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Botswana: Zim Crisis Dominates Phikwe Discussions
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
21 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
Onalenna Modikwa
The political unrest in Zimbabwe has turned out to be the talk of the town among Batswana who fear for their own lives.
The argument over how Botswana is going to be affected should there be civil unrest in Zimbabwe features in taxi conversations, workplaces and even in private homes.
Most people in Selebi-Phikwe feel that the impact of the political stalemate, especially if the two political parties - ZANU-PG and MDC- resort to violence - will be strongly felt in their town and in areas along the common border with Zimbabwe. The issue has been so sensationalised that some self-appointed 'specialists' on Zimbabwean affairs even lecture others on the future of that beleaguered country.
Whenever a group of people gathers, the Zimbabwe issue is automatically on top of the agenda and the group will invariably swell as the debate heats up. The Zimbabwe imbroglio issue was hotly discussed after it was reported that Zimbabwe had ordered weapons from China. "As we speak the weapons are being transported through our country to their destination because there is no way they can reach Zimbabwe without passing through Botswana."
While men are ready to swing into action if called to the battlefront, their female counterparts worry mostly about their homes, children and prospect of being ferried in United Nations (UN) trucks to safer areas where they can be supplied with food and other amenities. They fear that violence that swept through Kenya after the December disputed elections is about to break out in neighbouring Zimbabwe. "If we are not going to be affected then why are our soldiers and police officers on standby?
Are we not likely to lose our soldiers like it happened at Lesoma (when rebel Rhodesian troops ambushed Botswana soldiers) some years ago - and what about the fate of our relatives in Zimbabwe?
Re tlhola re bona dintwa mo TV, bana ba rona re tsile go ba isa kae? Mathata ke gore Tsvangirai o teng ko Gaborone jaanong Mugabe o ka nna a romela masole kwano."
One political activist claimed that Botswana would be directly affected because if any country wanted to launch any attacks on Zimbabwe it has to settle some where in Botswana in order to hit the intended targets in Zimbabwe.
"Those in the Bobirwa area would be the most vulnerable because their area is very close to Zimbabwe. E bile gatwe batho bangwe bane ba le mo ditshupetsong ba tswa South Africa ba ya Zimbabwe ba phatlaladitswe ke mapodise ko Bobirwa." He went on to claim that South African President Thabo Mbeki is in good books with Robert Mugabe and that is why he allowed Zimbabwean military hardware from China to pass through South Africa, as no any other country would have allowed that.
"Mugabe and US President George W Bush are bitter enemies so the first thing Zimbabwe is going to do, in case of a civil war, is to come directly to Selebi-Phikwe to destroy the Voice of America (VOA) offices in order to cut off any possible communication with the Pentagon in Washington DC. So we in Phikwe would be the first to be affected. Do not talk about those living in Ramokgwebana and some villages in Bokalaka."
Another man said he has no problem with Mugabe's rule in Zimbabwe but his reforms like the land redistribution programme that saw many white farmers dispossessed of agricultural land and Operation Murambatsvina that left thousands of poor Zimbabweans without homes.
"But at the same time I do no think Morgan Tsvangirai is man enough to rule Zimbabwe otherwise the country will easily slide back to colonialism. I agree any civil unrest in Zimbabwe will affect our country. "Batswana ba tshwanetse go nna ba amiwa ke dintwa gore ba tsoge maroko. Even in Botswana a change of government should never be done through civil war."
After a rib-cracking laughter, another debater chips in and states that he is totally against Mugabe. He argues that it is not the issue of counting ballots but lack of transparency by the Mugabe administration that is at the heart of the present crisis.
"Constitutionally the cabinet should have been dissolved when the country went to the polls on March 29 but we were all surprised that some of Mugabe's ministers travelled to Zambia for the SADC heads of state extraordinary summit in Lusaka.
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Ke bo minister ba ba tswang kae? How can a recount of ballots be ordered while the results have never been released? Mugabe wants to cheat and believe me a civil war is on the way."
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