David Coltart
Encyclopedia
David Coltart is a Zimbabwe
an lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding Secretary for Legal Affairs. He was the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South
in the House of Assembly from 2000 to 2008, and he was elected to the Senate
in 2008. He is presently the Legal Secretary for the faction of the Movement for Democratic Change
led by Welshman Ncube
, and Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.
, Midlands Province, in the former Southern Rhodesia
(Gwelo would become Gweru in 1982). He was born an only child to a Scottish bank manager father and a South African nurse mother. His mother was the descendant of British settlers who settled in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. His Scottish grandfather was Deputy Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1938. His mother was the descendant of British settlers who settled in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. When Coltart was a young child the family relocated to Bulawayo
.
He was educated at Hillside Primary School followed by Christian Brothers College
, a Catholic private school run by Irish Brothers, in Bulawayo. After matriculation, Coltart was conscripted to do military service (as was required of all white male Rhodesians at the time) and served in the BSAP
from September 1975 to January 1977 in the Mashonaland
, Matabeleland South
, and Victoria provinces (Victoria became Masvingo province in 1980).
After his conscription Coltart enrolled at the University of Cape Town
in 1978. At UCT he earned his Bachelor of Arts
in Law as well as his LLB
(post-graduate law degree). While at UCT Coltart first became involved in politics when he was elected as Chairman of the Zimbabwe Students' Society. In 1981 he was threatened with deportation by the then apartheid government who did not like his activities promoting the new independent Zimbabwe. Shortly after this, Coltart received a telegram from then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe
stating the new Zimbabwe government's commitment to building a multiracial society and encouraging Coltart to return home after his studies. Whilst at university, Coltart was also elected to serve on the Law Students' Council and was director of the Crossroads Legal Aid clinic, which provided services to indigent black South Africans.
In June 1981 Coltart became a professing Christian, an event which had a profound impact on his life and which has informed his thinking greatly ever since. Since 1983 Coltart has regularly spoken on Christian issues and periodically preaches in Zimbabwean churches and abroad.
Coltart married Jennifer Reine Barrett in 1983. They have four children, Jessica, Douglas, Scott and Bethany.
As a partner of Webb, Low and Barry, Coltart handled many human rights cases relating to the Gukurahundi
genocide in Matabeleland between 1983 and 1987. In 1986, Coltart authored a detailed report concerning human rights abuses in Matabeleland during 1985, which was submitted to the Minister of Justice and the Governor of Matabeleland North. During this time, Coltart represented various opposition PF ZAPU
Central Committee members detained by the ZANU PF
government, including Sidney Malunga, Edward Ndlovu and Stephen Nkomo (brother of ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo
).
In 1987 Coltart founded the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, a legal aid clinic, and was its Director until 1997. Prior to this he established a Legal Advice Centre in Bulawayo, with the help of the Bulawayo Association of Legal Practitioners.
In 1990 Coltart helped establish and became a board member of the Central and Southern African Legal Assistance Foundation.
Coltart played an instrumental role in the first detailed investigation into the genocide committed by the Mugabe regime in Matabeleland between 1982 and 1987. He initiated the project as Director of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, one of the operational arms of the Legal Resources Centre in 1990. This culminated in the publication in 1997 of the report entitled Breaking the Silence: Building True Peace by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe
and the Legal Resources Foundation. The publication of the report led to Coltart being publicly criticised on national television by Robert Mugabe in February 1999, who stated that:
serving as campaign manager for Bob Nixon, the first Independent to unseat the RF in 17 years. In 1985 he served as campaign manager for all the independent candidates contesting seats in Matabeleland. The independent candidates stood against Ian Smith's then Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
.
In 1991 Coltart spoke out against proposed economic liberalisation, arguing that it would not work without political liberalisation.
In 1992 Coltart was appointed legal adviser to the opposition Forum Party
, established that year and led by Dr. Enoch Dumbutshena
, Zimbabwe's first black Chief Justice. In June 1992 he drafted the Forum Party's manifesto entitled A Blueprint for Zimbabwe.
In 1994 Coltart wrote an open letter to Mugabe and the church in Zimbabwe condemning corruption, human rights abuses and the failure of justice and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
In 1998 and 1999 Coltart sat on the Constitutional Drafting Committee of the National Constitutional Assembly and played a role in advocating successfully for the rejection of the government's draft constitution in the February 2000 referendum
.
