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Interview with a Zimbabwean Anarcho-Communist

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Dan Clore

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Sep 8, 2009, 6:40:06 PM9/8/09

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http://www.anarkismo.net/article/14350
Interview with Anarchist Communist from Zimbabwe
Monday September 07, 2009 10:48
by Jon - ZACF
author email zacf at zabalaza dot net

A member of the Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front caught up with Biko,
an anarchist communist militant from the Uhuru Network in Zimbabwe, on
August 10th 2009 when he was in Johannesburg to attend the annual Khanya
College Winter School.

In this interview Biko talks about the changes in the social, political
and economic landscape since the Government of National Unity came into
being; the state of the unions and students' movement; the suppression
of gays and lesbians; the constitutional reform process and expected
Zanu-PF campaigns of violence ahead of the next elections.

Interview with Biko, anarchist communist from the Uhuru Network in Zimbabwe.

Conducted by a ZACF member in Johannesburg on August 10th, 2009.

Could you please tell us how the political, social and economic
landscape has changed since the Government of National Unity came into
being?

The first thing is that there has been a bit of an opening up of
democratic space in terms of people articulating, but in terms of the
socio-economic situation things have worsened, particularly with the
dollarisation of the economy. This has had much more of a negative
impact on the rural communities and, with particular regard to the urban
communities and given the fact that 85 percent of Zimbabweans are
unemployed, a lot of people have problems accessing the US dollars.

How have people on all sides reacted to the MDCï¿½s entry into government
and in what conditions has this left its structures?

The Movement for Democratic Changeï¿½s entrance into what we prefer
calling a transitional government, but what they refer to as a
government of national unity has been seen by most people within the
pro-democracy movement as a betrayal because there was no consultation
with the people with regards to that entrance. It is part of an elitist
pact brokered by Thabo Mbeki. The first three months of the GNU has seen
Robert Mugabe outrightly defying the GNUï¿½s agreement itself, appointing
five extra ministers, refusing to acknowledge certain ministries that he
agreed would be headed by the MDC. So, its by and large viewed as a
treacherous move.

What challenges and opportunities does this offer the Uhuru Network and
other social movements?

There has been now a clear disillusionment amongst the militant
grassroots ranks of the Movement for Democratic Change and these
community activists are much more persuaded to work with radical groups
that have always attacked the political parties in Zimbabwe.

What state does the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions find itself in,
in the context of this massive unemployment and power sharing?

The Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unionsï¿½ base has weakened giving the
shrinking of industry in Zimbabwe. They are no longer a movement that is
based on a mass of workers in Zimbabwe. The leadership has taken radical
stances, deciding not to engage the constitutional reform process as
stipulated by the GPA agreement which governs the GNU. But to what
extent they will be able to follow through threats of a general strike
that they have been issuing over the last month is doubtful given that
their mass base is weakened.

How does the studentsï¿½ movement find itself in the current context?

The Zimbabwe National Studentsï¿½ Union leadership has issued a statement
that they will also join hands with the National Constitutional Assembly
and the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions in campaigning against any
draft constitution that will emerge from the governmentï¿½s constitutional
reform process as conducted under the GPA. The University of Zimbabwe
remains closed as a result of the stateï¿½s fear of student mobilisation
and studentsï¿½ actions, but there is a radical base within the students
given that some other colleges are open and they have been conducting a
campaign against privatisation of education, which is being perpetuated
even by the MDC and ZANU-PF government.

Can you elaborate on the various positions that have been taken in
relation to the constitutional reform process, how Uhuru Network intends
to engage this or whether it doesnï¿½t intend to engage it, and what
prospects this might offer for the future?

Within the pro-democracy movement in Zim there are basically three
positions. One is that which has been taken by the National
Constitutional Assembly, the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions and the
Zimbabwe National Studentsï¿½ Union, which position is of non-engagement
and campaigning against any outcome of the process.

The second position is that which has been taken by most NGOs and civil
society organisations, particularly organised under the Crisis Coalition
and the National Association of Non-governmental Organisations, and
these organisations have agreed that the process is flawed but under
protest they will engage in the governmentï¿½s consultative processes and
will even seek to be part of the commission and the structures of this
process.

The Uhuru Network has decided to stay away from the structures of the
commission because we believe it gives an illusion that these
governmental processes can offer prospects of liberty for the people,
which position we do not agree with. So we have decided to continue to
expose the flaws in the process by campaigning against this process at
the consultative meetings that will be held in communities ahead of the
referendum. This is our position which is particularly informed by the
fact that when the draft constitution that will emerge from the
constitutional reform process of the government is given to the people,
the people will ultimately realise that it is not what they have wished
for and will have to campaign for it. We feel that the momentum to
campaign against that draft will be built in these consultative
processes and thats where we seek to build the energy.

