Given the destruction of illegal structures which began in Ruwa this week, and the Ministry of Local Government’s take that they are actually trying to protect people, we asked our subscribers for their perspective on the demolition of illegal structures, and what they were seeing on the ground. This is some of their feedback:

• Destruction of homes is inhuman with the crisis faced by people now, and in the rainy season. Some people are ruthless. I am not affected yet.
• Yes, I am affected by the destruction of homes. It is not good, we are left homeless.
• Here in Norton nothing much.
• They must first provide shelter then destroy. If they destroy now, where are they going to stay? Too bad.
• Nothing has happened yet in Chitungwiza butpeople have been warned. But this time we are going to fight back because this is politics. We have been allocated these stands by council and some buying from registered cooperatives. Chitown council approved these stands but today Zanu PF wants to destroy them.
• Tsunami again
• Ndiyo inonzi bhora mugedhi akomona. Let us not be more worried about these people whose houses and tuck shops are being destroyed by Murambatsvina. They are the same people who voted Zanu PF, it is again an eye opener. They forgot Murambatsvina yekuma2005. Hazvititadzise kudya sadza.
• This destruction is killing people. If for the bet they have to build houses for people and market places or give people stands.
• Murambatsvina 2 ma 1. But here in rural Chipinge hatisati taiona. Keep on updating us.
• It is so touching that the authorities let people build and then at last they say it is illegal so togarepi nhayi Havana tsitsi nesu shuwa.
• I have not yet seen this, I’m in Mutare. As soon as zvangosvika we will let you know.
• This move is wrongly timed and what is the solution since our economy is down, those tuck shops are sustaining lives for many Zimbabweans.
• This is nuisance and those affected should retaliate
• Buhera RDC abolished illegal vendors within the growth point, a public notice of one month. The vendors were a menace polluting and evading tax shrinking council revenue.
• These are the same people who gave us these so called illegal stands before the elections and now they want to divide the population again and drive people back to their strong holds namely rural areas. It’s wrong.
• I think all Zimbabweans must unite and demonstrate against Zanu PF plan because if we cannot show them true colour they think that is in good direction.
• Shanties bad but planning important.
• I am not affected by this but this is not fair. Where are those people going to stay. Zvavarikushandisa pakuputsa zvadii zvashandiswa pakukudevelopa. Marod akafa, magetsi arikunetsa. Hurumende ngaisada kutambudza vanhu ichidaro.
• Hey, I wonder what was that same minister doing when he allowed erection of illegal structures for the past years. Wasn’t he looting people’s money from such illegal land allocation? The so-called Mr Weapon is so wrong cause I don’t see any reason why he take such a stance as if when such activities were happening. I feel pity for those who will be affected.
• I am not affected but I foresee some disaster. A real crisis. Rise in rentals. Invasion of some neighbouring farms or forests just like the Hopley case. Ma1.And this will be disorder by trying to put order. I believe remedies should be done at appropriate times. My bigger question is why did they allow this to take place for the past years if they knew it was not apt?
• Report frm the ground; vagari vemaseke vanogara munharaunda dzinoti Murisa,kuora,chitsvatsva and kaseke varikuchema chaizvo mushure mekunge pabhuda nyaya yekuputsirwa dzimba varikuti ivo havasi kuzorega kusungisa avo vakavatengesera.apo vakapihwa piriod ye7days kuti vapaze dzimba idzi nekumira kuvaka bt as for nw hapana ati apaza.vamwe vevatengesi veland iyi varikutiza munyika nekuti havasisina mari yekudzosera varidzi they were nt investing they just buy car’s 2 cover there povart.
•  Hie i’m from ruwa.the destruction of tuckshops happened and it was bad, but now people still sell here tuckshops were destroyed, but now in open space
• Yes the destruction of homes & tuckshops has begun. Yes i’m really affected though not direct bcoz my relatives and friends ar suffering as a result of this  second phase of murambatsvina/vanhu. It is very painful and a great lose to all investments done by the pple only to be destroyed within some seconds by the notorious zanu pf. Im experiencing the ongoing suffering of the zimbabweans & th highest level criminal activities being enforced by this government. We ar now experiencing a bad system of governance.   I think pple should unite and stand up.

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With Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change celebrating its 14th anniversary this weekend, we thought it was a good time to ask our SMS subscribers whether the MDC-T should stick with the T(svangirai), or whether, after 14 years with one president, it was time for opposition leadership renewal.

We heard back from hundreds of Zimbabweans across the country, and over two-thirds of respondents thought Morgan Tsvangirai should remain as the party’s leader. We share a sampling of responses below, or you can download the full list from this link.