In 1999 Coltart was asked to join the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by trade union leader Morgan Tsvangirai
who appointed him interim Legal Secretary for the party. In January 2000, at the inaugural congress of the MDC, Coltart was elected Secretary for Legal Affairs. This position gave him the responsibility of formulating the MDC justice policy, of conducting the MDC's electoral court challenges and of organising the legal defence of MDC members who had been detained and prosecuted, including Morgan Tsvangirai's treason trial.
Coltart was one of the founders and directors of Capital Radio, an independent radio station that started broadcasting on 28 September 2000 from a Hotel in Harare
, following a Supreme Court
ruling that nullified the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's
monopoly. On the evening of 4 October, Coltart's house was raided by eleven armed police looking for equipment that was allegedly in contravention of the Radio Communications Act. The police failed to produce a valid search warrant, but nevertheless conducted the search and found nothing. The houses of other directors were also searched and equipment was seized from the Radio's broadcasting premises.
in the 2000 election as a member of the Movement for Democratic Change, unseating the ZANU-PF incumbent and becoming the MP for Bulawayo South. During his first term in Parliament he was the Shadow Justice Minister and chaired the Parliamentary Justice Committee. He was re-elected in the March 2005 general election, winning his seat with a 76% majority against a ZANU-PF cabinet minister.
During the June 2000 election one of Coltart's polling agents, Patrick Nabanyama, was abducted in front of his family and has not been seen since. Six war veterans
were arrested but later pardoned. One of those arrested, Cain Nkala, was subsequently murdered in November 2001. ZANU PF accused Coltart of involvement and imprisoned his former campaign manager for five weeks before dropping charges. Nkala’s death has since been blamed on his own party, ZANU PF, following suggestions that he was about to publicise what happened to Nabanyama, although this has not been proved either.
During this time, Coltart's family were reported to have evacuated to South Africa
but this was refuted when his wife, Jennifer, went to the offices of The Chronicle with their two month old daughter to prove they had remained in the country.
Coltart was again linked to Nkala's death in ZANU PF's 2002 presidential election campaign, which also emphasised his former role in the BSAP and falsely accused him of being a former member of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts
. Mugabe accused him of being an instrument of the British and announced in September 2002 that such people, "like Bennett and Coltart, are not part of our society. They belong to Britain and let them go there... If they want to live here, we will say 'stay', but your place is in prison and nowhere else."
Coltart was the subject of much harassment in the early 2000s. He received numerous death threats, and was arrested and briefly detained in February 2002 for allegedly discharging a firearm in a public place. Charges were eventually withdrawn in June 2003. In March 2003, Coltart, with his two youngest children (then aged 9 and 6 months), drove out of the family home and were followed at speed by three armed men around their neighbourhood until the pursuers were intercepted by Coltart's security team and Coltart and his children were secured in a safe house.
As MP for Bulawayo South, Coltart established the Bulawayo South Development Trust to assist poorer communities in his constituency. The Trust's remit was extended to cover the Khumalo constituency when Coltart was elected Senator for Khumalo in March 2008. The Trust has developed self-sustaining farming projects, given assistance to individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and funded other individuals facing various difficult circumstances.
In 2003, Coltart met with the Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower
and Henry Olonga
to discuss their plans for making a protest against the Mugabe regime at the forthcoming World Cup
, and came up with the idea of the two cricketers wearing black armbands during the match, signifying the death of democracy in Zimbabwe. He also assisted them draft their protest statement.
, Coltart won the seat of Khumalo, standing for the Mutambara faction of the MDC; he received 8,021 votes against 6,077 for Joubert Mangena of the Tsvangirai faction. When the ZANU-PF–MDC Government of National Unity
was sworn in on February 13, 2009, Coltart became Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. In May he was appointed in addition to the position of Co-chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform.
As Minister for Education, Coltart brought an end to the ongoing teacher strikes, enabling schools to re-open in 2009. He has raised teacher salaries, although they remain significantly lower than the figure demanded by the unions. He has not abolished the controversial 'teacher incentives' that school pupils are expected to pay in many schools to supplement teachers' incomes. In 2010 Coltart secured funding via UNICEF to provide all school children with textbooks in certain core subjects. He has also set in motion a curriculum review, the first since the 1980s, and is planning to establish Academies of Excellence in each province
, with full scholarships available for talented disadvantaged children.
