B r i t a i n  Z i m b a b w e  S o c i e t y

OF Report Section 4

PANEL TWO

THE ZIMBABWEAN DIASPORA AS AN AGENT
FOR CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

Jeremy Dear (Chair) , General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists, opened the second session of the afternoon by welcoming the lively debate that had characterized the Open Forum thus far. He complimented the discussion for being so grounded in its consideration of the challenges relating to skills and organization in Zimbabwe and the Diaspora. He encouraged contributors from the floor to continue in this approach, and to prioritize practical initiatives that might strengthen organizational links within and between the Diaspora and Zimbabwe, thereby maximizing the role of the Diaspora as an agent for change and transformation.

Rev Nicholas Mkaronda , Coordinator (South Africa) of Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition was the first speaker in this second panel. His presentation follows:

Thank you to the organizers for bringing us together in this very interesting forum. Under different circumstances, I should be addressing a congregation in Zimbabwe, baptizing them, and consoling the bereaved amongst other things. But that is not as it is in the present circumstances. I left that task as the situation does not allow us to be there.

The ‘home link’ is vitally important to any Diaspora, for people in a Diaspora are inevitably connected through events at home, and so must remain in touch with events at home. Those in the Diaspora and inside Zimbabwe should act together and now is the time to act.

In connecting the Diaspora with reconstruction, we indicate that we have hope and we are made to believe that another Zimbabwe is possible! The engagement of the Zimbabwean Diaspora for reconstruction begins now, for in resolving the crisis we begin the practical process of reconstruction. We cannot wait until the crisis is over, for us to engage in the reconstruction; otherwise we risk being alienated and fall into the pitfalls of nostalgia. We need to stay connected and look forward to avoid being alienated. The dilemma of the Diaspora in reconstruction is perhaps best captured in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart in the tragic character of Okonkwo.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) report on Zimbabwean skilled refugees shows the high levels of qualifications and experience obtaining among the Zimbabwean Diaspora in the UK and South Africa. James Muzondidya’s paper - Mobilizing the Diaspora for Political Activism: Confronting the Challenges and Problems (2006) - focuses on the mobilization of the Zimbabwean Diaspora for political activism and makes the point that by 2000, more than 3 million Zimbabweans had emigrated as a result of the Zimbabwean Crisis. This is a figure that has been increasing due to the continued repressive environment in form of the land reform program and Operation Murambatsvina. The Solidarity Peace Trust (2005) commissioned a report on the labour abuses of teachers which brought to light the deplorable conditions and treatment of Zimbabwean teachers in South Africa who are providing valuable service to the South African education system. The same report recommended ways of strengthening the Zimbabwean teachers as a force so that they can contribute now while in South Africa and also begin to focus on their role in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. The research was motivated by the work of the Southern Africa Women’s Institute of Migration Affairs, and the recommendations have been taken up by Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition SA Desk and the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe. Crisis Coalition and PTUZ are using this as a pilot project to engage the Zimbabwean Diaspora in organizing in skill sectors. This way we will argue for our own rights of existence in our newly adopted countries, and also begin to address the reconstruction of Zimbabwe as the crisis continues to unfold. This also brings hope as we all look up to another Zimbabwe which is possible.

The Zimbabwe National Pastors Conference, coordinated by the Ecumenical Support Services, undertook a pastoral visit to South Africa in 2005. They reported that less than 30% of the Zimbabwean Diaspora are living in comfort zones in South Africa, making it imperative for the Diaspora to be organized to participate in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe so that they can go back to their homes. Exile is proof that you will not be a King in a home that is not yours. Indeed, we are not Kings in SA, for we are in Babylon. So we need to keep a sharp eye on reconstruction. The Ithemba Lesizwe produced a report in 2004 on the situation of Zimbabwean exiles in South Africa and concluded that the Zimbabwean exiles had moved from the frying pan in Zimbabwe into the fire in South Africa.

We have a highly skilled Diaspora which is generally well placed in the labour market, but by and large it is also marginalized in the labour market to the extent of being deskilled. Our experience of the Diaspora, at least in South Africa, is that people are largely destitute and desperate –for evidence of this, see the South African Teachers report and the qualified doctors and journalists Stephen Munjanja found in the Methodist Church in Johannesburg.

