Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC Alliance needs to realise that despite the huge support it received at the polls in 2018, it must regain the status of a mass movement and recruit civil society as a partner in “winning the streets”. “You never win at the negotiating table what you have not won on the streets,” Congress Of South Africa Trade Unions leader Zwelinzima Vavi once remarked. It was pointed out five years ago in Zimbabwe, while former President Robert Mugabe was still alive, that there is no way forward other than a transitional arrangement — a national transitional authority — to avoid a hard landing and a possible coup. Both have now occurred. We had a coup in November 2017 followed by a very hard landing in the form of an increasingly coercive government — one that is incapable of reform, either politically or economically. Turning the country around will require a concerted effort, nationally, regionally and internationally. It has been argued that Zimbabwe has reached another Lancaster House moment, requiring a similar response to the ongoing crisis. Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a serious insurgency in Mozambique, a creaking South African economy that can ill-afford mass migration, and, in the middle, Zimbabwe’s political and economic stasis. Sadc claims that there is no crisis in Zimbabwe that requires mediation. Unfortunately, this is yet another of the conflicting positions which the regional and international communities have taken on the country. It is not a view shared by South Africa, which sent envoys and a high-level African National Congress delegation to Harare in 2020 — both of which expressed the view that there is indeed a crisis in Zimbabwe. Increasing human rights violations and corruption demonstrate that the government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is unable to undertake the kinds of reforms that would allow the country to re-enter the international arena, and most importantly find a way to solve the major obstacle to obtaining international finance — paying off its debts. It is clear that until Zimbabwe pays its debts there will be no substantial economic re-engagement. Yet the country will be unable to do this without reforms that guarantee human rights, the rule of law and an end to rampant corruption. Zanu PF cannot afford to lose political power for two reasons: It fears being held accountable for all the gross human rights violations committed over the past 40 years; It fears accountability for the massive corruption that has increased under the new dispensation. While the government has ignored a report published earlier in 2020 on the activities of criminal cartels, the report did raise questions in the international community about the possibility of re-engagement. Zanu PF’s two strategies to stay in power The Zanu PF government appears to be placing its bets on one of two possible strategies to remain in power. These strategies are linked, depending on how the game plays out. When it comes to Zimbabwe, the international community insisted on free and fair elections.