In his role as Sports Minister, Coltart was instrumental in Zimbabwe's re-entry into Test cricket
in August 2011, their first Test in six years. Coltart was also influential in the refurbishment of Bulawayo's Khumalo Hockey Stadium, enabling it to host the African Olympic Hockey Qualifiers in September 2011 in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.
in Zimbabwe, claiming that they are ineffective and that the international community should support the transitional government as Zimbabwe's only viable non-violent route towards a more democratic society. Coltart is opposed to the use of violence as a solution to the problems facing Zimbabwe, believing that political transition must occur gradually through democratic means. He has also criticised the West for high levels of military spending in relation to the development assistance they give. Coltart is a proponent of nuclear disarmament
and is a World Council member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
(PNND). Although himself a committed Christian, Coltart believes that there should by a clear separation between church and state
and that the church as a body should not support a particular political party.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an lawyer, Christian leader and politician. He was a founding member of the Movement for Democratic Change when it was established in 1999 and its founding Secretary for Legal Affairs. He was the Member of Parliament for Bulawayo South
Bulawayo South
Bulawayo South is a parliamentary constituency of the Zimbabwean House of Assembly located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The current member of the House of Assembly for Bulawayo South is Eddie Cross, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change...
in the House of Assembly from 2000 to 2008, and he was elected to the Senate
Senate of Zimbabwe
The Senate of Zimbabwe is the upper chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It existed from 1980 to 1989, and was re-introduced in November 2005....
in 2008. He is presently the Legal Secretary for the faction of the Movement for Democratic Change
Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara
The Movement for Democratic Change — Mutambara is a Zimbabwean political party led by Welshman Ncube.-Foundation:The Movement for Democratic Change was founded in 1999 as an opposition party to the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front party led by President Robert Mugabe...
led by Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube
Welshman Ncube is a Zimbabwean politician. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change – Mutambara, and since February 2009 has been the Minister of Industry and Commerce. He was elected as a member of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe for Bulawayo North East in the 2000 election and...
, and Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture.
Early life
Coltart was born in GweloGweru
Gweru is a city near the centre of Zimbabwe at . It has a population of about 146,073 , making it the third largest city in the nation. Gweru is the capital of Midlands Province. Gweru was founded in 1894 by Dr. Leander Starr Jameson. The first bank opened in Gweru in 1896, and the stock exchange...
, Midlands Province, in the former Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
(Gwelo would become Gweru in 1982). He was born an only child to a Scottish bank manager father and a South African nurse mother. His mother was the descendant of British settlers who settled in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. His Scottish grandfather was Deputy Lord Provost of Edinburgh in 1938. His mother was the descendant of British settlers who settled in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1820. When Coltart was a young child the family relocated to Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
.
He was educated at Hillside Primary School followed by Christian Brothers College
Christian Brothers College, Bulawayo
St. Patrick's Christian Brothers College, Bulawayo is a private multiracial boys only high school located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. It was founded in the 1950s and is the most prestigious school in Bulawayo,and probably one of the best schools in the country....
, a Catholic private school run by Irish Brothers, in Bulawayo. After matriculation, Coltart was conscripted to do military service (as was required of all white male Rhodesians at the time) and served in the BSAP
British South Africa Police
The British South Africa Police was the police force of the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which became the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor after 1965, Rhodesia...
from September 1975 to January 1977 in the Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
, Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South
Matabeleland South is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 54,172 km² and a population of approximately 650,000 . Gwanda is the capital of the province.-Geography:...
, and Victoria provinces (Victoria became Masvingo province in 1980).
After his conscription Coltart enrolled at the University of Cape Town
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town is a public research university located in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. UCT was founded in 1829 as the South African College, and is the oldest university in South Africa and the second oldest extant university in Africa.-History:The roots of...
in 1978. At UCT he earned his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Law as well as his LLB
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
(post-graduate law degree). While at UCT Coltart first became involved in politics when he was elected as Chairman of the Zimbabwe Students' Society. In 1981 he was threatened with deportation by the then apartheid government who did not like his activities promoting the new independent Zimbabwe. Shortly after this, Coltart received a telegram from then Prime Minister Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...
stating the new Zimbabwe government's commitment to building a multiracial society and encouraging Coltart to return home after his studies. Whilst at university, Coltart was also elected to serve on the Law Students' Council and was director of the Crossroads Legal Aid clinic, which provided services to indigent black South Africans.
