Scores of high-profile personalities, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, will embark on a hunger strike until a solution to the Zimbabwean crisis is found.
Save Zimbabwe Now said on Tuesday that “We have Mahatma Gandhi at the back of our minds as we embark on this hunger strike… Fasting has been chosen to symbolise the hunger and discomfort faced by millions of Zimbabweans every day in varying forms of severity.”
Those who will participate will go without food, but with water, for 21 consecutive days. They will reside at the Central Methodist Mission Church in Johannesburg, during the course of the fast.
A daily blog on the Save Zimbabwe Now website has provided updates of their fast.
“Medical teams will be on standby should something occur. Other participants for the 21-day fast are yet to be confirmed.”
“This would be a fast also without food, but with water for health reasons… most of the participants in this fast would have their last meal on Tuesdays at dinner time, and their next meal on Thursday at breakfast,” it said.
Other participants have chosen to fast up to three days a week.
The fast comes before the launch of Save Zimbabwe Now, which will take place in Johannesburg today.
“Strikes will continue up to a period of three months, unless meaningful and tangible gains towards demands by Save Zimbabwe Now are met.”
Speakers at the launch include Graca Machel, wife of former president Nelson Mandela.
Save Zimbabwe Now is made up of a number of organisations in southern Africa, offering solidarity to Zimbabwe.
“Several civil society groups in Zimbabwe have welcomed and pledged their support for this initiative and we envisage a collective passage forward, in aspiring to assist the democratic journey for Zimbabweans through inspiration and action,” it said.
