Nomazulu Thata |Quote: “This is the day we pay our respects to those have endured the unimaginable. This is an occasion for the world to speak up against the unspeakable. It is long overdue that a day be dedicated to remembering and supporting the many victims and survivors of torture around the world,” by Kofi Annan.
I pray to almighty God that this letter finds you in one piece. This is my heartfelt wish and I have prayed to God to keep you healthy, firstly for the sake of your children and secondly for the sake of the nation: Zimbabwe. Being a silent listener, he will silently hear our prayers and you will be reunited with your children soon.
I write to you because you need us women of Zimbabwe, spiritually to be with you in such a painful time you are subjected to. Those who seek true freedom for the human race have to go through those trials and tribulations. You are tried, dear Linda Masarira. You are to prove the test of time: those trials and tribulations. Think about the Lord Jesus Christ who was crucified on the cross unjustifiably. It is the same cross dear Linda, all those who are heroes had to shoulder under most, most difficult circumstances. All the pain that go with it, you are to endure, for us to be free, for us to come back home from the Diaspora and be part of that development so that our children and grand-children do not have it rough like us.
I can assure you that before I collapse to bed and sleep, I do pray to God that you have strength, the strength that will enable you to take all humiliation you have to endure everyday in that notorious cell, not of Ian Douglas Smith, but humiliation from the black government of Zanu PF. Think about late Nelson Mandela who was incarcerated for 27 years. This should encourage you to hold on to the strength you still have. Learn too to listen to those silent voices; the Lord may be telling you something, imparting all wisdom that you will be enriched with, you will come and share with all of us outside of those notorious prisons.
Prison has never been a walk in the garden. Especially Zimbabwean prisons are known for their notoriety. When you went out to demonstrate in the Africa Square you were wholly aware of the consequences; our brutal and ruthless system of governance, the very reasons that saw you land into prison. You went to demonstrate because you thought your children deserved better. You said you did not want to leave Zimbabwe but change the way the government is doing things: you are saying equality to all Zimbabweans irrespective of colour, race tribe, creed, race, it goes on. You said enough is enough!
Remember too that you have a lot of work waiting for you to do when you come out of prison. Think about our girls who will look up at you, they will need your guidance to empower them. Think about the young women who will see you as the role model to look up to. You are indeed a role model to all of us. Your courage is unparalleled. You are indeed the Mother of this nation dear Linda Masarira: you are Mother Zimbabwe indeed. It is for this reason that you have to be strong as there is a lot of work waiting for you to do. You are young and dynamic; you have put yourself on a stage that none of us can ever make it. Remember too that when you reach the rock bottom, that bottom is the safest place for you to be elevated and be counted. The Zimbabweans all over the world speak about you, pray for your health. I have written letters to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and His Holiness: the Pope. I am sure they do think about you and pray that you come out healthy from that prison.
A lot is happening in you absence at home. We are very concerned about the violence the police and the army are using to quell peaceful demonstrations. The Friday demonstrations, and before they could even start, were met with outward brutality. I wonder if this government is not worried about its future in the coming dispensation at all. So many people were hurt yesterday and a lot of destruction of property, Harare looked like a war zone. Painfully still is some old woman, who was brutally beaten by the police, it’s all in the media to see. The world sees how brutal our government is and they look on.
Those very police force who are beating up people, treating people as if they are the last pieces of dirt, beating as if they are dealing with cockroaches, they all look very malnourished and overly thin! They get their paltry $400 a month to beat and hurt the citizens with that magnitude of hate! They make themselves vulnerable, seriously. When you come to think of it, these are our children, behaving like Satanists.
The women’s manifesto still needs to be done, you are found wanting dear Linda. There is a transitional caretaker administration that is being mooted, your input is required. The girls need their sanitary towels in rural areas; you will need to do something about it. The most marginalized areas are desperate for food, come and see to it that the citizens do not get hungry. The rains may come and they may not come: the El Nino effect is looming in the Southern Africa, your prayers, your prayers. Civil servants do not know if they are going to get paid at all. The number of street kids is multiplying without any breaks to the scourge. You will need to come up with those durable solutions for them.
The rural folk do not have toilets; the drinking water is not safe. Think of the vendors whose goods were burnt yesterday. Think of the Diaspora citizens lingering reading daily newspapers wishing for something better; some change at home so that they can pack and come home. Think about young girls we have lost in prostitution, you will need to find empowerment programs for them and be rid of sexual exploitation.
Dear Linda, izopha leli ngelakho, labanye abentanga yakho. My letter is sending a message to you and from most elder women of my age. We are silently passing on the baton to you and those younger women of your age to lift Zimbabwe up were we failed dismally. The coming generations will know about your incarceration and how you stood for rights of the disadvantaged and the elderly, and the sick, and the children. They will be told about your ability and capabilities that cut across the tribal and race divide, in your effort to bring change in Zimbabwe. Our problems in Zimbabwe are so big; we need young women of your age and calibre to solve them. You are called upon dear Linda to lead and serve the nation: that’s what is expected of the Mother of the Nation to do.
Dear Linda, please hold on to your strength. God is for all of us.  Mwari ndewedu tese ufunge. We shall overcome this. I cannot think of the day we shall meet without starting to laugh. We shall indeed laugh; women know how to deal with sad experiences especially if you have children. Very soon you shall be having your baby boy on your lap and you will be happy. You will see your other children too and you will indeed lighten up and smile, will be full of joy and tears of a mother.
Prayerfully your sister in the struggle,
Nomazulu Thata