Opinion / Columnist
Technology spooks Mugabe's regime
06 Jul 2016 at 13:35hrs | Views
Congratulations/Makorokoto/Amhlophe!
After making observations on the ground, checking credible media outlets and receiving reports from trusted sources, we confirm that Zimbabwe has come out (or rather, stayed home!) in great support of #ShutdownZimbabwe2016. We say thank you to kombi drivers, to vendors and airtime sellers, to schoolteachers and students, to shopkeepers, business operators, fuel station owners . . . and to individual citizens who have made it clear that we want our country back. Now we have something to build on - let's go from strength to strength, hand in hand.
A good reminder
Political power, however formidable, is more fragile than we think. Note how nervous are those who hold it. - Howard Zinn
Some reports from Twitter
In Mutare most shops are closed/Sakubva flea market is closed/Avondale flea market in Harare is quiet/in Mt Darwin secondary, students were told to stay at home/police on horses patrol Harare CBD/Harare CBD empty of people/Africa Unity Square empty/in Harare CBD there are long queues outside banks/in Mufakose police flee protesters who are burning tyres and blocking roads/in Marondera police are removing tyres that were blocking roads, its not business as usual/in Mbare Siyaso market is closed/in Chitungwiza at schools such as Zengeza high 1 and 2, students have stayed at home/in Mufakose there are burning tyres in roads, a commuter carrying soldiers ordered to park and not to proceed to town/in Bulawayo, there are no commuters, many people stranded as they can't go to work/in Chinhoyi schools such as Tapfuma and Ruware school children have been told not to come to school/in Budiriro and Glenview there are no commuters, only heavy police and soldiers presence/in Masvingo CBD there is heavy police presence but there are no commuters seen at ranks/in Chi Town riot police are moving from one shopping centre to the other/Jambanja Farmers Market in Chi Town has very low turnout/the usually busy Charge Office Rank in Harare CBD is empty/in Zaka at Jerera growth point there is heavy police presence/in Chitungwiza Unit N several roads have been blocked by rocks.
Resources
Technology spooks the regime: Of course many of you on WhatsApp will have noted that this system was blocked this morning, and has been patchy. No big surprise. We have heard that ISP's have been coming under some pressure to limit communication today. Right now WhatsApp is back to normal but for next time, for surely there will be one, there are many work around.
Personal reflections on the ground in Harare
When we moved around to observe the level of support shown to #ShutdownZimbabwe2016 we came away with a list of outlets, shops and service providers that we said Big Up to, and who we give our little cash to in the future. For example, News Café, KFC, Food Lovers Market and some Zuva petrol stations inspired our admiration. Food courts, supermarkets and banks who kept on doing business - eish. Of course the absence of Roadblock ATMS also caught our eyes; it appears their trading was interrupted today and they were deployed to other duties around the city.
Non-cooperation is a powerful tactic
If a thousand men and women were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. - Henry David Thoreau
After making observations on the ground, checking credible media outlets and receiving reports from trusted sources, we confirm that Zimbabwe has come out (or rather, stayed home!) in great support of #ShutdownZimbabwe2016. We say thank you to kombi drivers, to vendors and airtime sellers, to schoolteachers and students, to shopkeepers, business operators, fuel station owners . . . and to individual citizens who have made it clear that we want our country back. Now we have something to build on - let's go from strength to strength, hand in hand.
A good reminder
Political power, however formidable, is more fragile than we think. Note how nervous are those who hold it. - Howard Zinn
Some reports from Twitter
In Mutare most shops are closed/Sakubva flea market is closed/Avondale flea market in Harare is quiet/in Mt Darwin secondary, students were told to stay at home/police on horses patrol Harare CBD/Harare CBD empty of people/Africa Unity Square empty/in Harare CBD there are long queues outside banks/in Mufakose police flee protesters who are burning tyres and blocking roads/in Marondera police are removing tyres that were blocking roads, its not business as usual/in Mbare Siyaso market is closed/in Chitungwiza at schools such as Zengeza high 1 and 2, students have stayed at home/in Mufakose there are burning tyres in roads, a commuter carrying soldiers ordered to park and not to proceed to town/in Bulawayo, there are no commuters, many people stranded as they can't go to work/in Chinhoyi schools such as Tapfuma and Ruware school children have been told not to come to school/in Budiriro and Glenview there are no commuters, only heavy police and soldiers presence/in Masvingo CBD there is heavy police presence but there are no commuters seen at ranks/in Chi Town riot police are moving from one shopping centre to the other/Jambanja Farmers Market in Chi Town has very low turnout/the usually busy Charge Office Rank in Harare CBD is empty/in Zaka at Jerera growth point there is heavy police presence/in Chitungwiza Unit N several roads have been blocked by rocks.
Resources
Technology spooks the regime: Of course many of you on WhatsApp will have noted that this system was blocked this morning, and has been patchy. No big surprise. We have heard that ISP's have been coming under some pressure to limit communication today. Right now WhatsApp is back to normal but for next time, for surely there will be one, there are many work around.
Personal reflections on the ground in Harare
When we moved around to observe the level of support shown to #ShutdownZimbabwe2016 we came away with a list of outlets, shops and service providers that we said Big Up to, and who we give our little cash to in the future. For example, News Café, KFC, Food Lovers Market and some Zuva petrol stations inspired our admiration. Food courts, supermarkets and banks who kept on doing business - eish. Of course the absence of Roadblock ATMS also caught our eyes; it appears their trading was interrupted today and they were deployed to other duties around the city.
Non-cooperation is a powerful tactic
If a thousand men and women were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood. This is, in fact, the definition of a peaceable revolution, if any such is possible. - Henry David Thoreau
Source - Kubatana
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