Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
1 April 2009
After 10 years of failed silent diplomacy on Zimbabwe, Batswana and other regional taxpayers will be required to pay for the damage President Robert Mugabe has caused to his country's economy.
[ See Article ]
It does not surprise me that most stupid and hyperbolic writers on Zimbabwe are a small white minority community in SADC. Their goal is to define life for the Africans. In Botswana they are busy stirring resentments toward all things Zimbabwean. A few black Batswana are beginning to realize the contributions of resident Zimbabweans in Botswana. There is virtually no major entity in Botswana where Zimbabweans do not play a role. FrancisTown is practically supported by Zimbabweans, and not the loud mouthed white minorites. This has nothing to do with Robert Mugabe. Soccer coaches in Botswana are Zimbabweans and so are a few players. Zimbabwe economic revival will do more for Botswana than for Zimbabweans. Piet stop being a liar!!! I have seen your articles and they are rubbish!!
Racist drivel again from you Phiri. Maybe you pathetic Zimbabweans should get off your arses and start helping yourselves. You made the mess so start doing something to fix it. Being a typical black racist does not help.
jrr, a lot of us do try, but we are all called enemies of the state, so it is ransacked by the green bombers, because they do not like anyone helping themselves. According to ZanyPooF,everything belongs to Bob-oon.
U ALL SHOULD GUESS WHO THIS IS - HIS NAME SPELT BACKWARDS - EBAGUM!!!! instead i shall use this now instead of uncle bob
N/a, Maybe Muga's is that Rhodist Yorkshireman afterall, E-ba-gum, whale oil be damned. ha ha ha ha ha ha .
Zola looks like u wet your pants with laughter what about Muga the Mugger the next door neighgbour from hell!!
Very good n/a very good, have you seen that T-shirt about saying ROB MUGABE on the front and on the back, BEFORE HE ROBS YOU. ha ha ha ha .
It's sad people from neighbouring states argue on who is the greatest when the proof of the matter is how to help the fallen neighbour. If Batswana claims are to bubstantiated, they would benefit socially from a Zimbabweanless environment, and see a marked drop in criminal activity and all the social ills that they have blamed on Zimbabweans.
Otherwise we are all suffering and the sooner the better the end cometh. I am from a point of advantage having a Batswana mother and a Zimbabwean father and having never stayed in any of the two lands, I have started seeing the humour in this uninformed and assumptive war of words between in most cases emotionally charged and therefore irrational individuals. Please lets stop this crap and be good neighbours
why not sell off the old man mugabes properties he seem to have great homes at home and abroad i have seen this great house of his built among the trees in harare in an article - he and that gold digging wife of his must pay for what they have done to the people of zim
N/a, have you been on Youtube. Go on there some time and type in Robert gabriel Mugabe's palace. You will soon see where the money has gone.
Zola what the heck is that gold digger disgrace doing with a supposedly 25 bedroomed house the size of a hotel!!
N/a you tell me, I would love to know myself. So much for Bob-oon helping the poor when he is just helping himself. I thought he didn't like these imperialistic western ways of life.It should be used as a childrens home or something on those lines.
Make sense and is justice for Batswana to compensate an African neighbor, after aiding and abetting the racist and criminal sanctions of evil europeans against fellow Africans. All those who instituted the racist and criminal sanctions, all those who tacitly benefit from the racist and criminal sanctions, and all those who support and refuse to demand and end to the racist and criminal sanctions against Africans SHOULD compensate the Zim Patriots, who are only seeking to ensure their Self-determination in THEIR indigenous African space.
I have always been proud to be African, black or white, and ashamed of the Afrikaner regime in South Africa. Having lived abroad I always defended my black brothers, but lately I am starting to be ashamed of being African, as man the black brothers take the 1st prize on racism.
