ZIMBABWE turns 46 years in 2026

IN Zimbabwe, some sentences do not end when time is served. They evolve. 

The symbolism, the slogans and at times even the regalia can blur an important line — where the State ends and the ruling party begins. 

THERE is a growing sense that in Zimbabwe, politics has become less about governing and more about appearing to govern. 

It must be experienced in real time.

At independence in 1980, Zimbabwe’s ideological direction appeared clear. It blended African nationalism with a strong element of socialist welfarism.

Who arrives with a convoy. Who has people opening doors for them.

Recently, social media timelines overflowed with images of astonishing generosity surrounding a high-profile union.

Last year, two City of Harare employees lost their lives at the Firle Sewage Treatment Plant after reportedly being sent into a hazardous environment without adequate protection.

The other is Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, the famous play in which two men spend their lives waiting for someone who never arrives.

The Caps United goalkeeper had just been substituted at half-time, hauled off after a routine ball slipped past him for Triangle’s second goal.

A junior parliamentarian had asked Wicknell Chivayo for vehicles and iPhones.

Fatigue first, then a headache that felt like something tightening behind his eyes, then the joint pain that told him, before any test did, what was coming.