• Tsvangirai must stay, kusvikira aita president. He has been through a lot.
• The MDC-T needs a new leader. MT must step down to pave way for new president.
• In my view Tsvangirai has not failed. In fact, look at how the peole hoped for him to win. The confidence they have on him and as it stands he is the only candidate in the country who can contest head to head with President Mugabe. We have been with him for long and have come to understand him better. We have been through hard times with him and better times as well, so let him stay put. Maybe we can talk of the grand coalition now. It is not all about changing leaders, but everything to do with advocating for a level political playing field. Yes, leaders can change, but as long as the country is still not level for all the players, you can change everyone and still the voice of the people will not prevail. What we need to focus our energy on is what we do to level the playing field, and not whether to remove someone.
• Morgan yes should pave way for new ideas coz that’s where dictatorship starts. He started by amending party constitution so what’s next is staying there forever.
• Tsvangirai must stay as MDC-T president as he is a pillar & balancing figure in the party & Zimbabwe at large. Since 2002, Tsvangirai has been a victim of massive election rigging by Mr Mugabe&Zanu PF. He has been making efforts to expose the comprehensive election rigging but to avail as Mr Mugabe controls all the pillars of government. Leadership renewal is not a noble idea at the moment as it will enthrill Zanu PF & is after MDC-T downfall & causing divisions & chaos within the party.
• There is need for leadership renewal to bring in new ideas and political  approach for the opposition
• Tsvangirai is the leader of MDC. Remove him when he has had the chance to lead Zimbabwefor two terms and not now. Let him lead until he rules. Those who want to lead the MDC should be ashamed of themselves.
• Tsvangirayi must leave the top post and any other within the party. He is free to remain an ordinary member or join another party of his choice.
• Tsvangirai is the only man who can stand against the ruling party he should stay.
• The resounding victory of zanu pf isn’t abt poor leadership in MDC bt monopoly over state resources so Tsvangirai must b given another chance
• He won in all the elections and am the same voter who vote for him. Its Zanu who wish him gone
• Tsvangirai has to stay till he remove zanu & rule for atleast one term
• Tsvangirai should stay as the leader of MDC-T and the other leadership should not change. MDC-T is Tsvangirai of which without him support will be lost.
• We want a replacement
• Not yet hey for the opposition to change leadership Tsvangirai must pull until the part reach the new beginning
• He is a complete failure, I don’t think he can renew.
• He should stay and finish his mission playin field z uneven n successor meets same fate
• I think he should stay until the next congress but he should stop acting like a Zanu-pf front

Download more opinions from this link

Following the MDC’s statement on 1 August declaring Zimbabwe’s 31 July harmonised election illegitimate, and their 3 August decision to boycott institutions of government, we asked our subscribers the following question:

Kubatana! With the MDC-T calling the election illegitimate should their elected MPs & councillors take up their seats or boycott Parliament & local government?

Around 2/3 of respondents said the MDC should boycott Parliament and local government, and not take up their seats as MPs or councillors. (This is about the same ratio that thought the 31 July election date was too soon in the first place.) The main reason for this was that to take up their seats would be to legitimise an election the MDC has called illegitimate. There was a strong sense from subscribers that “the MDC cannot have it both ways. Some respondents also thought that the MDC wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything by taking up their seats, or that Zanu PF should be left to govern the country on its own.

About 30% of respondents said the MDC should take up their seats, primarily because they had a mandate or responsibility from the people who had elected them. A few thought it was unrealistic to expect the MDC to boycott their seats, because of the benefits individual MPs and councillors get from being in office.

A small percentage were undecided or had mixed opinions on the issue.

We’ve published all of the feedback we’ve received so far here. Also, where we knew where a subscriber was writing from, we plotted their response on a map, to show the geographic distribution of opinion.

A small sampling of responses includes:

• I’m so angry at the moment that I would rather not answer that question.
• The should not and let them rule the country vari vega if the elections were free and fair the winning party why is it victimising the losing one s suporters
• yes they should boycott coz once they participate they will legitimize the fradulant election
• They should stay with the pple! Why go to parly when we know that even their results were doctored to mollify us. Mugabe and his party won – let him rule alone!
• They shd let zanu pf go it alone or since zpf intends to subvert the wil of e pple thru constitutn amndments mdc shdnt be part of it
• MDC-T elected MPs & councillors should take up their seats so as not to dissapoint pple who chose them.
• Only if they have something to do
• Plse advise mdc-t mps not to boycot. We know what happened and we heavily backing the mdc-t party. Let the skeleton mp representation fill their places in the palamnt even if they are going to snow there. They should sit in parliament and preserve the smoldering light of mdc-t. Don’t they learn frm zanu ndonga which kept its 1 seat for 20yrs? Its falling down in an unfortold political playground tricks. When politicians fall down they should stand up and run again. Why boycoting? Be like solders! We will there one day.
• They must boycott taking up of seats 2 show our disappointments. The people will speak what next. Dont be traped using money. We mustn’t be greedy about salaries.
• Mgabe’s silly, did anounced presidential results in 2 Days. In 2008 it took him a quarter year, his a typical thief. We will not loose hope. In protest our MDC MPs shoudn’t get in the parliament of cronies.
• They should not take part in council or parliament business bt Mdc must give them allowances so that they are nt tempted by the lv fo money
• That has always been the problem with MDC.They must not participert in anyway.Look at what GNU begot and the Zumas are now saying to Tsvangirai accept results.
• Participating means legitimising the illigitimate they should not b part of it people are angry
• The MDC-Ts must not take the seat because if they take the seat that means they have agred with the results
• They shoud have nothing to do with this guvnment of thieves.If they do they will have betrayed us, themselves as well.
• These are crying babies.those who won deserve their seats
• Now it’s tight it was better to boycott 31 July polls coz if they do that what about those people who elected?
• They should boycott to show the illegitimace.
• They should not take part in any part because if the election is rejected and participating amounts to acceptance which is a contradiction.
• Mr T may keep quiet but shld let Spksman, Sec Gen, Org Sec rouse the bulldust if not satisfied. Tell him so. Chiefs did lot of damage for playing fierce dragon.
• Stupid and foolish MDC candidates without Zimbabwe at heart can boycot.In elections one loses or wins. Respect results and the law.
• The must not sit with those wolves.They stole our vote and try to make it a normal process.Obasanjo, may the Lord forgive him for tellin’ the opposite of what he saw.
• They should not boycot they were elected by people who want them to serve them .they are boycoting the electorate
• They should boycot, otherwise taking up the duties will legitimise the illegitimate
• They should boycot becoz if they take office posts it will be free &fair election
• They shld not even try to work with wolfs, instead they shld concerntrate about giving their party members information about the way forward & the stance to take so that the will of the pple of zimbabwe are met without fear of the unknown person.we demand our right now !
• They should boycott .Their presents would legitimise everything after all they will never have an impact

