Think you can’t afford to STAY AWAY on Wed 13 and Thurs 14 July 2016? Answer yes to any of these questions and you can’t afford not to.
Did your son get beaten under his feet by a policeman?
Did you go through more than one police roadblock on your journey today?
Did you lose your life savings in 2009 when the Zim dollar collapsed?
Was your private property seized by your own government?
Have your friends and family had to go to the Diaspora to survive?
Is your company on the verge of collapse?
Could you withdraw enough of your own money from the bank today?
Do you want to have BOND notes in your pocket?
STAY AT HOME on Wed 13 and Thurs 14 July. It’s a small sacrifice for the future of OUR Zimbabwe.
– Cathy Buckle 12 July 2016If the government hasn’t finished paying July salaries as of now, its safe to say that the July salaries will be sometime in August. To Mugabe has his henchmen, it seems like a month is six weeks. This is why Mugabe can’t wait for bond notes to arrive on the scene because then he can print his own money.
– Newako, comment on News DayThere is an issue you are leaving out. Relief teachers employed in January to March have not been paid. It’s now 7 months and no one cares about it. – Josephat
We must stay away. If we don’t and we continue to go to work then things look normal, but they are not. Things are too tight. We must show that he needs to go. – Cashier in a low density shop
I have had to diversify from selling air time to anything I can find like vegetables. I need the 10 cents, 20 cents I get from tomatoes. I have two children – they have school fees. I lost my job. I have to pay my rent. I have to make money however I can. – Vendor in Highlands, Harare
#ZimProtests #ThisFlag #ZimShutDown2016 – A one day stay away is too short and pointless – what did it achieve? Some people were no doubt beaten and others had property damaged, but today you are no better off than you were the day before the shut down, quality of life has not improved – nothing has been improved. There needs to be a concerted sustained effort. The suffering has been going on for too long. The stay away should have been longer until there was change. – Learnmore
In solidarity and in ‘kubatana’ spirit with my fellow country people at this watershed moment. I found this quote sobering: “We have come this far always believing that justice would somehow prevail. This is the burden, this is the promise, and THIS is why we will not fail.” Peter Yarrow. I hasten to add, all I wish for my fellow country people is dignity. For heaven’s sake, politicians of Zimbabwe, restore our human dignity, which is inviolable and must be respected and protected. The dignity of the human person is a fundamental right in itself and constitutes the basis of fundamental rights in international law. Stay safe. – Ziyanai
There should be no new loans to Zimbabwe until Mugabe & ZANUPF are no longer in power. – Learnmore
I was encouraged by the successful stay away today. Even more encouraged by the fact that it lacked the usual persuasion or cohesion by political actors. Rather, the citizenry organized itself and simply showed that we are tired of the status core. However I must point out that the citizens have indeed made a show of intent but it would benefit the situation better if there are technocrats at the fore who know exactly how the system must be dismantled and rebooted. Meanwhile I as a citizen would also like to play my part. How can I do this? Which organization can I join? Would you also have the contact details of the People Democratic Party. – Victor
I heard recently that at some city health clinics when women arrive in labour around midnight, they are all put into an ambulance and made to pay $20 each (the total charge for an ambulance) so this could be 5×20= $100. They have not been examined so there is no assessment of whether they need transfer or not. Most are normal deliveries, but instead of paying the clinic charge they now have to pay the hospital charge of $85. This is to save the nurses at the clinic from night work, and there is suggestion that they get a kickback from the ambulance service for doing this. It means that women will not go to the clinics at night even if in labour, which may have consequences for her and the baby. This is a clear case of corruption yes? So when I have mentioned this to colleagues their reply is usually of similar stories of corruption, having to pay technicians to get lab results, many say “That’s life, get used to it”. I wonder what happened to protest, to advocacy, even outrage that poor women get treated like this and there is no one to speak for them. But also what it does to us every time we keep our heads down and do not speak out. – Edith
I’d say the stay away was a HUGE success! I travelled from Harare to Chivhu on that Wednesday, all the way to Chivhu I counted only 8 vehicles heading towards Masvingo and only 6 going the opposite way. Now in my lay terms, that’s successful considering how busy Masvingo road is. In fact, these so called statisticians must find out how much the ZRP collected on that very day from traffic fines. Lol. – Masimba in response to The Herald citing the July 6 stay away a ‘flop’
My message to President Mugabe et al is that our youths who make up in excess of 60% of our population have had enough they want change now. Not tomorrow, not next year but today. They don’t want running battles with the police, they don’t want to sell airtime for a living, they don’t want to stay at home with their parents because they can’t afford a flat, they don’t want to be poor, unemployed and hopeless. – Vince Musewe, in The Zimbabwean
“Enough is enough, we can’t go on like this, and continue to endure poverty and injustice.” – Pastor Evan Mawarire, in The Telegraph 9 July 2016
“The crisis is deepening – we can’t see how they will get out of this as cash is so short.” – Derek Matyszak, in The Telegraph 9 July 2016