In all the confusion over what is at issue in the current Zimbabwe crisis, a few points seem to have been missed entirely. They seem to have been wholly missed by the SADC Presidents in Dar-es Salaam recently when they unwisely endorsed Zanu(PF)’s “land reform” process.
Firstly, a number of public opinion surveys in the past 7 years have shown that land is not a concern for the ordinary Zimbabwean. In the two surveys conducted by the Afrobarometer, in 1999 and 2004, less than 1% in 1999 and only 4% in 2004 said it was an issue of importance. Clearly land is not the issue for ordinary Zimbabweans that Zanu(PF) claims it is.