REJOICE NGWENYA OP-ED: Kirsty Coventry: The Curse Of 'Good White'?

The Zimbabwean free-market activist and libertarian political analyst comments on Kirsty Coventry, the Olympic medalist swimmer for Zimbabwe - she has gotten one gold and three silver medals in Beijing - whom President Robert Mugabe has referred to as the "golden girl": "Perhaps, just perhaps, Robert Mugabe will have conferred swimming sensation Kirsty Coventry with yet another Honour of the Stone Temple award for in his own words, 'keeping the Zimbabwean flag high in the face of rabid Western adversity.' In times of sporting glory, Zimbabwe government hypocrisy rears its perfect side. Nobody at State House cares much about the political affiliation of amputee athlete Elliot Mujaji, as long as he continues to win sporting accolades. And for the same predictable reasons, Kirsty's colour counts for nothing when she steps onto the victory podium, as long as she or her parents are not 'unpatriotic, unrepentant white commercial farmers'! She must be a 'Good White' then, like former health Minister Timothy Stamps - submissive, passive and respectful of higher authority! According to Robert Mugabe, the misfortune that befell Zimbabwe was caused by a vengeful 'white' Britain angered by his 'successful land reform program', which was really nothing more than a gigantic singular act of satanic madness that shredded the scroll of property and human rights. Now we know. Kirsty's medals are more valuable than tobacco and maize exports, her patriotism more sacred than Joe Blogs who is a third generation farm owner in Selous."

He continues his commentary about the precarious state of Ms. Coventry: "To Mugabe, the really 'bad' renegade whites are the Roy Bennett's and Eddie Crosses of the world who have chosen the thorny tracks of contesting against Mugabe in the only race that he knows best – politics. Here, winners do not get medals; they are pummeled, arrested and jailed for success. Their podium is no higher than a toilet seat at Matapi Police cells in Mbare. Here, there is no standing ovation, but gnashing of teeth. The only 'flag' they raise is a soiled handkerchief to wipe blood from their brows and cover their noses from the stench of human waste floating in a blocked prison toilet. These 'bad' whites do not get diplomatic passports, but police dockets. They do not receive USD50 000 as a reward, but l[o]se properties worth USD500 000 as punishment for running in the wrong political track. To them, it is a curse to be white. For now, Miss Kirsty Coventry, the golden white girl of Zimbabwe, will remain Mugabe's favourable 'good' white, as long as, of course, she remains floating in political 'no man's water land'."