Both entrants have been met with cold receptions, which are useful to record here, including the familiar accusations of being Zanu-PF projects.
Tsvangirai is dismissive of Nkosana.
He thinks the former Minister of Industry is not connected with the people.
People, that much abused quantity!
Says Tsvangirai as quoted in the media: "One of the things that you have to understand is that and I have asked a lot of my colleagues in the opposition movement, when you form a party, you must ask yourself, where am I going to get the people, because at the end of the day it is the people who decide whether you are a successful politician or not.
"In this case, there is just one question you have to ask my colleague Nkosana, do you know where Mbire is? Well, Mbire may be in the rural areas, but do you know where Tafara is?
"If he can answer that question, then I think we are on the same wavelength."
That is being diplomatic.
Tsvangirai is known to have vicious running dogs that attack anyone who threatens his position, even at party level where he marshals youths against his internal opponents.
One of them is Charlton Hwende.
He has accused Mahere and Nkosana of being Zanu-PF pawns.
The favourite reasoning is that any new candidates "will split the vote".
We may need at some point to try and understand this.
Anyway, here is attack dog Hwende in his words on Facebook:
"These two will spoil the votes to the advantage of Mugabe, so let's all go and register to vote to stop this Zanu-PF strategy of stealing the people's victory in 2018.
"2018 Save Chete Chete and register to vote to stop this Zanu-PF strategy of stealing the people's victory in 2018. 2018 Save Chete Chete."
This tells us something about the so-called Great Save which the likes of Hwende will kill for.
He is weak and choking and facing sure death.
His minions are worried because the next elections are a sure matter of life and death.
In this vein we are going to see more and more vicious fights in the opposition camp with those rooting for Tsvangirai becoming increasingly paranoid and outright violent towards their counterparts.
On the other hand, it is also being recognised that the old Save Tsvangirai is in mortal danger and people can dare its shallow waters without any danger of being bitten by crocodiles or drowning, swept away by the currents of the river.
Not even the minuscule tributaries such as Jacob Ngarivhume will save the Save from choking to inevitable death!
IT is a name that is fraught with meaning and significance that goes beyond its geography, history and myth.
It has some great ethnological significance, too, telling us not only of the complex human relationships and life that have revolved around and along it; as well as intercourse of humans and creatures of the river.
The fish and the birds and other wild creatures in the ecosystem.
There was also wealth that flowed with the river which can be tracked and traced to places afar beyond the oceans.
The Indian Ocean, where the Save River flows from somewhere southwest of Marondera through Mozambique to the ocean itself.
There! We have tried not to bore the reader much around tales of Save River.
We are interested in one man that carries the name of this river.
He is Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (itself carrying his name as a patent on the fractious political market.)
Tsvangirai is called by his totem of Save, which speaks to the ethnological phenomenon mentioned supra.
Those who call him by his totem do so reverringly, as Zimbabweans do by way of culture, giving the so-called immense pride and sense of achievement.
Of greatness.
Which Tsvangirai once had as indeed which Save once had.
But both are dying, literally and the famed greatness sounds a hollow legend.
That is if you look at the Save River choking in sand because of siltation.
Every elementary learner of Geography will tell you.
Save River is dying.
Ditto Tsvangirai.
It's not even about his waning health since we all learnt with great sympathy that he has cancer.
His political fortunes have taken a lot of shedding from the days he used to command huge support as a trade unionist and later the worker-based party that MDC was touted to be.
He failed to wrestle power at his peak(s) in 2000 and 2008.
He lost heavily in elections of 2013.
Now the authoritative thinktank Afrobarometer says he and his party are at their weakest, a fact growing parallel to a growing Zanu-PF of President Mugabe, Tsvangirai's bete noire.
It does not require much sophistication to tell that the MDC-T is going to lose the next elections, in 2018.
We can feel the air and pressure with our noses.
No need for some barometer there.
Dying "big river"
Which brings us to a story that quite amused us.
Newzimbabwe.com quoted Morgan Tsvangirai touting himself as the big river which must be fed by tributaries.