Previously proud non racist
Why do these comments all come down to race? Africans are Africans no matter what the colour of their skin or their original ethnic origin. If I see a despot or criminal steeling from my fellow countrymen/women then I want something done about it. In the case of the leader of a country exploiting the citizens, and manipulating the legal system, like "Uncle Bob Mugabe" has done in Zim and others elsewhere, I want our neighbours or those countries that harbour these criminals to seize the "stolen" wealth and return it to the country from where it was stolen. The wealth of the country belongs to all the people, not to the leaders. In the case of Mugabe, he does NOT represent the people and the only people who benefit from his rule are those he pays to support him or protect him.... It has been proven time and time again if you empower people economically then you empower them politically too. If Zim's neighbours can help to regenerate the wealth of the Zimbabwe people through economic empowerment of the people - not the government - then I'm all for it! If Zim can be lifted out of poverty then it will benefit every neighbouring country.
Safrica, I agree with your comments that if Batswana can help they should etc Batswana is a democratic country and continues to be an example for all of Africa. In as much as Batswana's economy is doing well, Zimbabweans have contributed to Batswana's economy. Specifically in Franscetown and manpower to Botswana. The author of the article would have us believe this is a one way relationship, it is not! There has been a group (which I have written about) who been trying to promote anti-Zimbabwean altitudes in Southern Africa. 15 years ago my family hosted Batswana secondary school girls, while attending private school in Bulawayo. President Ian Khama was once a student in Zimbabwe. That is why Khama is passionate about solving the problems in Zim.
Phiri:
I have no problem with any of that! As a neighbor state, it is natural for Botswana to benefit from the ingenuity of the people of Zimbabwe.
No one here is arguing that the people of ZImbabwe are somehow unequal to the challenges of the present, but Botswana feels the problems in ZImbabwe more than SA because SA can absorb the refugees better than Botswana.
Surely both SA and Botswana benefit from the "brain-drain" in ZImbabwe, but I feel Botswana does better from the "truth" perspective by calling the present situation in ZImbabwe unacceptable. SA does not address Zimbabwe head-on as it is the regional power. Consequently SA must eventuallyanswer for it's ineffectual solution that it imposed on the people of Zimbabwe by foisting the GNU on them.
The SADC said the June '08 elections in Zimbabwe were neither "free nor fair".
Botswana has been in the vanguard of those denouncing dictatorship in Zimbabwe, SA should be ashamed that Botswana has taken the mantle of regional "conscience" from SA.
What does Mandela say about these things? I'm sure he would be embarrassed to acknoweledge Ian Khama has done more for the cuase of freedom in Zimbabwe than South Africa................
God Bless Botswana and it's people!
safrican it must be hard for the bots president as he is mixed race to deal with people like uncle bob - otherwise comments like having anglo saxon blood will re-surface. if they hate u and u r mixed race - the side that willbe the most despised is the anglo saxon one!!!! It is not the matter of the person who has a heart and the one that is HEARTLESS
N/a the Botswana president could be the Obama of Africa.
zola why not - THE GUY IN BOTS SHOULD BE THE OBAMA OF AFRICA HE JUST NEEDS MORE SUPPORT!!! GO FOR IT!!!
UNCLE BOS IS REFUSING TO GIVE ASSISTANCE TO THE MIXED RACE PEOPLE IN ZIM- I KNOW A CHARITY THAT IS ASSISTING THEM BSE OF HIS STUPID MENTALITY- IF THEY GIVE MONEY LET IT TO TH AID ORGANISATIONS AND STIPULATE THAT EVERY ZIM CITIZEN WHO NEEDS ASISTANCE REGARDLSS OF THEIR COMMUNITY THEY MUST GET IT THIS WILL FIX THE OLD TOSS POT
SADC is now mad enough to enter final stages of self destruction. Remember this collapse started when fighters against freedom demanded to be paid signnificant amount of money for doing nothing. SADC can waste tax payer's money on this misconceived project and create pauper governments in the region. To lie that there are no farm invasions when evidence is there; to allow Mugabe to keep opposition supporters behind bars despite the unity accord; wretched Gono still in charge of the 10-year circus at RBZ; major appointments still unresolved, Bennet penalized for being a loved white.. and still thow in tax payer's money, expecting the rest of the world to suddenly turn around and fail to see the truth? Al lthese countries purpoting to have ability to pay - most are poorer than ZW if all resources in there are used effectively by competent fairly elected individuals. Its' quite ironic !
