Hundreds of women took to the streets of Bulawayo on Saturday to take part in the #BeatThePot protest organised by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) Women’s Assembly.
“These pots that we are beating are no longer cooking anything at home this is why we brought them to say we no longer have anything to cook. We are starving,” Thokozani Khupe, MDC vice president said while addressing women who took part in the march.
“What we are saying here is we are putting more fire on a pot that is already boiling.We want that pot to boil until Mugabe goes. That is why we are saying please Mugabe you have failed, please go so that our lives can go own well,” she said.
“Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF must step aside and allow a government that will be ushered in through free, fair credible elections,” said Khupe, who had a baby strapped on her back. “We are going to repeat more of these until Mugabe leaves office, until the people of Zimbabwe are free. Enough is enough.”
The demonstrations, going under the hashtag #beatthepot, saw all participating women bringing empty pots and cooking sticks. The banging of empty pots, a highly-gendered image associated with women’s role as mothers, threatens to become the symbol of women’s opposition to the government and a key means to protest it.
Organisers plan to take the protests countrywide to demonstrate their opposition to the Mugabe regime. Beating their empty pots will symbolise the government’s failure: it could not provide them with the food they needed to feed their families.
“We intend to hold similar marches throughout the country for as long as the government is not showing commitment and sincerity to address hunger and poverty affecting women,” MDC Bulawayo Women Assembly organising secretary Florence Nyika said.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has declared total war on Zanu PF, announcing plans to roll out fresh nationwide protests intended to force President Robert Mugabe to step down. Tsvangirai, a former prime minister in the government of national unity resumed work this week, after undergoing surgery in South Africa two months ago.
His announcement also came as churches, ordinary citizens and pro-democracy groups ramp up pressure on Mugabe to quit as a result of Zimbabwe’s deepening rot.
“The party’s national council was unequivocal in its resolution yesterday (Thursday) that Mugabe and his government must leave office or face popular protests as they have failed to find lasting solutions to the problems facing the people,” Tsvangirai said while addressing the media at his Highlands home in Harare.
Tsvangirai said his party had resolved “to continue its provincial protest marches while co-coordinating and preparing for robust and comprehensive national action on a date to be announced. In that national action, we will be rallying the nation and all democratic forces to converge on the national demand that Mugabe and his government must retire.”
“While our provincial demonstrations will continue, the logistics and mechanics for the national action are currently being worked out,” Tsvangirai said. Nehanda Radio
