On July 20 Rhodes students gathered to hold a night vigil themed This Flag Vigil and lit candles to show their support and solidarity for the Zimbabwean #ThisFlag Movement.<\/p>\n
The night vigil started at 18:00 and took place outside the Clock Tower. #ThisFlag Movement has led to the neighbouring country\u2019s anti-government protests against the ruling party ZANU-PF led by President Robert Mugabe who came into power in 1987.<\/p>\n
The protests in Zimbabwe have largely been against poverty caused by corruption and the high unemployment rate along with the injustices caused by censorship, human rights violations, a ban on imports and a lack of accountability. A manager of a night-club in Grahamstown spoke about how his father, a former member of the national party, died a disillusioned man when his life’s work was reduced to R1500 in 2008. \u00a0His story was relatable to those in the crowd because it echoed others\u2019 stories of disillusionment. \u00a0#ThisFlag movement did not begin and will probably not end with Pastor Evan Mawarire, who is now in South Africa, after he was released from prison on treason charges which did not hold in court. However, he has provided the fuel that has fired up a nation trapped in an authoritarian government state that has been repeatedly accused of gross human rights violations against its citizens especially after the 2008 elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not one person leading it. We all have a role to play. The system that we are fighting is not that simple. \u00a0We are fighting something that we once all believed was right. We are fighting something that we once all believed in, in some sense. Let\u2019s do what we can because it\u2019s a tough system\u201d said a student at the vigil. \u00a0Pastor Evan Mawarire posted an online video titled This Flag- A Lament of Zimbabwe\u00a0on 19 April. In the \u00a0video he used the flag as a metaphor to explain how the values that the Zimbabwean flag stands for no longer have meaning.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis flag, this beautiful flag, they tell me that the green is for the vegetation and the crops, I don\u2019t see any crops in my country. The yellow is for all the minerals, gold, diamonds, platinum and copper. I don\u2019t know how much of it is left, who they sold it to and how much they got for it\u201d he said. It is because of this that he called out for Zimbabweans to demand accountability from the ruling party and voice their criticism. \u201cThe red, the red they say that is the blood that was shed to secure freedom for me which I am so thankful for. I just don\u2019t know that if they were here, those that shed their blood and saw the way that this country is, if they would demand their blood back\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
The flag wrapped around his neck stands as a reminder of the values that founded the Zimbabwean nation and symbolises what the anti-government protests are about. \u201cSo, I must look at it again and try to remind myself that it is my country\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
A student spoke about his feelings of defeat when he was leaving Zimbabwe for South Africa earlier this week. He felt that there was no future for him in Zimbabwe until the vigil which gave him hope. \u201cThere is this new fire in me. Maybe someday South Africans could say [ohh gees] maybe we could jump the border up North\u201d said the student.<\/p>\n
Another student read the following passage from the bible, Ecclesiastes 3:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a time for everything<\/p>\n
A time to be born and a time to die,<\/p>\n
A time to plant and a time to pluck up what you have planted,<\/p>\n
A time to kill and a time to heal,<\/p>\n
A time to tear down and a time to build,<\/p>\n
A time to weep and a time to laugh,<\/p>\n
A time to mourn and a time to dance,<\/p>\n
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,<\/p>\n
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,<\/p>\n
A time to be silent and a time to speak,<\/p>\n
A time to love and a time to hate,<\/p>\n
A time for war and a time for peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The evening was filled with optimism, \u201cthis movement is very powerful and this shows that every Zimbabwean is willing to do anything to ensure that things change\u201d one student said. Another student spoke out about her experience as a victim of intimidation at the hands of the military. \u201cI have never been so scared in my life because I was so afraid, but I don\u2019t want to be afraid anymore\u201d she said. In tears she told the story of how she, her mother and her nephew where driving back to their home when their car ran into a problem. Their car stopped and they could not start it, this obstructed some military officers and one of them pulled a gun on her mother and pointed it at her. The officer said they had to move their car even if they had to push it out of the way. \u00a0The student spoke of her fear \u201cI was so scared. I don\u2019t want a government and a system \u00a0that instead of helping people whose car broke down pull a gun on you\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The evening was also filled with apprehension which was heightened when a woman, who did not identify herself, warned the journalists and the people in the crowd to not tag anyone in photos because this would make them and their families a target for the government thus endangering their lives. \u201cPlease be safe about the images you release today guys. They will hunt your family. I have seen it since 2001\u201d she said. She also spoke out about the inefficiency of South African public authorities. \u00a0Another student, who is also Zimbabwean, explained the level of censorship and fear. He said that a while ago he began posting things on Facebook about Zimbabwean politics. His mother saw his posts and was so afraid for his safety that she asked him to stop as that would make him a target for the government.<\/p>\n
For years the world and South Africa in general have turned a blind eye to the plight of Zimbabwean nationals, even at times adding to their suffering in the form of xenophobic attacks. However, the tide seems to have turned so whatever our preconceived notions were, this is the starting point. The people of Zimbabwe are speaking so listen.<\/p>\n
Written by: Nokwanda Dlamini<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On July 20 Rhodes students gathered to hold a night vigil themed This Flag Vigil and lit candles to show their support and solidarity for the Zimbabwean #ThisFlag Movement. The night vigil started at 18:00 and took place outside the Clock Tower. #ThisFlag Movement has led to the neighbouring country\u2019s anti-government protests against the ruling […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,26,33],"tags":[35,74,30,28,75],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentnews.africa\/sng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}