Movement for Democratic Change leader said Operation Restore Order, also known as Murambatsvina, was retribution against urban populations for voting against the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front.
The MDC won most of the urban votes but saw its representation fall from 57 to 41 while ZANU-PF gained 16 more seats to clock 78 which added with the appointments made by President Robert Mugabe gave ZANU-PF a two-thirds majority.
MDC spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi said Murambatsvina was aimed at provoking strife in the country so that the government could declare a state of emergency to help control public reaction to the collapsing economy.
Full cable:
Viewing cable 05HARARE737, URBAN TENSIONS BOILING OVER
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 000737
SIPDIS
AF/S FOR B. NEULING
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR C. COURVILLE
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/31/2010
SUBJECT: URBAN TENSIONS BOILING OVER
Classified By: Ambassador Christopher W. Dell under Section 1.4 b/d
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Clashes between residents and police over
the high profile destruction of unauthorized structures
around town and the city’s growing failure to deliver
services have increased political tension in the capital.
Police presence and roadblocks are markedly increasing,
including outside the capital. Some members of the
opposition MDC are involved in the growing urban resistance
to the regime, but the activity for the most part seems to be
spontaneous or directed by citizens groups rather than by the
MDC leadership. END SUMMARY.
—————————————-
Blitz on Informal Sector Sparks Protests
—————————————-
¶2. (U) On May 18, the City commenced “Operation Restore
Order” – a crackdown against “illegal structures” and the
informal sector generally. According to police reports, more
than 10,000 people have been arrested and hundreds of illegal
structures – vending stalls and makeshift residences – have
been demolished through May 26. While most high profile
demolitions have been in and around Harare, police reportedly
have leveled some flea markets in other locations, including
Bulawayo, Kadoma, Rusape, and Odzi. In addition, the state
media reported that police had arrested hundreds of
additional individuals around the country for illegal gold
panning and other unauthorized activities. Various
government officials publicly attribute the campaign to the
imperative to stem “economic saboteurs” and purportedly
growing illegal activities associated with the outdoor
markets, including everything from forex dealings to rape.
¶3. (SBU) In response to the crackdown, protests have broken
out around Harare over the past week. In the high density
areas of Chitungwiza and Mabvuku, protests led to violent
clashes between police and city residents on May 20. James
Gadzirayi, spokesperson of the Combined Harare Residents
Association (CHRA) told poloff on May 24 that the street
battles were spontaneous reactions to police demolition
efforts and not the result of pre-planned resistance.
¶4. (SBU) More clashes erupted on May 25 in Glen View, St.
Mary’s, and Budiriro, resulting in reported damage to
vehicles and buildings, including vandalism of a municipal
office in Glen View. There are unconfirmed reports that a
policeman was killed in one disturbance. Human rights NGOs
so far have been unable to confirm any injuries associated
with the clashes.
——————————-
Tafara and Mabvuku Disturbances
——————————-
¶5. (C) Street battles on the margins of “Restore Order”
follow earlier clashes over rising municipal fees and
non-delivery in low-income areas. At a meeting with poloff
on May 18, CHRA representatives offered an update on
deteriorating conditions in Harare’s high-density areas.
According to the group, some areas have been without water
for two months, had not had trash removed all year, or were
increasingly exposed to open raw sewage. Citizens were
digging wells in filthy areas, contributing to a growing
health hazard. The City rarely, if ever, responded to
resident complaints. The group advised that at the same
time, the City was drastically increasing fees for municipal
services – services that were rarely if ever delivered. The
new fee structures are unaffordable to most residents of
high-density areas.
¶6. (C) After the Revenue Office announced new illegal
structure fees earlier this month, many residents refused to
pay. According to CHRA representatives, a ZANU-PF women’s
group called a meeting on May 10 to address the matter in
Tafara, a low-income suburb. No ZANU-PF leaders came and
when the meeting began to be dominated by CHRA
representatives, police dispersed the meeting and arrested
three CHRA members. A similar event in Mabvuku, another
high-density suburb was broken up May 11, resulting in 14
arrests. Those detained in each case were charged with
violations of the Public Order and Security Act and released
within two days.
¶7. (C) CHRA sources report that police presence was quickly
and substantially increased in high-density areas on the
heels of the Tafara and Mabvuku incidents. Non-uniformed
ZANU-PF militia, another growing presence, were harassing –
and sometimes beating – those perceived to be involved in
resistance efforts against the city. In a drive through
Mabvuku and Tafara on May 25, a holiday, poloff observed
uniformed police walking among pedestrians on fairly crowded
streets, but saw no roadblocks in either township or on
commuter arteries to the city. Embassy personnel generally
have noticed a markedly increased police profile and
proliferation of roadblocks around the country during the
past few weeks.
