I thought that this piece by my senior brother may be of interest to this thread:

ROBERT MUGABE, THE ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS, AND AFRICA
BY
PROFESSOR HERBERT VILAKAZI*



(*Sociologist and Independent Analyst; Pretoria; 083 656 4800)

Lies, evasion of the truth, are a more deadly poison in the life of society and civilization than the deadliest of poisons in the physical life of a human being. The most precious and important building-block in the construction of any society and civilization is the truth. It begins with the severest punishment to a child for telling a lie, to severe penalties in judicial systems for pejury.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the main constituencies are Mugabe and his Party, the Opposition Movement (MDC and others), Western Powers, African Governments, Civil societies and the public everywhere. All these constituencies are not innocent.

It was and is unacceptable that Mugabe, at the age of 84, should run for another election for a 5-year term as President of the country. His decision to seek to continue his active political life as Head of his Party and of Government, at this age, is a major fault in his thinking, vision, and sense of responsibility. A leader of his age should have informed the nation and his followers clearly when he intends stepping out of office and handing the leadership position to a younger person. We must be aware in everything we do that we are raising children and youth, molding minds, spirits, and traditions in society and civilization.
It is not Mugabe, as Head of the Government, who brought about the economic crisis and collapse in Zimbabwe. It was the sanctions and Embargo, implemented by Western Powers, which brought the economy of Zimbabwe to its knees.
This was punishment to the Mugabe Government for Mugabe's Land Redistribution policy, consisting of taking land mainly from Whites, and particularly from land-owners or commercial farmers who owned more than one farm. Dating from Colonial Conquest, most of the land of the country used for commercial agriculture fell into the hands of Whites; and the required resources for successful food production and commercial agriculture were used to support the activities of White farmers. Africans were left either landless, or were left without resources for successful food production and agriculture in Communal Lands. The same circumstances prevail in South Africa. The solution of the Land Redistribution Problem is one of the most fundamental challenges facing Zimbabwe, if Zimbabwe is to eliminate underdevelopment, and if development is to work for the benefit of all the people of Zimbabwe: exactly the same challenge faces South Africa.
This does not mean that there were no serious mistakes made by the Mugabe Government in solving this problem. We should solve the Land Problem moving forward, not backwards. We should solve the Land Problem with the historical trends of Capitalist Agriculture in our minds. Capitalist Agriculture is, in general, in crisis all over the world, particularly in the developed world. Fewer and fewer individual capitalist farmers are successful, standing as individual owners and producers. Capitalist Agriculture, as part of the World Economy, is industrialized, requiring huge monies for the latest in technology and scientific methods. Indebtedness of individual farm owners is wide-spread and getting deeper and deeper, resulting in bankruptcies and foreclosures. What is needed to make Capitalist Agriculture successful is generally beyond the powers of an individual farm owner. Agricultural monopolies have emerged. Successful Commercial Agriculture has become one of the most powerful industries in the modern World Economy. At the same time, food scarcity, hunger, and malnutrition have become widespread in the world, particularly in Africa and the rest of the Third World: the food crisis, as food scarcity and abundance of unhealthy food, has crossed boundaries and entered even the developed countries. The Immune Systems of human bodies, which were developed over centuries upon centuries ago in pre-industrial epochs, are collapsing, or have collapsed: hence the world-wide health crisis, particularly in Africa. Agriculture is the first sphere of the modern economy which requires socialization, i. e., moving beyond individual private capitalist form of ownership to cooperative, collective form of ownership.
Therefore, to take a huge, successful farm from a White family, subdivide it and give it to an individual African owner, or individual farm owners, is solving the Land Problem going BACKWARDS economically, socially, politically, and philosophically.