Read more

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) today issued a press briefing in which they said, among other things:

This election has been a huge farce. Its credibility has been marred by administrative and legal violations which affect the legitimacy of its outcome. The election has been heavily manipulated. In our view, the outcome of this election is illegitimate. But more importantly, the shoddy manner in which it has been conducted and the consequent illegitimacy of the result will plunge this country into a serious crisis.

In its preliminary statement on the Harmonised Elections, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) said:

Based on the empirical reports from our observers, regardless of the outcome, the credibility of the 2013 Harmonised Elections is seriously compromised by a systematic effort to disenfranchise an estimated million voters. We reiterate that, it is not sufficient for elections to be peaceful. For elections to be credible they must offer all eligible citizens a reasonable opportunity to register to vote; to inform themselves about the candidates; to vote on election day and for their votes to be properly counted. We are deeply concerned that for urban voters the first three principles have already been violated.

We shared this information with our SMS subscribers. Here are some of their responses in their own words:

• Only that he is not the one speaking, he wants to satisfy his masters not Zims (if he is normal aidyiwa semi kumba kwake, tell the zesn kuti yadyiwa neimwe yacho! Bhora mugedhi Buhera he has two councillors only
• What’s the way forward?
• Help us God. Going back to those days of no water, no food, no electricity again
• Feel very sad today,
• Election was free and fair. Tsvangirai clanged to power yet he was decampaigning himself messing each n every day he should have let someone better lead the party rather than put the party in a plunge. Results are more than fair, the Tsvangirai youth didn’t register neither did they vote so how could they win
• Yes we all know that but what can be done about it MDC is powerless
• What is the way forward
• MDC people were arrogant they did not plan they should have boycotted at the initial stage during registration.
• So what can we do now
• So what is next?
• What is the way forward
• Its important to let people known the truth, and not jus rhetoric and outbursts that lack evidentiary material…whose legitimacy and illegitimacy here?
• We are so desperate we no longer know what to do we a just praying to God to intervene
• It’s ok, lets leave to the God.
• We ready for anything Zimbabwe ngeye ropa not yezvimbwasungata aluta continua
• Sham election. The worst rigging ever.
• Tsvangirai is sometimes a cry baby it is to early to rush into making such statements
• This election was not legitimate in some areas. Some did not vote. I was an agent & @ e polling station were i was 114 people did not vote because there was  less tym 2 register and some because of fear.
• If Zanu wins there is going to be another crisis in Zim with people flocking to SA and other neighbouring countries.
• Why did Tsvangson participate in the fist place? Hatichamuvimbi. (We’ve lost faith in him.)

Zimbabweans around the country are texting us with their feedback on Zimbabwe’s Election voting day. You can read a few below, and we’re compiling them on our Crowdmap, so take a look (and refresh the map often!)

• I have gone to Ward 29 Zvimba South. The process is very slow.
• In Budiriro 3, long long lines and slow process. MDC-T very faint on the ballot slips and is last.
• I’m done at Chinembiri Pri, Seke. In a 300 metre queue, 2hrs 18 minutes. Heavy turnout.
• Already voted in Chitungwiza Dzidzai Primary. All went well, queues moving nicely. In less than 30 minutes we were done.
• Voting is too slow and some of the names are not on the roll so we are voting with registration certificate. Chitepo Sec School, Zvimba East.
• In Goromonzi, Rusike at St Dominics Nora Primary. The polling process is in progress. No problems. About 300 ppl voted and the queue is declining.
• Am in Murehwa. Went to vote early morning. Many people came early. Queues were very long. SADC vehicles and JOMIC were moving around.
• In Bikita East voting going on peacefully, short queues.
• Gokwe Central. Voter turnout high. No incidents witnessed.
• My polling station (Avondale) full of police in uniform queueing to vote.