Fact: Sonny Serite, Robert Mugabe and you the reader, are all going to die some day. Death is just as old as life. That is, for as long as there has been life, so has been death. I know we smile when wished a long life and frown when death is wished upon us. We love life and loathe death despite the fact that we are destined to live and die anyway, whether we or someone else, likes it or not. We are certain that some day we would cease to breath. It is just we do not know when we are going to die, let alone how we are going to die. Infact we do not want to know or be reminded about it. Such is life when it comes to death.
With every life lived and death occasioned, come mixed feelings and reactions. When a child is born, the parents can only pray and hope that their offspring grows to become a responsible citizen. No sane parent can ever wish for their children to become thieves, bullies, dictators or mere morons. But the truth of it all is, some children grow up and become the opposite of what their parents had hoped or expected out of them. Many of us grow up and become nuisance and menace to the societies we live in. Some grow up and get jobs, only to become bully to their subordinates. Some grow up and become politicians, only to serve their personal interests, at the expense of the electorate. Some even end up holding highest positions in the land and become presidents, only to turn into dictators, oppressors and looters.
How we conduct our lives, or rather, how we relate with others during our living days, determines how people will react to our demise. For instance, if I loved you and you happen to die, I obviously will cry and feel robbed of someone I would have held dearly to my heart. If my mother dies, when she dies, which is scaringly inevitable (please God I still need her), I will feel shattered, empty and even angry. Those feelings will come naturally as my mother means the world to me. She doesn’t oppress me or anyone around her. She listens and respects her children’s advice. She consults the family when she wants to make any major decisions. As such, it is how she lives with us that would determine how we feel or react when she falls into her final rest.
The recent death of Eugene Terre’Blanche would be a good example of how our living days influence people’s reaction when we finally kick the bucket. By the way, let me remind you that, just like all before him, Terre’Blanche had to die, just as we too await our turn. Yes, it can be argued that his death was untimely and was incited by Julius Malema’s songs. I have no answer to that. The emphasis of my deliberations today are on the factual aspects of death and what it means to those left behind by the corpse.
Terre’Blanche’s death left mixed reactions among South Africans. It left many broken hearts and happy hearts alike. While many whites in South Africa were dismayed and angry at his death, many black South Africans seemed to rejoice in his death. By the way, there are those whites who are happy with Eugene’s death just as there are blacks who are saddened by his death, justifiably so.
Eugene Terreblanche was a nice guy to many of his white countrymen and this explains all the anger displayed by the white community. They have been robbed of someone they held dearly to their hearts. It is for the same reason that a few blacks are mourning his death. It appears that although he was a self confessed racist, Terre’Blanche had started warming up to some blacks and this explains their anger over his death.
To those that Terre’Blanche terrorized, his passing was as pleasant as the arrival of a new baby in the family. His funeral deserved the celebratory mood of a wedding. To many, his death was good riddance. Your reaction towards Terre’Blanche’s death really depends on how you related with him when he was still walking this soil, before it swallowed him, six feet under.
Julius Malema has been accused of inciting and promoting the killing of white farmers, or to be more precise, the Boers. It appears Malema carries so much hatred towards the white community in his country. I have no problems with Whites and as such, it pisses me off everytime I hear Malema calling for their cleansing. They have not done anything wrong to me. Terre’Blanche may have hated blacks in South Africa and they may be right to celebrate his brutal killing. However, that he had problems with blacks in his country doesn’t automatically mean he would have had problems with me, and for that, I have no reason to hate him. That said, I have no problem with Malema and his followers hating Terre’Blanche or anyone. It is how those individuals live or lived with Malema and his people that determines how they react when two bastards kill and leave an old man like Terre’Blanche half naked.
My point really is, death, when it happens, leaves both happy and sad hearts. Those who enjoy our generosity in our living days are bound to be saddened whereas those that we oppress will obviously rejoice at the announcement of our death. This brings me to Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe. Unlike Terre’Blanche, whom I have no reason to hate, the same cannot be said about Mugabe who has forced his countrymen to flee their native land in fear of his persecution. The poor Zimbabweans do not have the guts or access to do to Mugabe what those two boys did to Terre’Blanche. As such, the helpless Zimbabweans deserve my empathy and solidarity. We all know Mugabe has endeared himself to some sections of the Zimbabwe population. To them he is the best leader ever and the day of his death will mark the beginning of a dark era for them.
On the other hand, we have some sections within Zimbabwe that do not see eye to eye with Mugabe. Mugabe is steadfast in his quest to get rid of the white community in Zimbabwe. Mugabe is determined to frustrate his political opponents. Zimbabwe has become Africa’s worst embarrassment in the international community, all thanks to Mugabe. Mugabe has amassed more foes than friends due to his arrogance, foul mouth and ‘I don’t care attitude’. He has become the b├¬te-noire of the West because of his disdain for the White man. With so many enemies within and outside his country, I cannot wait to see the reaction of people towards his death, when it finally comes, hopefully sooner than later. With his enemies cut from across all races, it will be so interesting to watch the celebrations and listen to comments while Mugabe lies supine in the casket.
For fear of being accused of inciting people to kill Mugabe, I will instead incite and pray to God that, “Dear Lord, Mugabe has done enough damage to your once great nation of Zimbabwe. Mugabe has brought unnecessary tensions between the white and black communities in Zimbabwe. Surely Mugabe displays the ‘I don’t care attitude’ because he knows the harm he has caused Zimbabwe can never be rectified in the space of time left of him before he dies. I do not seek to incite any person to kill Mugabe.”
I’m just praying that God should terminate Mugabe’s contract of life. His death will leave many happy hearts and celebrations. I hope my President, Ian Khama, didn’t send a congratulatory message to Mugabe on the 18th April, at the occasion of Zimbabwe’s independence. Mugabe does not deserve any congratulatory message. If my president did send the message, I hope he didn’t mislead Mugabe into believing the message was sent on behalf of the entire Botswana nation because I can never be party to praises poured on dictators and failures.
