Opinion / Letters
MLF calls on Ramaphosa to help with arrest of Mnangagwa
20 Nov 2017 at 09:42hrs | Views
The Hon Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa
African National Congress Presidential Candidate
Dear Sir,
The People of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) in present-day Zimbabwe
As the people of Palestine marked a full one hundred (100) years yesterday (1 November 2017) under occupation of both the British and the Jews as a result of the Balfour Declaration, the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are marking one hundred and twenty-four (124) years under the occupation of both the British and the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Whereas the state of Israel was founded fifty (50) years ago as a result of the Balfour Declaration which demolished the socio-economic, political, cultural and human rights of the Palestinian people, the state of Zimbabwe was founded thirty-seven (37) years ago on the same catastrophic principle of destroying the humanity of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi).
The inalienable right to self-determination of both these peoples (the Palestinians and Matebeles) has been savagely decimated. The common denominator here is Britain. Our country (Matebeleland) was annexed by Britain during an unprovoked attack in 1893. After this n-ked and brutal annexation, it was subsequently integrated with that of Mashonaland in 1923 to form a unitary system of Rhodesia without the consent of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi), which was inherited by Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
From that period until today, the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) have been exposed to the most brutal forms savagery and catastrophe – genocide ad ethnic cleansing, for no other reason other than that they are not Shona (Mugabe's ethnic group). Today the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are all over the world as stateless and homeless people without basic freedoms, human dignity and equality.
Just like Palestine, the whole of Matebeleland (Mthakazi) is an insane open prison where the Matebeles were tortured, buried alive in mass graves and disused mine shafts, raped, butchered, subjected to disappearances and all forms of slaughter. What is beyond dispute is that not even apartheid South Africa was capable of committing crimes against humanity on the scale of Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ZANU-PF regime against the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) where pregnant women were bayonetted alive to reveal the still moving foetuses of their unborn babies. Such crimes never happened under the evil apartheid regime.
We have attached a dossier of Mugabe's crimes against the people of Matebeleland and two other documents, not by way of highlighting a beauty contest, but as a way of informing the ANC Presidential Candidate about the need for embracing new foreign policy objectives for South Africa, not only against the Zimbabwean regime, but similar regimes in the whole of Africa. A well-defined and well-ordered set of foreign policy objectives must as of necessity and great urgency do away with the so-called ‘quiet diplomacy', a mechanism and instrument that has exacerbated open death and open prison conditions for the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) in present-day Zimbabwe.
Until today, the foreign policy objectives of South Africa have been responsible for the acceleration of the homelessness of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) and the continued genocide and ethnic cleansing and a multiplicity of horrors. Not only have the foreign policy objectives of South Africa resulted in unintended consequences in which millions of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) escaping the death and open prison of Zimbabwe have been forced to flee to the neighbouring countries and elsewhere throughout the world (of which South Africa is the main host), these consequences in turn have meant that the economic needs of host countries continue to be under pressure, and therefore incapable of impacting the citizens of these countries positively.
The people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) have suffered for far too long under both the brutal colonisation of the British and the draconian military occupation of the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, to demand without fear or favour the intervention of the Republic of South Africa under your leadership. There is no sane person who wants to live in a foreign country. There is no sane person who does not want to contribute to his/her country's development, new organisations and classes, changing values, beliefs, expectations, changing political system and changing technology. This is equally important to the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi).
Furthermore, the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) would also want to become top-decision makers in their own country, run their bureaucracy, cultivate their land to increase food production and supplies for their own people and exports, participate in the development of their own health system, educational system, transportation system, immigration and border control system, security and safety system (own police, army and intelligence) infrastructural investment, development of own industrial raw materials, mining sector, tourism, investment capital, own sovereign capital, foreign and international currency markets, trade and many others.
The foregoing needs are what the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) also desire, not in anybody's country (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa or elsewhere in Europe), but in their own country, the land of their birth, Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) which was annexed by the British in 1893. That annexation can never be forgotten (not now, not yesterday and not in the future) by all the generations of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi)- this is a fact, in spite of the genocide that our people suffered under the British and the genocide and ethnic cleansing that they have continued to suffer under the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe since 1980. As the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi), we have never celebrated anything since the annexation of our country and state (the Kingdom of Mthwakazi) in 1893, instead each and every single day since then has been our horrific and darkest.
Throughout this period (spanning 124 years) we have been compelled at the pain of our extinction to become something that we are not (first, Rhodesians and today, Zimbabweans), but we have remained who we are, the Matebeles, the people of Mthwakazi, and will continue as such forever and ever. As we appeal to the Honourable ANC Presidential Candidate, we hope that your assumption to power will usher in a new foreign policy period in which the real national interests of South Africa (social, economic, political, cultural and others) will be supported by the defence of the ideals of freedom, dignity and equality (democracy) not only in South Africa, but across the African continent.
