“We are prepared to fight for our country and to go to war for it.” These were the words of Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe at a rally last week in the build up to the presidential run-off on June 27. These words have struck fear in the hearts of many as it is a clear sign of intent that Robert Mugabe will not accept defeat in the vote and if he somehow looses he will wage a war in Zimbabwe.

Is this just a political tactic by Mugabe or is he being actually serious that he would ‘take up arms’ again against his own people so that he can remain in power? Mugabe may just be saying this so that he can scare millions of people in Zimbabwe who surely do not want a war. So in Mugabe saying this, he is hoping that the majority of the country will instead vote for him than face the possibilities of a war. If he can scare the people of Zimbabwe then they will vote for him come June 27 and he will remain as president. But will Zimbabweans be scared?

Zimbabweans have gone through a torrid 8 years and the majority must be sick and tired of what is going on in their country. Zimbabweans have been generally termed as non violent people but at the stage they have been pushed to now, one can not bet against the majority of Zimbabweans willing to put up a fight against Mugabe so that the pain they are facing now ends.

Mugabe has already started the war he proposes in sense. There are reports of opposition party activists being violently attacked. Many members of the opposition MDC party have been killed in the build up to the runoff vote. Leading members of the MDC including their president, Morgan Tsvangirai, have been arrested by police in Zimbabwe without any clear reason.

The headline in the Sunday Times today suggested that an alleged master plan for state terror was leaked which details the ruling ZANU PF’s plan to cause terror in Zimbabwe ahead of the runoff vote and ways to make sure that they win the vote come what may. If the contents of this plan are true then the situation in Zimbabwe is very scary indeed. If a war breaks out in Zimbabwe it would not only affect Zimbabwe but the whole Southern Africa region. It should be in South Africa’s best interest to stop any potential war.

South Africa itself is already struggling and having the added pressures of a ‘war next-door’ would not help South Africa’s plight. Investors will shun away from South Africa, who would invest in a country which has a war next-door? South Africa has been building up to the FIFA World Cup for a long time now and I do not see FIFA allowing a World Cup to take place in a country which is in a war region. South Africa has a lot of fears about the World Cup i.e. crime, transport, stadium construction etc. but right now, the main concern should be the Zimbabwe situation. If the Zimbabwe situation escalates the World Cup may be taken away from South Africa. But the World Cup is not the most important thing in this situation, stopping a war and possible lives being lost is the main priority. This potential war Mugabe is proposing can be stopped and something has to be done now to stop it.

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