The Struggle Continues by David Coltart

Author:David Coltart [Coltart, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

I was particularly moved by a visit to Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s cell at Tegel prison in Berlin later on in the week. Bonhoeffer had long been one of my heroes and his letters from prison (many of which were written from Tegel when he was there during 1943 and 1944)423 are a remarkable testament to his trust in God in the most adverse circumstances. Sitting in his cell, I tried to imagine how he kept his equanimity and even managed to win over many of his prison guards in the face of such a ruthless regime.

Inevitably, the trip included sessions with German parliamentarians and bureaucrats, and in the first of these the underlying tensions between us came to the fore. We were asked about the current human rights situation in Zimbabwe and, as chairman, I had the first say. I took the opportunity to detail the ongoing abuses in our country, before opening up to other members of the committee. Zvobgo, as the senior ZANU PF MP, was embarrassed by my report and politely disagreed with my take on the situation back home. However, after the meeting when we convened at our hotel Zvobgo took me to task and threatened to return home. He was angered by my criticism of the Zimbabwean government, which he felt was out of place on a foreign trip. I asked whether he disputed any of my allegations, which he could not, and I suggested that he should speak out in meetings if anything I said was untruthful. This got us back on an even keel and he agreed to stay on. By the end of the trip we had established a good rapport, which grew into a friendship lasting until his death in 2004.

Although Zvobgo crafted many of the amendments to the Lancaster House constitution which consolidated Mugabe’s power, he and Mugabe subsequently fell out. In 1996 Zvobgo, a Harvard-trained lawyer, was seriously injured in a traffic accident, itself “considered suspicious by many”.424 Mugabe then demoted him, dropping him from cabinet altogether in 2000. This German trip consolidated the unity of our committee; the realisation that human rights abuses are universal took the racial sting out of our partisan differences of opinion.

Within days of my return to Zimbabwe we held a memorial service for Patrick Nabanyama at the Bulawayo Presbyterian Church. The service was preceded by a march from St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral through the city. Archbishop Pius Ncube spoke on behalf of the wider church, condemning violence and political intolerance in all its forms. I spoke about the culture of impunity which perpetuated disappearances in Zimbabwe. Tracing the history of activists

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