Any discussion on the skills potential of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in Transforming Zimbabwe needs to begin with an acknowledgement of the role of the Zimbabwean Diaspora in availing its skills in transforming Zimbabwe now despite their desperate situation:

Journalists and media practitioners have played a significant role through such media as The Zimbabwean, Southern Times and SWRadio, all of which have been really important in building a sense of community in the Diaspora and creating links home by keeping people informed. Teachers have also formed an association in South Africa, and linked up with similar organizations in Zimbabwe. We must also acknowledge the role of the Zimbabwean business community in the Diaspora who are filling the gaps where government is failing. We also need to acknowledge the role of the Clergy in South Africa and in the UK, though we need more concerted action to expose Anglican Bishop Kunonga. For we must hound those in league with the oppressor, that is the role that the Diaspora can take on. If we put our commitment and brains together, the Diaspora can make an effective contribution to the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. There are efforts that are having effect, but these are still too disconnected.

Over and above these and other efforts by the Zimbabwean Diaspora, the potential of the Diaspora to promote and support reconstruction of Zimbabwe is dependent on their socio-economic and political literacy of Zimbabwe which should be grounded on the realities obtaining and evolving now in Zimbabwe. This has not always been the case. We cannot afford a situation where skilled and qualified journalists misrepresent accomplices to the rogue regime like Denson Mafinyane of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches as masterminding the Save Zimbabwe Campaign alongside the Christian Alliance as boldly reported by CAJ in The Zimbabwean this week; or the distortion of the shelter program of the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg as a haven of prostitutes and drug dealers as reported by a similar agency in the same paper early this year. We need to be far more thorough and diligent.

There is need therefore to create platforms for organized sector based skills formations in the Diaspora that relate to the transformative processes taking place in Zimbabwe.

The study on the labour abuses of teachers in South Africa brings to the fore the vulnerability of the skilled Diaspora not only as regards their exploitation, but their deskilling as well, that needs to be attended to. What we have in South Africa as regards teachers is that they tend to be employed in what are called private colleges where the working conditions are not only difficult, but where college owners and administrators choose to pay very low wages and many a times decide not to pay and use the police to round up the teachers at the end of the month or at the end of October when pupils are writing examinations. This situation also obtains for those working in the farms.

There is need therefore to have targeted lobby and advocacy with actual and potential employers of the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora for them tounderstand the frying pan in Zimbabwe and not to see Zimbabweans as mere cheap labour, but as assets who need fulfillment in the work they do now and capacitating for the new Zimbabwe that is surely to come.

But also many qualified teachers are not employed as teachers, nor are journalists employed as such. They end up taking up menial jobs such as car washing, security guards and street vending which not only undermines their self-esteem, but also deskills them.

This brings us to the critical issue of training among the Diaspora even in the face of menial jobs for skilled workers like teachers or those who have recently finished school and have no specialized training in any area. For us as Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition South Africa Desk, we are confronted on a daily basis which a huge influx of student leaders who are persecuted in Zimbabwe and are unable to continue with their studies in Zimbabwe. We are of the view that a lot of training for these young people should be undertaken in the region where there is so much resemblance of home. The region also provides easier ties with processes taking place at home such as the Student Solidarity Trust, the Student Christian Movement and the Zimbabwe National Students’ Union which are integral parts of the Zimbabwe Social Forum and the Southern Africa Social Forum.

What we think needs to be done is that the Diasporas, wherever they are, should also take it as their responsibility to invest in their own training as preparation for another Zimbabwe different from the one they fled from but also for some form of coordinated effort in providing educational opportunities within the region for the growing Zimbabwean Diaspora that is directly linked to the efforts taking place in the country as stated above.

The role of the Diaspora in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe in the future will depend on the willingness of the new dispensation to engage the skills of the Diaspora in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe. Vice versa, it will depend on the willingness of the Diaspora to play a legitimate role in the resolution of the crisis now without being seen as joining the band wagon when the time comes. The truth of the matter is that we have highly skilled personnel in Zimbabwe who could be employed anywhere in the world who have made a political statement that they will not leave Zimbabwe because it is the only home they know of. They have opted to be imprisoned, tortured and risk being eliminated in Zimbabwe by a Zimbabwean government than seek sanctuary in foreign lands and wait for a time of reconstruction to come. There is the suspicion with the Diaspora in the developed countries like the UK and USA who are seen as amassing wealth, buying endless properties particularly houses so as to make tenants of those who are struggling inside now.

Sentiments by certain sections of the Diaspora to rebrand the Zimbabwean Diaspora into an economic power house who will turn the fortunes of Zimbabwe at the appropriate time have not been helpful, they have only exacerbated this animosity between and among the Zimbabweans inside the country and those in the Diaspora.