" .. Batswana and other regional taxpayers will be required to pay for the damage President Robert Mugabe has caused to his country's economy. .."
Indeed, this reporter would propose that the western foreigners and the rhodies in Southern Africa (that give the foreigners - their kith and kin - solace and comfort as they go about their age-old cursed ways of starving, killing and holding the African Child in bondage) had nothing to do with it.
On reading the media carried by AllAfrica.com, it is tempting to conclude that seeds of pathological idiocy were planted in Africa by the foreign imperial killers. On closer scrutiny one realizes that perhaps those with the idiocy are the media men and women in the publications carried by AllAfrica.com.
And AllAfrica.com's media is mostly owned/controlled by foreign whites.
So, where does that place AllAfrica.com in that hierarchy of idiocy?
Granted that those people of Botswana are still under the brutal limey colonialism - led by SIr Khama, a british knight bowing down to an old foreign hag-queeny far far away - and sworn to promote the british empire anywhere in the world. But we wonder: Is there anybody with a brain at Mmegi? Are they all zombies of the crown? Or are all the reasoning people duly murdered over there?
Chokora, why would you make a comment that "AllAfrica.com's media is mostly owned/controlled by foreign whites" when it is so easy to check the facts before you do so? Of the last 100 stories listed on AllAfrica 51 were from the Herald. It is also questionable who owns the Financial Gazette, CIO is suspected (but not proven) to be a shareholder. Check your facts first.I think you will find that AllAfrica give a fair share to both sides of the story.
Katz, I do agree that Allafrica has provided a diverse amount of opinions. Some of the comments published on this blog would not be published on BBC on line version etc. This allows people like myself to be honest how I see things, based on talking with my fellow countrymen and my usual complain that African media has been dominated too much by anglo writers. I would like to see “others” from EU also write about our country and Africa. An anglo company called Leland owns Allafrica.com. A Ghanaian in the USA started it and he has since cashed out. Overall it is balanced.
" .. But we wonder: Is there anybody with a brain at Mmegi? .."
OK.
Maybe there are- ones with twisted mass of cursed neurons like those of a rat named cecil rhodes.
Some colleagues have intimated that I am being socially-incorrect by being unfair to the mentally-challenged rhodies and their captive native rhodie-wannabes at Mmegi, Here is a suggested line of elucidation that people of goodwill the world over expect from a respectable paper operating in any country.
1) Why do the parasitic European countries and UK in particular be eager to trumpet their "AID" to African countries - but not Botswana? What does UK get out of it? Does UK push "The Commonwealth" because it is their preferred way of loosing money?
[ The easy answer here for the brainwashed idiotic christian is to propose that the imperialist are a godly people who are hell bent to assist the native - by raping, torturing, enslaving and killing them as well as commandeering their ancestral lands ..]
[Hint: The capitalist West gets many times more out of Africa than they put in .. What they put in is a distraction - much like the air that a rat blows on the wound as it gnaws on a sleeping man.]
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2) Part of the assistance may be tied to the financing of goods and services sourced in Botswana. What does such assistance and increased trade mean, in the short-term and in the long-term, to the economy and the people of Botswana? Are the people of Botswana better off without the increased trade?
What does it mean to the farmers in Zimbabwe to access a larger local and export market for their produce?
What does it mean to Botswana's manufacturers? Does it make it easier to contemplate more capital intensive projects - with partners the co-operating region?
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[Well, a thorough analysis is what the Americans would expect from 'The New York Times' of 'The Los Angeles Times' on matters that affect the USA. And the USA's lawmakers rely partly on the viewpoints expressed in well-researched articles and opinions in such papers to assist them and the land in their decision-making. Why should the aBatswana settle for less?]
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We are not asking the nits at Mmegi to invent the wheel. We are asking them to keep the standards. We expect them earn their living by enlightening us with well-researched analysis instead of cheap, emotional, thoughtless and worthless trash that an unemployed yahoo on Gabarone's street corner is capable of churning out.
[But then, lying, misleading, hoodwinking and denigration are propaganda tools available to, and well-used by, the rhodies in Africa. In which case, maybe the Mmegi is accomplishing its appointed cursed, patently-euro machete-job on the natives admirably - OHMS Sir S. Khama, knight and servant of the british empire.]
