Perspectives on independent Zimbabwe

AM Z ZIMBOBryan Mark Edward White  Grahamstown, South Africa
What does being Zimbabwean mean to you?
To me, being a Zimbabwean is my everything. Yes, Zimbabwe has gone through some horrendous times, with many people suffering a great deal, but it is still the place I call home. Zimbabwe has an easy way of life; we live in a good climate with the most amazing, picturesque landscapes — I mean come on, Mana Pools, Gonarezhou, Nyanga, Bvumba, Kariba — and people will generally go out of their way to help you no matter what.

How have you managed to create a home away from home and still be able to be connected to Zim?
As I am a student in South Africa, being away from home is really not an issue. There isn’t really a language barrier in South Africa as it is such a multi-cultural society, and Rhodes University itself accommodates anyone, no matter what nationality. Rhodes has a Zim Society and there are many Zimbabweans here. Being so close to Zimbabwe keeps me connected to it as I’m always updated through family and friends on different things going on back home as well as through Facebook and news websites.

What do you think we young people have to worker harder on to improve a Zimbabwe that will cater for our needs?
Young people need to realise the value of coming back to Zimbabwe and finding their niche, creating a niche, working to move away from racism and politics and working together, not at the expense of any one racial or political group to develop our country so that people will want to come back here.

Our history has shown the importance of human rights and democracy and young people should strive to make sure that those basic things are adhered to. Young people need to work away from the typical race issues and realise that by working together, our country will grow in the future. Zimbabwe is our home and has the potential to be something great once again.

Young Zimbabweans must realise what an absolute gem of a country we have and there definitely needs to be a constant strive for the development of our economy by working together.

An Independence Day message and your hopes for a future Zimbabwe.
As Zimbabweans we are still oppressed by racism and politics. The ideals of the Liberation struggle were good but the politicians of today have forgotten what they were fighting for and are now only struggling to enrich themselves not the country or its people.

Zimbabweans must work together for good and fair governance so that we can move forward to develop the country so that we can all live a good life and be proud of our country once again.

There is absolutely no reason why there should be a system of injustice in our country; everyone, no matter what race or religion, should live equally. Nobody should be above the law in our country and people need to stand accountable for their actions.

I hope that one day people in power, and those rising toward it, will realise that greed is killing our nation. We need unity throughout Zimbabwe in order to move forward.

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