The White farmer and the Africans on the farm must form a COOPERATIVE, a Collective, owning the farm together. The White farmer should be compensated for the historical value he/she has added to the land -we may call that the price of the farm. Every effort should be made, educational, political, etc., to get the White farmer to remain on the farm as a member of the new Cooperative now owning the farm. Through this route, we keep the productive skills and capacity on the farm, and we ensure there is skills-transfer in running the modern farm, and we prevent decline in agricultural productivity; and we transform the White farmer and family, and Africans, and create brotherhood and sisterhood, true human bonding, between Whites and Africans in rural Zimbabwe and rural South Africa. True bonding and reconciliation between people occurs when people are working together solving common problems. Only when we encounter a case of REFUSAL/REJECTION of this new model/deal by the White farmer, does the White farmer then have to go his/her own way.
This is the route that Mugabe's solution of the Land Redistribution Problem could have taken in Zimbabwe; this is the route that the solution of this problem should take in Zimbabwe and South Africa –moving forward with history.
My remark about "major mistakes" that have been made in the solution of the Land Problem in Zimbabwe must be seen in this light. The often repeated condemnation of Mugabe's solution of the Land Question that it benefitted "his cronies" is merely turning one's face from the real, gigantic problem of Land Distribution present in Zimbabwe. We cover the real problem with mention and enumeration of acts of corruption in the efforts to solve the problem. None of us, except the Western Powers opposed to Mugabe's vision, gave advice.
The advice of Western Powers, particularly the UK and USA, consisted mainly in demanding that Mugabe abandon his program-of-action. Mugabe refused to abandon his path; then Western Powers retaliated by implementing Sanctions and an Embargo against Zimbabwe, aimed at forcing Mugabe to abandon his path, or creating massive dissatisfaction with Mugabe's leadership among ordinary Zimbambwens for empty shelves in the shops, shortages of fuel, food, clothes, imported machinery etc; we also know in recent history of artificially induced inflation as war measure. The sanctions and embargo would bring widespread suffering and scarcities in the lives of ordinary Zimbabwens. These sanctions and embargo were designed to bring about massive dissatisfaction with Mugabe among ordinary Zimbabwens; these massive dissatisfactions would either lead to an uprising against Mugabe, or to a massive rejection of Mugabe in an election!
What we see in Zimbabwe in this election is the triumph of the Plan aimed at getting rid of Mugabe –is the fruitof this massive dissatisfaction with Mugabe’s leadership. The victory of the Opposition is a victory riding on the success of the sanctions or embargo implemented by Western Powers against Mugabe, for refusing to abandon his Land Redistribution policy. This has been war; and, as we know, the first casualty of every war is the truth; the truth about yourself, and the truth about your opponent. Every war and struggle tends to pollute the spiritual and mental life of all people in society; the aggressors as well as those defending themselves become affected by this pollution of the spirit, mind, politics, media, and social life in society and civilization.
Incidentally, the embargo or sanctions against Mugabe's Zimbabwe are similar to the sanctions or embargo against Castro's Cuba. The question to ask, of course is this: what policies and success of policies in Cuba resulted in the resolve of ordinary Cubans to stand by Fidel for five decades; and what policies or failure of policies in Zimbabwe led to ordinary Zimbabwens caving-in after a decade?
The question to ask now is: Shall the new Government undo what Mugabe's Government has done with respect to Land Distribution, and to the empowerment of Zimbabwens in the ownership of the economy? Or shall the new Government continue the journey, correcting mistakes, and implementing new policies better suited to the elimination of underdevelopment and poverty and diseases in Zimbabwe? Shall it uphold the priority of the African voice, African resolve, African philosophy and African civilization in shaping the policies of the country and in constructing a new Zimbabwe and new Africa?
Let us be guided by the injunction and noble words of Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War: “With malice towards none, and charity towards all…let us bind up the nation’s wounds…”
All of us, as Africans, and as friends of Africa, should help the Zimbabwen Government and Zimbabwen people in this gigantic task before them.
Outside Zimbabwe, Mugabe is the most beloved African leader in the hearts of ordinary African masses; for, on the issue of land, which is a living grievance to ordinary landless and land-starved Africans, Mugabe is viewed by ordinary Africans as an unrepentant fighter for African interests. Lest we forget, Mugabe has bestowed upon Zimbabwe an education system whose quality is most likely second to none in the entire Continent.
Mugabe shall, and should, remain a great African leader, keeping in mind Boswell’s words: in every picture, there is light as well as shade.