Zimbabwe has taken several steps closer to the abyss in recent days. In its relentless campaign to silence all opposition, President Robert Mugabe's regime recently accused some foreign journalists and local media - independent of the government - of supporting what it termed terrorism. This was followed last week by the publication of the Orwellian-titled Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Bill, a measure designed to do precisely the opposite, ie deny the people of Zimbabwe access to information, save that deemed fit by the regime.
The Bill, which will almost certainly become law by Christmas, threatens journalists with imprisonment if they violate the new regulations. Foreign journalists will have to obtain a government licence to work in Zimbabwe. Those who do, and who subsequently displease the government, may expect to be sent packing. The measure prompted one independent newspaper, The Daily News, to describe the regime as "fascist, corrupt and arrogant".
But the travails of the media are relatively minor when set beside the problems on the ground. Some 800 farmers - almost all of them white - are facing destitution as the government pushes through what it terms land reform. In reality, this is a programme to nationalise farmland, around 4,500 properties, 95 per cent of which are white-owned. As a result of the land expropriation to date, and Mr Mugabe's general economic policies, Zimbabwe today stands on the brink of fiscal chaos and chronic food shortages.
The Zimbabwe Supreme Court yesterday gave legal cover to the policy of land seizures. However, four of its five judges are recent appointees of Mr Mugabe. In excusing the government's policy of allowing roaming gangs of armed thugs to seize farms, at times killing their owners, the court, to its shame, said that to expect the government to preside over a "totally crime free environment... would be inconsistent with the concept of the rule of law".
Zimbabwe's neighbours and the wider international community have indulged Mr Mugabe for too long. Last weekend, he was effectively cast adrift by President Mbeki of South Africa, a move backed by Nelson Mandela. Mr Mugabe, at 77 has ruled Zimbabwe for 21 years, and hopes to be re-elected next year. It is encumbent now on those with influence to make every effort to prevent this country from destroying itself.