 As MPC we set ourselves a number of roles. At inception, we said our role was to take Mthwakazi’s independence agenda from the shadows into the public domain.
We defined our role then as changing the mindset that said uMthwakazi’s independence could not be achieved into one that said it can be achieved. We broached a subject that could not be broached. Others questioned our sanity in challenging the ruthless and unforgiving system in Harare. Others saw us as committing suicide. Today, we have people talking openly about Mthwakazi’s independence, predominantly in cyberspace, admittedly. But those who question this fail to acknowledge the role of technology in modern politics and other spheres of modern life. Our website www.mthwakazionline.org, which we will be getting running again soon, reached and enthused millions of our people we would otherwise have not reached had we lived in another distant past. Over time our role has changed and will continue changing. We see our role at present as organizing and mobilizing. As putting a structure and form to our political struggle, inviting participation, reaching out, sourcing expertise and knowledge, establishing a political stake for all of us and instilling self-belief in ourselves as a people. How we go about all this is a matter of tactic and strategy. All in all, we have openly spoken about our independence when no one could. We have shaken the foundations of tyranny. We have forced our enemy to suffer with the bitter pill of our independence in its mouth. The enemy dares not denounce us for fear of giving us free publicity. But the enemy is scared and worried. The enemy won’t vacate the protection of office because it has no assurance that we won’t advance to the gates of the castle. In short, MPC is proud of what it has done and is doing. We are deliberate in what we do. We are cautious yet immediately conscious of the need to move with speed. In the same vein we are not unrealistic about what we can achieve at the present stage of our development as a movement, and of the political dynamics around us over which we presently have no control. We are realistic idealists. From that you can tell we are flexible and pragmatic within the larger frame of our political agenda. For some time now MPC has been subjected to different forms and levels of criticisms in the cyber community. Naturally, we are happy with some of the criticism and unhappy with others. We acknowledge though that we would not grow without criticism. We therefore welcome all criticism. One telling criticism we have received lately concerns MPC’s absence in the current so-called talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC. Our critics asks, pointedly, where is uMthwakazi’s representatives? But have we not been through this path before? Some, who won’t do anything but are burning with passion for Mthwakazi’s independence, ferret for what they see as ‘representatives’ within Zanu-PF and the MDC.
The MDC is unpacked and Ndebele individuals within the two factions of the MDC are then seen and touted as ‘representatives’. Others, equally well-intending, are totally dismissive lot but offer no solution.
As MPC we are proud to be acknowledged in this way even though that acknowledgment is grudging. UMthwakazi now knows we are there. We also want to say uMthwakazi’s disappointment with us is right though misplaced. The timing of our involvement would be wrong as would the circumstances in which we would presently be involved. Let us state the position as MPC sees it. UMthwakazi cannot be represented in the current talks. And none of the present participating parties can. UMthwakazi will represent itself when that time comes. (We can imagine the ire of some in our saying this!). We said it many times in the past that the MDC and Zanu-PF are one and the same thing. What other proof do we need given the current talks? Both are where they are as a result of violence. Both seek power, power, power. Both exclude uMthwakazi. And if press reports are to be believed, both want to grant immunity to each other on a matter that is Mthwakazi, namely, the Gukurahundi genocide. In short, both the MDC and Zanu-PF are there by their own ways and means none of which uMthwakazi shares. UMthwakazi simply does not belong there. Here is our prognosis. The whole thing is a quick-fix thing for power-hungry people, which has no political longevity. In a year or two, depending on what the ‘agreement’ says, Zanu-PF and the MDC must face each other in another round of elections. Once again the poor people of that country will be treated to more or less of what we have seen in the recent and distant past. So, what does MPC need to do? There are many things we should do but certainly we should not be part of the political charade now playing out in Harare. We must continue to plan and mobilize politically as we are doing. It is a hard, largely invisible and thankless process that those in the leadership of MPC are involved in. But those involved do not expect to be thanked or applauded. It is a cause to which they have dedicated themselves and to which the worth of what they have done is the contribution they are prepared to make through MPC. There are others doing equally sterling work in other organizations inside and outside Mthwakazi. Those in MPC have decided to make their contribution through MPC. What is being achieved is commensurate with the resources presently at the disposal of MPC. As MPC we acknowledge that we are presently a fringe organization. But we have the wherewithal to build the foundations and superstructure of our movement. In years we are sure we will negotiate uMthwakazi’s independence as the true representatives of Mthwakazi. That will take the sons and daughters of Mthwakazi who are prepared for the long haul and not people who are excited by the click of cameras even if those cameras click on you to sell the spirit and soul of Mthwakazi away. And uMthwakazi abounds with those sons and daughters who are prepared for the long political struggle. MPC will pick them along the way. From
MPC Department of Communications
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