Springing up from the chilling holocaust that was Gukurahundi - the first of its kind in modern Southern Africa and most probably its last – Mthwakazi Action Group on Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in Matebeleland and Midlands (MAGGEMM), hereby makes a rallying call for engagement in a sustained campaign to seek justice for the victims of the genocide that was perpetrated against the people of Matebeleland in the 80’s by the government of Zimbabwe led by Robert Gabriel Mugabe. We aim to use any platform and every platform available to us to further this just and noble cause.

Mthwakazi Action Group’s first major goal is the internationalisation of this genocide through advocacy and well co-coordinated campaigns across the world. The first priority, therefore, is to get the victims themselves to be the active participants in this campaign, to be the owners and curators of this fight for justice. For far too long now, the people of Matebeleland have been silent but are now gradually rising up to the challenge of taking ownership of the memory of Gukurahundi. There is a lot of work still to be done but at least the journey has begun.

Mthwakazi Action Group’s other major goal is to work with Matebeleland elders and local groups that are already raising the issue of Gukurahundi under very difficult and trying circumstances in Zimbabwe. The other thrust of this project is to get every Zimbabwean to support this just cause and show solidarity with the victims of Gukurahundi. We owe it to future generations to deal with this issue once and for all. To that end, we will seek to engage Zimbabwean human rights groups, political parties and other organisations of note in the country in a truly national conversation about Gukurahundi. The fourth aspect of our campaign will see us focus on engaging African governments and African institutions on this matter and lobbying them for their support. Last but not least, Mthwakazi Action Group is going to work in coalition with international human rights groups as well as with their governments in lobbying the government of Zimbabwe on Gukurahundi and other human rights abuses. We take this opportunity to inform the whole world that now is the time the people of Matebeleland received the justice and legal redress they have been denied all these years. We therefore seek the attention and support of the people of the world in our quest for justice.

Direct Action

Mthwakazi Action Group has so far held two successful demonstrations, dubbed Gukurahundi Demos, outside the Zimbabwe embassy in London. The first demonstration took place on the day of Zimbabwe’s elections on the 29th of March 2008. Mthwakazi Action Group felt this was a perfect opportunity to highlight the Gukurahundi genocide and current human rights abuses by the government of Zimbabwe. It was also meant to give moral support for our people in these trying times. The second and well attended Gukurahundi Demo was carried out on the 19th of April 2008. This was a protest demo against the so called independence day of the 18th of April. Mthwakazi Action Group feels that independence in 1980 brought not freedom but genocide to the people of Matebeleland and cannot therefore celebrate it while the spectre of Gukurahundi still hangs over our heads.

The Future

Mthwakazi Action Group’s successful Gukurahundi demonstrations outside the Zimbabwe embassy in London, UK were the beginnings of a more sustained and well co-ordinated campaign for justice for the people of Matebeleland. Mthwakazi Action Group will be organising more demos, events and conferences to keep the campaign alive and ongoing until its objectives are met. There is no doubt in our minds that this will be a long drawn out campaign that will need the active participation of our people and the support of all the peoples of the world but it is one campaign we will not tire of. The time for action, truth and justice is now. Mandela spoke of a ‘long walk to freedom’ and we say in similar words that ours is a long walk to truth and justice. Come and join us in the demos and other campaigns for justice.

We say: KAYIPHELI NGEKIPHELE LINDABA!