Robert Mugabe's government used all its powers of intimidation to frighten people into going to work yesterday in the face of a nationwide strike called by the trade unions. And the government succeeded.
Last Tarabuka, the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions information officer, swallowed his disappointment and claimed 60 per cent of workers had stayed at home. "As far as we are concerned, this was a success under the conditions.
The 'conditions' came into effect on Monday. In Harare, the only way to get to work from the residential districts is by bus. If the strike were to be effective, buses wouldn't run.
Twelve hours before the strike was due to start, bus operators were given written warnings threatening unspecified action if they did not run services as normal.
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Against a background of fear and violence, Mugabe maintains the illusion of control |
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employers received visits from the secret police, who told them to warn their workers that if they stayed away they would lose their jobs.
On Monday evening, armed anti-
riot police and soldiers moved into shopping areas, and in the small hours of Tuesday morning water cannon units and army trucks imported from China began roaming Harare, sounding their sirens.
At first light, helicopters hovered over populous suburbs like Glenview and Budiriro. In Dzivaresekwa residents reported that police were knocking on doors, warning people that if they did not go to work they would be shot.
In Epworth suburb, David Musa told a reporter: "I was going to the local shop when two soldiers and two men in plain clothes started punching and slapping me, telling me to go to work. I would - but I don't have a job to go to." 
FIRST POSTED APRIL 4, 2007
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