A lifetime of struggle

They were selfless in that they pursued a path to serve the greater good than their own narrow selfish ends

I remember vividly the day the results of the independence elections in 1980 were announced. I was only 17 then and in a maths class at a private school in Zimbabwe that had predominantly white students from the farming community. It was a hell of day and my fellow white students were dejected and could not accept as true  that finally blacks were in power and therefore in control of the country. Their sorrow was even made worse since some of the white students from my school had died during the mandatory national service they had to perform in the army.

I was excited inside but could not celebrate as such. It was a glorious day when we finally could be free in our own country. I saw pictures of the new Zimbabwe cabinet minsters who had returned from exile and it was emotional to see these brave men who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The late Edgar Tekere who died recently aged 74 was amongst them. He was a fiery character with such gusto and at times inexplicable ire that you could see in his deportment. We respected and even feared him for his part in our liberation and of course, despite his evident shortcomings, we expected much of him. Unfortunately that was not to be so.  His life has been that of unrequited sacrifice, a lifetime of struggle.

In the late 80's while I was at varsity he surfaced again as the leader of a new political party that was challenging Mugabe. We again were excited about that since it appeared to us that Mugabe was now taking us for granted and we needed an opposition party that would get things back on course. Again this was not to be so as the dictator quickly castigated him and banished him to spend his days in the political wilderness.

I had the pleasure of meeting the late Edgar "Twoboy"Tekere in Mutare in 2000 as I went about explaining to those who would bother to listen that our economy was on a slippery slope due to Mugabe's economic policies that were devastating the economic base and agriculture in particular. He listened and agreed with me but posed to me a question that I dreaded to answer then-how do we reverse the rot? He asked.

Here in South Africa too, a struggle icon has recently fallen , maSisulu as she is affectionately known. It is evident too that her life, like that of Tekere , was a life of struggle and selfless sacrifice for the greater good.

On this I have contemplated and realized that many, in the past, sacrificed their lives that we may be free. They were selfless in that they pursued a path to serve the greater good than their own narrow selfish ends and yet we remain bound. I seriously wonder whether they passed away satisfied given the state of affairs and the still poor condition of those they sought to liberate.

It is rather scary to compare our past leaders and struggle icons to those that we have now. It seems to me that we have lost something and their character can hardly be comparable to those that came before them. Our world has become too centered on material wealth and that has become our new struggle at the expense of pursuing economic freedom and emancipation for the poor.

It seems to me that that these days, one gets into politics for personal benefit and yet as we remember those that have fallen, in the past it was mostly out of mere passion and the urge to serve the greater good and make a difference.  Yes, it is rather sad that the quality of our political leaders seems to have deteriorated and I dare not imagine what our future holds.

Zimbabwe had such promise and potential and I provoke that South Africa is most likely to follow the same route as most black competent professionals abstain from engaging in politics and would rather pursue wealth. In the times of Tekere and maSisulu, it was the black professional that took the lead for change. Lawyers, nurses, teachers took it upon themselves to defy the authorities at huge personal costs. Today however, most black professionals remain hidden in the private sector unable to chart a new future for Africa and challenge our political thinking.  This in turn has resulted in Africa being robbed of its intellect and potential.  This has resulted in populist politics, cronyism and dictatorships and our struggle icons must surely look down at us and wonder whether it was worth it after all.

Will it be a life of struggle too for those that have ostensibly been liberated?

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Vince Musewe is an independent economist and you may contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com