Can you tell us about the structure and activities of the Uhuru Network,
about its cultural aspect and how you combine this with the political?

The Uhuru Network at present is comprised of two collectives; the
Alternative Media Collective and the Toyi Toyi Artz Kollektive. Within
those collectives we have artists and media activists who are based in
communities. We have five communities that we are working with around
Harare; Chitungwiza,Glen Norah, Glen View, Highfields and Waterfalls. We
have an approximate membership of 20 people within these communities and
our major political programme in these communities are study circles. So
artists and media activists get to engage in study circles where we
build the politics of the organisation.

With regards to our cultural component of programming, this has emerged
particularly because of the difficult terrain we operate in and the
repression that comes with free expression. And we find that our
comrades find it easier to express themselves in poetry and music and
other artistic forms and these are the forms that we use to conduct
outreach in communities.

How do you deal with issues of gender within the network; is there a
gender balance and do you have a gender quota?

Over the last five years our network has been dominated by male comrades
and last year we made a decision that in reconstituting our community
circles we will put a gender quote of 50 percent. So at present, within
each community we have a gender balance. This move has seen some
resistance from some members within the organisation, but over the last
two months we think the politics of it has been understood.

What is your relationship to Women of Zimbabwe Arise?

We believe that Women of Zimbabwe Arise are probably the strongest
community-based direct action organisation. We have seen also their
orientation towards social and economic justice issues, in terms of
their campaign issues, and we agree that organisation in Zim should be
at the street level and we mostly interact around direct action
questions and programmes.

What is the climate of homophobia like in Zimbabwe; are gays, lesbians,
bi-sexual and transgendered people able to organise to defend their
rights? How severe is the persecution and how do you engage this struggle?

The utterances that were made by Robert Gabriel Mugabe against gays and
lesbians in Zimbabwe a couple of years ago have seen the state
repressive forces putting more and more pressure against the gays and
lesbians, particularly their organisation Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe.
We believe that there is little or no space that is currently open for
them because within Zimbabwean society there are also stigmas against
gays and lesbians that emanate from conservative traditions. We have
tried to forge links with Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe but the
situation is so repressive that nothing has come out of that.

(Note: Biko later said that it was not that nothing at all had come out
of their attempts to forge links with GLZ, but that these attempts had
been frustrated due to the severe climate of repression and the depths
to which organised gays and lesbians in Zimbabwe are forced to operate
underground. He felt that they still needed to develop trust in order to
forge practical links)

What about the struggle of women, is there more room to maneuver in this
regard?

We believe so because of the lip-service that the government has given
to the womenï¿½s rights campaigns, particularly when Zanu-PF appointed a
woman vice president. As a result of this we find that its much easier,
now, to be advocating for womenï¿½s rights but to what extent the
structures of society have been reorganised in order to actually allow
women we are not sure. We believe that by-and-large the status of women
in society remains unchanged.

What scenarios do you think are likely to play out over the next
year-and-a-half and how could international solidarity be practically
demonstrated?

The constitutional reform process in Zimbabwe has seen the decimation of
MDC structures and also in the aftermath of the violent campaigns that
Zanu-PF conducted against militant activists in communities. As a result
we believe that the MDC as a party will be powerless in opposing the
Zanu-PF agenda around constitutional reform. We believe that the outcome
of the current constitutional reform process is not people-driven and
therefore will not be accepted by the people of Zimbabwe.

There are few organisations that are organising against this process and
we believe it will be a polarised situation when the referendum is
conducted. As a result Zanu-PF will conduct a bloody campaign. The
referendum will be followed by general elections and Zanu-PF is not
ready to do, has not dismantled its repressive machinery. So we are
likely to see more of what we saw last year around the general elections
in Zimbabwe.

The priorities for movements in Zimbabwe is to strengthen the structures
of the movements and to prepare them for self-defence and also to forge
strategic alliances that strengthen the pro-democracy movement as a
whole. So international solidarity, we feel, should be more around
strengthening these structures, particularly perhaps through deepening
comradesï¿½ political awareness, and I suppose literature and educational
materials will be useful in this. And also, we feel we need to remain
linked up, particularly for solidarity against repression that we
foresee next year.

Toyi Toyi Artz Kollektive:
http://www.toyitoyi.blogspot.com/