SA ‘a home away from home’

ZIMBABWEANS living in South Africa are often reminded of home by our country’s diverse and rich culture, which bears similarities to theirs.

Although Zimbabwe does not celebrate Heritage Day, some believe that the time has come for the country to consider a day dedicated to the celebration of its heritage as a means to restore some of its lost culture.

Rutendo Benson Matinyarare, the co-founder of the Zimbabwe Anti Sanctions Movement (ZASM), an organisation established for the purpose of fighting US sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe and to abolish the dehumanisation, victimisation and ill-treatment of its people, said he arrived in the country to work for a few years, but the love he developed for South Africa extended his stay to more than two decades.

He said English and Afrikaner cultures still dominated some parts of the country. Therefore, Heritage Day was the perfect opportunity to highlight or recognise those cultures.

“What made me fall in love with SA was the diversity of cultures, the coming together of ideas, and the understanding of the use of institutions to solve problems and issues,” he said.

“It was the law, the constitution, the ability to challenge injustice through legal processes, and that’s how I learned to take up the fight against US sanctions on Zimbabwe.

“I learned the illegality of sanctions by watching how South Africans used the law to enforce humanity and their rights.”

He said that although Zimbabwe had a smaller population, it had more tribes than South Africa, and that there were many similarities in the cuisine, particularly pap, tripe, stews and vegetables.

“We have 16 tribes. What is interesting is that six of them are South African. We have the Xhosas, amazulus, Vhendas, Shangaans, Tswanas and Sothos. We have a few more tribes that merge with Zambia, Mozambique and other African countries in the north,” he said.

“In Zimbabwe, we have successfully decolonised public spaces. The country is run by its cultures. However, I believe that Zimbabwe still has remnants of colonisation, and there is a need to decolonise society in that respect. Maybe we should look into having a heritage day in which we restore some of the things we have lost culturally.”

Matinyarare condemned the treatment Zimbabweans were subjected to in South Africa.

“They do not receive fair treatment in South Africa. They are not afforded the right to be refugees, even though the convention of the status of refugees states that refugees can enter a country without papers, and then they can go to authorities and regularise themselves,” he said.

“In South Africa, once they enter without papers, they are arrested, deported, yet the convention says they are seeking asylum and should not be

deported,” Matinyarare said.

He told the Sunday Tribune that ZASM had recently approached the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa about the biassed,

untruthful portrayal of Zimbabweans.

“A false narrative is created to dehumanise Zimbabweans. It’s a systemic thing that is happening in South Africa,” he said.

“We are not sure whether South Africans believe that they are competing with Zimbabwe, and to compete with Zimbabwe, they need to put them down.”