Just like western democracies (which include Britain today which is singularly responsible for messing up the whole of Africa), we hereby appeal to the Presidential Candidate that the South Africa that you will lead will not even for one second tolerate dictatorship, genocide and ethnic cleaning throughout this continent. We have seen how world powers such as America, Britain, France and indeed others have refused to give a blank check to the tragedy in Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea and elsewhere. If these powers are able to hold rogue states such as the ones highlighted above accountable, why is it that South Africa has continued to sleep in the same bed with Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ZANU-PF regime?
It cannot be right that in our own country we cannot be employed even as cleaners, tea boys/girls, farm workers and so on. Anybody, let alone any country that would think that the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are incapable of cleaning toilets, rubbish collecting, making tea and other such menial jobs must be out their minds. This is just an illustration of the deep rootedness of ethnic cleansing and marginalisation in our country that is perpetuated by foreigners (Shona people of Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ethnic group).
We have been reduced to nothing in full view of the whole world, but more particularly of South Africa. Only Shona people are employed as teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, and at any other profession in our own country Matebeleland (Mthwakazi). In the diplomatic missions, we don't have a single person, its only Shona people. We are nowhere. Not least, since Mugabe assumed power in 1980, there is no person from our country, Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) who was ever trained as a PILOT.
With all due respect to the Honourable Presidential Candidate, it is important to note that when tragedies of this magnitude are not taken seriously (but continue to be perpetuated with impunity) not only by the concerned regimes, but by neighbouring countries, and in this case, the formidable ad powerful democratic South African government, our people may be compelled to resist this catastrophic tragedy through other means. We however continue to have faith to the incoming leadership that it will indeed change course and ensure that this tragedy is brought to an end forthwith, through the use of the myriad and powerful tools at the disposal of the Republic of South Africa.
Thanking you in advance for your considered attention to this submission. We look forward to hearing from your honourable person soon.
Andrea Sibanda
Secretary General - Mthwakazi Liberation Front
CONTACTS
ANDREA SIBANDA
MLF-SECRETARY GENERAL
Email: mlf.mthwakazi@yahoo.com
0027 73 027 0032 / 0027 76 349 2683
CHRISPEN NYONI
MLF-INFORMATION & PUBLICITY
EMAIL: mlf.publicity@yahoo.com
0027 78 730 7538 / 0027 62 627 3739
Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa
African National Congress Presidential Candidate
Dear Sir,
The People of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) in present-day Zimbabwe
As the people of Palestine marked a full one hundred (100) years yesterday (1 November 2017) under occupation of both the British and the Jews as a result of the Balfour Declaration, the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are marking one hundred and twenty-four (124) years under the occupation of both the British and the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
Whereas the state of Israel was founded fifty (50) years ago as a result of the Balfour Declaration which demolished the socio-economic, political, cultural and human rights of the Palestinian people, the state of Zimbabwe was founded thirty-seven (37) years ago on the same catastrophic principle of destroying the humanity of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi).
The inalienable right to self-determination of both these peoples (the Palestinians and Matebeles) has been savagely decimated. The common denominator here is Britain. Our country (Matebeleland) was annexed by Britain during an unprovoked attack in 1893. After this n-ked and brutal annexation, it was subsequently integrated with that of Mashonaland in 1923 to form a unitary system of Rhodesia without the consent of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi), which was inherited by Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe.
From that period until today, the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) have been exposed to the most brutal forms savagery and catastrophe – genocide ad ethnic cleansing, for no other reason other than that they are not Shona (Mugabe's ethnic group). Today the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are all over the world as stateless and homeless people without basic freedoms, human dignity and equality.
Just like Palestine, the whole of Matebeleland (Mthakazi) is an insane open prison where the Matebeles were tortured, buried alive in mass graves and disused mine shafts, raped, butchered, subjected to disappearances and all forms of slaughter. What is beyond dispute is that not even apartheid South Africa was capable of committing crimes against humanity on the scale of Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ZANU-PF regime against the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) where pregnant women were bayonetted alive to reveal the still moving foetuses of their unborn babies. Such crimes never happened under the evil apartheid regime.
We have attached a dossier of Mugabe's crimes against the people of Matebeleland and two other documents, not by way of highlighting a beauty contest, but as a way of informing the ANC Presidential Candidate about the need for embracing new foreign policy objectives for South Africa, not only against the Zimbabwean regime, but similar regimes in the whole of Africa. A well-defined and well-ordered set of foreign policy objectives must as of necessity and great urgency do away with the so-called ‘quiet diplomacy', a mechanism and instrument that has exacerbated open death and open prison conditions for the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) in present-day Zimbabwe.