= off topic,maybe
Hugh Masekela turns 70 on April 4th. In an interview he says the following:
15 years after end of apartheid. .. People in this land fought hard for our freedom. .. People died. .. Other than the freedom of movement (if the natives don't stray into whites only rich neighbourhoods) and the vote (but whites get seats set aside for whites only), the native people have not got much out their struggle. No economic victory. The economy is not yet in the hands, or anywhere near the hands, of the people. The native people own less than 5% of their ancestral lands.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7974730.stm
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The struggle continues
Apartheid by any other name ...
The struggle continues
You want apartheid by another name, well ok, try ZANU PF.
Hiya Chakora what an idiot u are I did not realise UNCLE BOB had an honarary knighthood until it was stripped!!!! so what - dont u know sometimes love can cross the boundaries of your community WHAT AN IDIOT U R it is people like u that do not want integration
Botswana should only help zimbabwe when Bob-oon issues an apology to Botswana accusing them of training the so-called MDC dissadents .All monies should be put into Tsvangarai's and Biti's hands to keep satanPf off it.
Just see how the SADC continue not having balls to tell Mugabe to return all the money he has stolen from Zimbabwe as I am sure most of them have it in their countrys' banks. They are still propping up Mugabe and the poor sods who are the taxpayers must foot Mugabe's shit. Another thing that has me stunned is that what Mugabe did to MR Tsvangirai is as close as it can ever be to Rajoelina of Madagascar declaring himself as president of that country and yet the SADC kept Mugabe in power when the rightful president should have been Mr Tsavangirai. SADC declares, "He should not be recognizes by anybody, he is illegitimate. He must go immediately." OK and correct if he is neither elected at all nor elected by the majority the people. So what about Mugabe? Why is HE still in power? Talk of SADC double standards and a pick and chose way of dealing with African issues. Is any wonder the international community gives them no credence? No balls all them and I am surprised at the Botswana Ian Khama who I have always admired because together with the late Mr Mwanawasa of Zambia, seemed to know the right things. They have got him too. What a shame.
KJRS120, you are such a good bloke who tells the truth as it is. I know you say that you are noy a Zimbo, but if I could , I would make you an Honoury Citizen of Zimbabwe with agreat big accolade , a bit like being Knighted.
Zola, what an honour it is for me for a Zimbabwean, not only self- respecting and true to himself, but patriotic and true to his country in all respects, to give me such a blessing. Thank you. Promise me one thing. If for any reason I start to torture and murder my own people like yours truly, please yank that knighthood and shove me straight into jail! Ha ha ha.
Krjs120, that sounds like being crazy and idiotic. Self congratulation that you are better than everybody else are very common among the tiny white minority population in SADC. Please do not kid yourself many Zimbabweans would not like you. Maybe, they would like you for a day, but as soon as they see your twisted agenda..they would have second thoughts.
Ian smith and friends prided themselves that the natives loved them so much. Ian Smith even boasted that thousands of Africans would come to his funeral, but that was just wishful thinking ...My friend..you know better. I too would want you to be a Zimbabwe for a day...after that, I probably would kick your butt!!!
Just like no Ndebele warriors went to Cecil Rhodes' funeral, I suppose Phiri.
Phiri, some of your comments use to be relevant. Now all you can go on about is how people continue to be negative towards Zimbabwe and attacking people. The only negative ones on here are yourself and the other cronies who refuse to look forward for the good people of Zimbabwe. By the way if Kjrs was made an honoury Zimbabwean the majority would like him as he stands for the same ideals that the Majority voted for, now you stop kidding yourself.
The african leaders are to blame they just teach their people HOW TO SCROUNGE - so many zimbo associations at home and abroad - it should start with the zimbos why are they not being targeted
Botswana, be wary of where your money is going. There is a 30 year history of money going missing in Zimbabwe and it is all down to one person and his cohorts. The west will be asked to lift the targeted sanctions, why would they lift sanctions on the people that have destroyed Zimbabwe? If anyone can answer that i would like to hear it.