My view is that it is incumbent upon the Diaspora to do some or such of the following:

Create links with some of the processes going on in Zimbabwe like the peace building committee of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, the Catholic Commission on Peace and Justice, the Zimbabwe Peace Project and so forth.

Providing a skills data base to such organizations as the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union which can be used now for lobby and advocacy as a basis for the actual and potential skills base lost to Zimbabwe as a result of bad governance as it obtains now in Zimbabwe and the potential there is for a new Zimbabwe with this skilled base back at home. The problem is that some of us who are in the Diaspora do not want to be identified as Zimbabweans both due to the hostile environments we find ourselves in and for personal survival.

Provide support both morally and materially to our skills sector in their efforts to confront the government of Zimbabwe. The Sanitary Pads campaign was a good example of what could come from the Diaspora, but it would help if we had signatures to these efforts as our way of signaling personal and collective commitment to struggle in the country.

Organized skills formations by the Diaspora provides an opportunity for lobby and advocacy directed at the unions of the host countries as well as international unions which in turn can be utilized in exerting pressure on governments in the SADC region, regional bodies, continental bodies and international bodies in enabling the Diaspora in not only retaining their skills, but improving these skills which will be necessary in the reconstruction of Zimbabwe.

Speakers from the UK:

Forward Maisokwadzo is chair of the Association of Zimbabwe Journalists in the UK, and coordinator of the Exiled Journalists Network.

It’s a fact Zimbabweans are highly skilled people but the unfortunate reality is that those in the Diaspora a high percentage of them are not practicing their profession, a situation which is quite disturbing in terms of skills development.

There are specific ways that people can try to preserve their skills:

• Reskilling
• Further training both under and post graduate studies
• Work placements
• Those enrolled for post graduate studies to consider undertaking research study topics focused on Zimbabwe
• Join/affiliate or work with other associations, unions of their professional background eg journalists with NUJ, doctors with BMC.
• Career development (switch careers) but not to abandon careers completely
• UK to allow professional Zimbabweans to practice their profession

What action can be taken by Zimbabweans themselves, rather than by government?

• Be responsible people: - hit headlines with positive stories not for the wrong reasons.
• Lets be ambassadors of our country
• Engage in a civilized manner to discuss issues affecting the country- the Open forum is one the good example. Bury our political differences when discussing issues of reconstruction and rebuilding on our country.
• Try to keep Zimbabwe on the international agenda by using the existing media available.
• Ensure initiatives focusing on Zimbabwe complement each other
• Be able to tell our own story and be keen to speak out on matters of national interest.

Professional networks and associations have a really important role to play here. They are very useful as resources for career development and as platforms from which we can talk about Zimbabwe in our own terms. They need to be supported and encouraged eg BZS research day. The presence of NUJ here today is a perfect case study of how solidarity can work in a particular labour sector. The NUJ provides schemes for training and this is just one example of how small networks can facilitate change while working closely with Zimbabwean journalists.

Shane Lunga is Chair of Zimbabwe Futures

We know that Zimbabwe is in an economic and political crisis but key decisions about Zimbabwe’s future are being made now and we can and must have input into these decisions. It is up to us to use our influence from here.

This crisis in Zimbabwe is interconnected to the skills shortage in Zimbabwe – for example, a healthcare worker returning to Zimbabwe will think about the education that is available for their children, and a teacher will think about the economic crisis and the health resources that are available. So these things are all interconnected.

So we need to find linkages in terms of our skills and the repatriation of skills. The physical barrier of Geography is not a limitation to skills repatriation, there are other means and responses. We need to preempt the drain in the first place. We need to find frameworks that enable people to return. Skills are not static but ebb and flow and vary.

Health is one area that Zimbabwe Futures has tried to look at more closely, as it is an area where problems are endemic and yet it also offers the most in terms of possible intervention by the Diaspora.

We are also considering what other things will make Zimbabweans go back home? What incentives are there to return to Zimbabwe? When? How? What will prompt their return?

The main barrier is Visa restrictions because for many it is the case that if one returns to Zimbabwe, then one cannot return to the UK. So we propose a policy of temporary return, whereby going home might be seen as a sabbatical – host countries could be encouraged to provide visas with the option of return. For example, people may return to work for 12 months in a rural clinic and then see if they want to stay. This has been successful elsewhere and we think it could be one strategy that could be applied successfully in Zimbabwe.

We need to think about ways of assisting and encouraging people to return, when the time comes, so that they can contribute to the transformation of the country after this current economic and political crisis.

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