Zimbabwe on edge as inflation hits 1,000%

The Scotsman ^ | May 13, 2006 | CRIS CHINAKA

[HostileTerritory]

They wanted majority rule, and they have to live with the consequences.

That's ridiculous. Majority rule does not mean indefinite suspension of elections and civil liberties--if anything, it means the opposite. Mugabe has corrupted the electoral process and the majority would happily throw him out on his ass in the ballot box if they could.

The comparison is not with Ian Smith's government, which meant eternal purgatory for the African majority, but for the democracy and moderate prosperity that countries such as Botswana have achieved and which South Africa has been moving toward to per what I read in the Economist.

[quadrant]

They voted Robert Mugabe into office.
If they aren't living through purgatory now, what would you call it?
I suggest you read more about South Africa. Crime is rampant. And the government is about to start the same sort of land reform that ruined Zimbabwe. Give South Africa another ten years - if that long - and the country will be in ruins.

[InterceptPoint]

Critics blame the land reform programme for a 60 per cent drop in agricultural output since 2000, leading to a 35 per cent fall in gross domestic product.

The Legacy of Marx and Lenin is certainly not dead in Zimbabwe. It would not be unexpected to see the Stalinist Phase next.

[HostileTerritory]

The conditions under which people voted Mugabe into office--and it has been many years since free elections--were very different. Many years into majority rule, under Mugabe, Zimbabwe was doing very well economically and socially. The decline is relatively recent.

I have done reading about South Africa and your perspective is from the late 1990s. The situation has turned itself around quite dramatically, and the real estate market in downtown Jo'burg is booming.

[Lurker]

people carry their money in large bags even for simple shopping trips.

Two words Ivan:

Wiemar Germany.

L

[quadrant]

Relatively recent is a "relative" phrase. The seeds of decay in Zimbabwe have been present almost from the beginning. The contempt for property rights and the contempt for the judiciary (even Andrew Young complained about this)have been a feature of Mugabe's rule since the early 1990's.
As to South Africa, we shall see.

[zimdog]

If they aren't living through purgatory now, what would you call it?

Hell

[quadrant]

If you wish to read more about the situation in South Africa, I suggest www.africancrisis.org. Of course, this site is maintained by a person with an axe to grind, but the site does have information you won't read in the main-
stream media.

[ssaftler]

Wiemar Germany.

Pretty close, Lurker. The only problem is that Mugabe has already confiscated the wheelbarrows (LOL).

[WoofDog123]

yeah the posts here from time to time on various topics that seems to imply that a popular uprising taking down a sitting despot with secure control of the military is even a viable option amaze me. Usually the topic is chavez.