Until today, the foreign policy objectives of South Africa have been responsible for the acceleration of the homelessness of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) and the continued genocide and ethnic cleansing and a multiplicity of horrors. Not only have the foreign policy objectives of South Africa resulted in unintended consequences in which millions of the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) escaping the death and open prison of Zimbabwe have been forced to flee to the neighbouring countries and elsewhere throughout the world (of which South Africa is the main host), these consequences in turn have meant that the economic needs of host countries continue to be under pressure, and therefore incapable of impacting the citizens of these countries positively.
The people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) have suffered for far too long under both the brutal colonisation of the British and the draconian military occupation of the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, to demand without fear or favour the intervention of the Republic of South Africa under your leadership. There is no sane person who wants to live in a foreign country. There is no sane person who does not want to contribute to his/her country's development, new organisations and classes, changing values, beliefs, expectations, changing political system and changing technology. This is equally important to the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi).
The foregoing needs are what the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) also desire, not in anybody's country (Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa or elsewhere in Europe), but in their own country, the land of their birth, Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) which was annexed by the British in 1893. That annexation can never be forgotten (not now, not yesterday and not in the future) by all the generations of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi)- this is a fact, in spite of the genocide that our people suffered under the British and the genocide and ethnic cleansing that they have continued to suffer under the ZANU-PF regime of Robert Gabriel Mugabe since 1980. As the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi), we have never celebrated anything since the annexation of our country and state (the Kingdom of Mthwakazi) in 1893, instead each and every single day since then has been our horrific and darkest.
Throughout this period (spanning 124 years) we have been compelled at the pain of our extinction to become something that we are not (first, Rhodesians and today, Zimbabweans), but we have remained who we are, the Matebeles, the people of Mthwakazi, and will continue as such forever and ever. As we appeal to the Honourable ANC Presidential Candidate, we hope that your assumption to power will usher in a new foreign policy period in which the real national interests of South Africa (social, economic, political, cultural and others) will be supported by the defence of the ideals of freedom, dignity and equality (democracy) not only in South Africa, but across the African continent.
Just like western democracies (which include Britain today which is singularly responsible for messing up the whole of Africa), we hereby appeal to the Presidential Candidate that the South Africa that you will lead will not even for one second tolerate dictatorship, genocide and ethnic cleaning throughout this continent. We have seen how world powers such as America, Britain, France and indeed others have refused to give a blank check to the tragedy in Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, North Korea and elsewhere. If these powers are able to hold rogue states such as the ones highlighted above accountable, why is it that South Africa has continued to sleep in the same bed with Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ZANU-PF regime?
It cannot be right that in our own country we cannot be employed even as cleaners, tea boys/girls, farm workers and so on. Anybody, let alone any country that would think that the people of Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) are incapable of cleaning toilets, rubbish collecting, making tea and other such menial jobs must be out their minds. This is just an illustration of the deep rootedness of ethnic cleansing and marginalisation in our country that is perpetuated by foreigners (Shona people of Robert Gabriel Mugabe's ethnic group).
We have been reduced to nothing in full view of the whole world, but more particularly of South Africa. Only Shona people are employed as teachers, nurses, doctors, engineers, and at any other profession in our own country Matebeleland (Mthwakazi). In the diplomatic missions, we don't have a single person, its only Shona people. We are nowhere. Not least, since Mugabe assumed power in 1980, there is no person from our country, Matebeleland (Mthwakazi) who was ever trained as a PILOT.
With all due respect to the Honourable Presidential Candidate, it is important to note that when tragedies of this magnitude are not taken seriously (but continue to be perpetuated with impunity) not only by the concerned regimes, but by neighbouring countries, and in this case, the formidable ad powerful democratic South African government, our people may be compelled to resist this catastrophic tragedy through other means. We however continue to have faith to the incoming leadership that it will indeed change course and ensure that this tragedy is brought to an end forthwith, through the use of the myriad and powerful tools at the disposal of the Republic of South Africa.
Thanking you in advance for your considered attention to this submission. We look forward to hearing from your honourable person soon.
Andrea Sibanda
Secretary General - Mthwakazi Liberation Front
CONTACTS
ANDREA SIBANDA
MLF-SECRETARY GENERAL
Email: mlf.mthwakazi@yahoo.com
0027 73 027 0032 / 0027 76 349 2683
CHRISPEN NYONI
MLF-INFORMATION & PUBLICITY
EMAIL: mlf.publicity@yahoo.com
0027 78 730 7538 / 0027 62 627 3739
Source - Andrea Sibanda, Secretary General
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