The context of this of course is consociational politics, otherwise currently better known as coalition politics.
It is an idea we do not want to belabour here.
We also know that there is a debate and disagreement on both form and substance of the mooted arrangement.
It is an idea that recognises the individual weaknesses of political organisations, including the MDC-T itself.
But the party and its leader believe it is stronger than other weaker and smaller weaklings and has a natural right to lead a coalition.
This is how Save explains: "We are not closing the door to anyone who wants to partner with us in creating a viable alliance that is going to work with specific objections. We have an election; we have an electoral pact, let us put all our resources together and maximise our efforts to ensure that we have victory in the forthcoming election.
"No one has been closed out. No party is bigger or smaller, Nzizi dzinozara nemadiriro? And any little tributary will ultimately flow to Save which is a bigger river," said Tsvangirai.
The irony is obviously lost to Tsvangirai.
Or is it just a matter of pride; pride that stems from the fact that for all the battering and choking that Save River endures, it does lead to the ocean?
Politicians, especially perspiring, oops, aspiring ones, often want to think of themselves as some kind of Messiahs or Moseses.
I'm sure we have heard some songs to that effect at MDC-T rallies.
Or Save being told not to turn back at the sound of a whistle.
Great hypochondria
For all the boisterousness Tsvangirai and his MDC-T are weak and vulnerable.
They are also paranoid.
In essence, we are seeing some political hypochondria in which the organisation and its leader live in fear for their political health, which is worsening by the day.
That is why the party has been anxious at the entry of new players in the political arena and differing opinions regarding the coalition – if not downright hostile.
We have seen the anger that has been directed at Joice Mujuru and her National People's Party for daring to imagine leading the pack.
Nkosana Moyo has thrown his hat into the ring and MDC-T is unhappy.
It is also unhappy with one Fadzayi Mahere deciding to graduate from a "keyboard activist" to become a real politician.
Mahere has indicated that she wants to stand in Mt Pleasant, Harare.
Both entrants have been met with cold receptions, which are useful to record here, including the familiar accusations of being Zanu-PF projects.
Tsvangirai is dismissive of Nkosana.
He thinks the former Minister of Industry is not connected with the people.
People, that much abused quantity!
Says Tsvangirai as quoted in the media: "One of the things that you have to understand is that and I have asked a lot of my colleagues in the opposition movement, when you form a party, you must ask yourself, where am I going to get the people, because at the end of the day it is the people who decide whether you are a successful politician or not.
"In this case, there is just one question you have to ask my colleague Nkosana, do you know where Mbire is? Well, Mbire may be in the rural areas, but do you know where Tafara is?
"If he can answer that question, then I think we are on the same wavelength."
That is being diplomatic.
Tsvangirai is known to have vicious running dogs that attack anyone who threatens his position, even at party level where he marshals youths against his internal opponents.
One of them is Charlton Hwende.
He has accused Mahere and Nkosana of being Zanu-PF pawns.
The favourite reasoning is that any new candidates "will split the vote".
We may need at some point to try and understand this.
Anyway, here is attack dog Hwende in his words on Facebook:
"These two will spoil the votes to the advantage of Mugabe, so let's all go and register to vote to stop this Zanu-PF strategy of stealing the people's victory in 2018.
"2018 Save Chete Chete and register to vote to stop this Zanu-PF strategy of stealing the people's victory in 2018. 2018 Save Chete Chete."
This tells us something about the so-called Great Save which the likes of Hwende will kill for.
He is weak and choking and facing sure death.
His minions are worried because the next elections are a sure matter of life and death.
In this vein we are going to see more and more vicious fights in the opposition camp with those rooting for Tsvangirai becoming increasingly paranoid and outright violent towards their counterparts.
On the other hand, it is also being recognised that the old Save Tsvangirai is in mortal danger and people can dare its shallow waters without any danger of being bitten by crocodiles or drowning, swept away by the currents of the river.
Not even the minuscule tributaries such as Jacob Ngarivhume will save the Save from choking to inevitable death!
Source - the herald
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