actually yes, some realize that they fucked themselves
www(dot)thezimbabwean.co/2017/10/rhodesias-ian-smith-right-african-rule-will-lower-countrys-standards/
As my dear wife Tinta and I were taking a stroll in our neighbourhood - which used to be a 'Whites only' suburb during the colonial era - we started discussing how standards had greatly deteriorated since we and our parents moved into the area immediately after Zimbabwe's independence in 1980.
We wondered how in such a short space of time, we, as Black people, could have reduced – a suburb that had been for decades the pride of the nation – to such deplorable standards.
The failure to maintain the houses and their yards – let alone improve them – rubbish strewn all over the streets and nearby bushes, noise everywhere, and a place that once did not have alcohol consumption areas was now a hive for drinking.
I remember confessing to my dear wife that – as some of the first Black pupils at the formerly Group A school of Redcliff Primary – we used to engrave our names on the desks using pointed objects, such as mathematical dividers and compasses, and how we would write all sorts of stuff in textbooks.
Is it then any wonder that there are no longer any textbooks and desks?
It is clear that our group were the Black people to initiate this deterioration of a once vibrant community – something that, unfortunately, has been passed on from generation to generation.
We could not help asking, what the people who resided in this suburb prior to independence would say if they were to return for a visit today.
Would that not be the most embarrassing moment in the lives of Black people?
Thus, the question came to my dear wife and I: ‘ Was Ian Smith right in saying that Black majority rule would lead to the lowering of standards’?
It seems that he was right after all.
My father – who had been a staunch ZANU PF supporter, and had actually been blacklisted by the Rhodesian regime for his political activism – had always been angered by such statements by Smith, labelling them racist.
In fact, he was even more enraged by one particular comment that he attributed to a senior Rhodesian government official that if Black people ruled this country, we will find faeces strewn all over town.
How I wish my beloved father had still been alive today so that he could witness for himself what has become of our towns and cities’ alleys – then he would have, most probably, eaten his words.
Our towns and cities now reek of urine and faeces – that is if you are fortunate enough not to actually stride on some.
So, was Ian Smith wrong, or is there something else to this sad situation?
I, honestly, do not believe that it has anything to do with colonial oppression.
As a matter of fact, the town of Redcliff was owned and built by the then giant Rhodesia Iron and Steel Company (Risco), now Ziscosteel, and the company was very strict in maintaining very high standards even in Torwood township, where we resided during the colonial days – even awarding regular prizes to the best kept homes.