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Optics and reality – the Zimbabwean government’s struggle to whitewash its image while unleashing violence on civilians

Optics and reality – the Zimbabwean government’s struggle to whitewash its image while unleashing violence on civilians
Councillor Samuel Ngwezi walked into the Harare Magistrates’ court in blood-stained clothes. He was one of pro-democracy activists who were hauled off a commercial plane at Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, detained and questioned for eight hours on 2 August 2024. (Photo: Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights)
Thandekile Moyo
By Thandekile Moyo
5 Aug 2024
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Despite the immigration crisis, southern African heads of state have remained silent for 43 years while Zanu-PF commits crimes against humanity with impunity.

The contradictions in the behaviour of the government of Zimbabwe, in the lead-up to the Southern African Development Community summit on 17 August, as it goes all out to make itself look good, are indicative of a state struggling in the game of optics. 

On the one hand, the state has spared no expense to give Harare a facelift before the summit. Roads are being refurbished, villas built, and hotels renovated. There is no doubt that come 17 August the city of Harare will, at least at face value, look good. 

On the other hand, with the same passion and same attitude of “no expense spared”, the government has launched a vicious crackdown on dissenters they suspect might be planning to hold protests during the summit. In its mind, the Zanu-PF government believes it has the power to silence the masses by intimidating them out of any plans to hold protests during the summit. 

With international attention on Zimbabwe, any protest would destroy the image President Emmerson Mnangagwa is hoping to present to the world – that of a functioning country that has improved economically and politically under his leadership. He hopes to present a beautiful Harare (infrastructurally) and a peaceful Zimbabwe (politically).

In terms of what the city will look like physically, I believe the government will win the optics game. However, with regards to the political optics, the government seems to be inadvertently scoring a series of own goals.

Reputational damage: the cost of repression


Despite their efforts to beautify the city, the government’s actions in the lead-up to the summit have severely damaged its reputation. In trying to silence dissenters and prevent protests, the government has aired its dirty linen by exposing its harsh methods, unwittingly bringing the international spotlight back on Zimbabwe.

On Wednesday, 1 August 2024, four individuals — Vusumuzi Moyo (artist), Namatai Kwekweza (human rights defender), Robson Chere (rural teachers trade union leader), and Samuel Gwenzi (Harare Ward 5 councillor) — were forcibly removed from a Fastjet plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare. They were headed to Victoria Falls for the 5th African Philanthropy Conference, but were ordered off the plane by people in civilian clothes. After being “disappeared” and held incommunicado for more than eight hours, they were handed over to the police.

Read in Daily Maverick: Condemnation and calls for action as Zimbabwean activists detained and allegedly tortured

Upon being produced, the story they told was one of unimaginable torture: waterboarding, beatings with iron bars, and psychological torment. Each of them was interrogated separately at the airport, with Moyo being questioned about his family and income, leaving him confused after hours of torture. Gwenzi faced threats of rape against his wife, and Chere was left so severely injured that his lawyer fears for his kidney function if he does not receive urgent medical attention. 

Kwekweza, the only woman in the group, was interrogated by an all-male team and subjected to brutal treatment, including an iron bar being inserted into her mouth to cause maximum pain after a recent dental procedure. The African Initiative of Women Human Rights Defenders published a statement detailing how Kwekweza was also forced to watch part of Robson Chere’s torture, and was made to falsely believe she had witnessed the murder of Chere after the torturers left him lying motionless in a pool of water.

The abduction, forced disappearance, and subsequent torture of these four individuals have only further damaged Zimbabwe's reputation and that of Mnangagwa’s government. Instead of being on their best behaviour in the lead-up to the summit, Zanu-PF resorted to violence, revealing its belief that coercion is the only way it can maintain power. This violence has also shone a spotlight on the extent of State Capture in Zimbabwe.

Clear collusion between state institutions


Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights reported that the unidentified men who removed the four from the plane appeared to have badges from the Airports Company of Zimbabwe. This signals the deep entrenchment of Zanu-PF operatives within state institutions. After torturing the victims, these men handed them over to the police, demonstrating clear collusion between state institutions that are supposed to be independent. 

This raises important questions about accountability: to what extent should individuals within state institutions be held liable for their role in human rights violations?

On 2 August, the four were brought before Magistrate Ruth Moyo and charged with disorderly conduct. Despite their injuries, including Chere’s diagnosis of looming renal failure, they remain in custody, with their bail hearing set for Monday, 4 August. Moyo is now facing accusations of enabling state-sponsored human rights violations. 

The Mirror newspaper reported that Jessie Majome, who was appointed Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission by President Mnangagwa earlier this year, defended magistrates’ rights to make errors in their rulings and accused online users of cyberbullying magistrates who wrongfully convict political prisoners.

Civilians warned against ‘civil disobedience’


For weeks, the state has preemptively issued threats through all forms of media – digital, print, social, radio, and television – warning that any plans for protests will not be tolerated. From the day the summit was announced, the government seemed certain that Zimbabweans would plan to hold protests during the summit. It warned citizens against any plans for “civil disobedience” and “reputational damage”.

The arrests of Moyo, Kwekweza, Chere and Gwenzi clearly reveal the extent of the government’s paranoia as they were all interrogated about potential protest plans. They were severely tortured to try to extract information on these imagined protests. More than 21 activists across the country have since been arrested and questioned, with the crackdown still ongoing.

Councillor Samuel Gwenzi walks to the Harare Magistrate's court in bloodstained clothes. (Photo: Zimbabwean Lawyers for Human Rights)



The government’s paranoia begs the question: why is it so afraid? The answer is clear to anyone familiar with the dictatorship in Zimbabwe. The government knows that many Zimbabweans do not view it as a legitimate authority. At the core of its fear is the open secret that it maintains power only through force and violence. The government also understands that Zimbabweans are afraid to protest, a fear rooted in the state’s long history of coercion dating back to the 1980s. 

What happened to the “Airport Four” is just one incident in a series of “acts the government commits as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against Zimbabwe’s civilian population”. These acts constitute crimes against humanity. The government knows that the people do not it them because of these crimes, but it also knows that Zimbabweans feel powerless to resist due to the fear of violence.

Violence unleashed on civilians


The violence unleashed on civilians by the government in the build-up to the Southern African Development Community summit leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Why must Zimbabweans suffer like this for a meeting of a commission that seems to hold no value for ordinary citizens? If the Southern African Development Community is comfortable coming to Zimbabwe to “celebrate” while we mourn our loved ones who have been brutalised, killed, imprisoned, and disappeared by the state, can they really claim to be an organisation of any value to us as repressed, unarmed citizens? 

It would be different if the Southern African Development Community were meeting in Zimbabwe to address the physical and structural violence, but southern African heads of state have remained silent as Zanu-PF commits crimes against humanity with no accountability, for 43 years.

The crackdown on dissenters is not just a national issue, but a regional one. It is likely to fuel tensions between Zimbabweans and neighbouring countries, as activists and their families may have no choice but to flee to neighbouring countries for safety. Other Zimbabweans might also take this as a cue to leave before things get worse for everyone. Most of those who decide to migrate will illegally cross the porous borders into South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana, Zambia and several other Southern African Development Community countries.

Why are southern African heads of state allowing Zimbabwe to further destabilise the region? Southern African countries have been battling mass immigration from Zimbabweans for decades; why then are President Cyril Ramaphosa and his counterparts comfortably wining and dining with those causing one of the greatest migration headaches in southern Africa right now? DM

Thandekile Moyo is a human rights activist and writer in Zimbabwe.

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