————————
Conditions Deteriorating
————————
¶8. (SBU) Evidence of growing urban hardship is everywhere.
With the petrol shortage, commuter buses on the road are far
fewer, leading to large crowds of stranded commuters along
roadsides and bus stops all over town. The GOZ compounded
the problem by recently requiring that bus routes go no
further than depots on the edge of town, and not into the
city center. Business contacts tell us that they are having
to provide overnight accommodation for employees no longer
able to commute home reliably. No longer confined
principally to high-density areas, growing trash piles and
water cut-offs have been plaguing Harare’s tony suburbs in
recent months as well.
—————————-
Organized Civil Disobedience
—————————–
¶9. (C) CHRA representatives told us they are organizing
boycotts against payment of all municipal charges and are
planning to clandestinely re-connect water services cut-off
by the City for non-payment. The Association was also
gathering petitions and demonstrating for new mayoral
elections to replace the ZANU-PF-led commission that has been
operating since the MDC mayor and council were dismissed last
year. The representatives said they are coordinating closely
with the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), the Legal
Resources Foundation, Amani Trust, the Zimbabwe Community
Development Trust, and, more recently, an association of
informal traders impacted by the crackdown. They noted that
over the past few months, sympathetic local ZANU-PF members
and leaders, police, and municipal figures ave been quietly
collaborating with CHRA, even if they could not be publicly
supportive. ZLHR contacts tell us that they are planning to
file citizens suits against the government over the
crackdown, but so far have had a hard time locating citizens
willing to stand as plaintiffs.
———————
MDC in the Background
———————
¶10. (C) According to CHRA representatives, the MDC has not
been involved in the planning of any of the citizen
resistance efforts, although MDC members, including members
of parliament, have been involved in some of the citizen
protests and activities. MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and
other party officials have lashed out publicly against the
crackdown generally, casting it as retribution against urban
populations for voting against the ruling party. MDC
spokesperson Paul Themba Nyathi accused the GOZ of trying to
provoke strife so it could declare a state of emergency to
help control public reaction to the collapsing economy. MDC
MP for Glen Norah Priscilla Misihairabwa-Mushonga reportedly
claimed to be weighing legal action on behalf of residents
against the City.
——–
Why Now?
——–
¶11. (C) The timing and justification for the crackdown
probably stem from several factors. Constant headline
coverage in the state media suggests “Restore Order” is meant
to project GOZ’s purported zero tolerance for illegal forex
trading and the black market for controlled commodities.
Certainly, it is in keeping with the ruling party’s ongoing
designs to expand its control over the economy and
symptomatic of its continued failure to reverse the country’s
economic decline. The crackdown further substantiates the
GOZ’s purported scapegoating of “economic saboteurs” for the
failure of its economic policies, and seeks to portray the
GOZ as “doing something.”
¶12. (C) The MDC claims the crackdown is retribution for
voting patterns. This may also be part of the explanation.
Certainly the fact that the targeted areas are pro-MDC is a
further spur to the government. There is also speculation in
the independent media that the ruling party is interested in
orienting the nation’s population away from increasingly
restive urban centers to rural areas, which are much easier
to manipulate and control. According to official media
reports, most arrested in Harare are being processed at a
farm outside of Harare and reportedly are being pressed to
return to their rural homes if they have no authorized
business or residence in Harare. ZLHR contacts report that
none have been forcibly relocated, however, and most are
charged with minor offenses and released after payment of a
fine.
——-
Comment
——-
¶13. (C) Does this crackdown – coming so quickly on the heels
of another stolen election and compounding the suffering of a
nation reeling from GOZ economic mismanagement – tip the
country closer to change? With the exception of food riots
in 1998, growing privation in the past has provoked more
emigration and creative adaptation than real impetus for
change. However, many local observers note that economic
conditions have never been this bad. Whether the GOZ follows
through in its public commitment to enforce its draconian new
zero tolerance approach may prove to be a pivotal factor.
The crackdown comes in the wake of growing shortages,
including most staples, and the GOZ’s approach seems
deliberately designed to deprive the urban population of its
coping and survival mechanisms.
¶14. (C) This has led to speculation that the regime is
intentionally driving people to the edge to provoke a
confrontation that will allow it to unleash its still
disciplined police force, which is capable of violence when
the regime feels it necessary. At this point there does not
appear to be an organization effectively channeling public
anger into pressure for political change. Unless a
responsible leadership emerges, the prospects of increasingly
radical mob activity will grow, and with it the likelihood of
uncontrolled violence.
DELL
(18 VIEWS)