In June 1981 Coltart became a professing Christian, an event which had a profound impact on his life and which has informed his thinking greatly ever since. Since 1983 Coltart has regularly spoken on Christian issues and periodically preaches in Zimbabwean churches and abroad.
Coltart married Jennifer Reine Barrett in 1983. They have four children, Jessica, Douglas, Scott and Bethany.
Work as a lawyer
After completing his law degree in December 1982, Coltart returned to Zimbabwe and in January 1983 went to work for the Webb, Low and Barry law firm in Bulawayo. He was admitted as a Legal Practitioner of the Zimbabwean High Court in February 1983. In April of that year he established the first Legal Aid Clinic in Bulawayo. He was appointed a partner of Webb, Low and Barry in 1984 and became the firm's senior partner in 1998, a position he still holds.As a partner of Webb, Low and Barry, Coltart handled many human rights cases relating to the Gukurahundi
Gukurahundi
The Gukurahundi refers to the suppression by Zimbabwe's 5th Brigade in the predominantly Ndebele regions of Zimbabwe most of whom were supporters of Joshua Nkomo. A few hundred disgruntled former ZIPRA combatants waged armed banditry against the civilians in Matabeleland, and destroyed government...
genocide in Matabeleland between 1983 and 1987. In 1986, Coltart authored a detailed report concerning human rights abuses in Matabeleland during 1985, which was submitted to the Minister of Justice and the Governor of Matabeleland North. During this time, Coltart represented various opposition PF ZAPU
Zimbabwe African People's Union
The Zimbabwe African People's Union was a militant organization and political party that fought for the national liberation of Zimbabwe from its founding in 1961 until it merged with the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front in December 1987....
Central Committee members detained by the ZANU PF
Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front
The Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front has been the ruling party in Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, led by Robert Mugabe, first as Prime Minister with the party simply known as ZANU, and then as President from 1988 after taking over ZAPU and retaining the name ZANU-PF...
government, including Sidney Malunga, Edward Ndlovu and Stephen Nkomo (brother of ZAPU leader Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Nkomo
Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo was the leader and founder of the Zimbabwe African People's Union and a member of the Kalanga tribe...
).
In 1987 Coltart founded the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, a legal aid clinic, and was its Director until 1997. Prior to this he established a Legal Advice Centre in Bulawayo, with the help of the Bulawayo Association of Legal Practitioners.
In 1990 Coltart helped establish and became a board member of the Central and Southern African Legal Assistance Foundation.
Coltart played an instrumental role in the first detailed investigation into the genocide committed by the Mugabe regime in Matabeleland between 1982 and 1987. He initiated the project as Director of the Bulawayo Legal Projects Centre, one of the operational arms of the Legal Resources Centre in 1990. This culminated in the publication in 1997 of the report entitled Breaking the Silence: Building True Peace by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe
Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe is a non-governmental organization whose aim is to highlight the plight of the Zimbabwean people and assist in cases of human rights abuse....
and the Legal Resources Foundation. The publication of the report led to Coltart being publicly criticised on national television by Robert Mugabe in February 1999, who stated that:
"The likes of Clive Wilson and Clive Murphy, complemented by the Aurets and Coltarts of our society, are bent on ruining the national unity and loyalty of our people and their institutions. But we will ensure that they do not ever succeed in their evil machinations... Let them be warned therefore that unless their insidious acts of sabotage immediately cease, my Government will be compelled to take very stern measures against them and those who have elected to be their puppets."
Entry into politics
In 1983, whilst working as a lawyer, Coltart became involved in campaigning against the Rhodesian FrontRhodesian Front
The Rhodesian Front was a political party in Southern Rhodesia when the country was under white minority rule. Led first by Winston Field, and, from 1964, by Ian Smith, the Rhodesian Front was the successor to the Dominion Party, which was the main opposition party in Southern Rhodesia during the...
serving as campaign manager for Bob Nixon, the first Independent to unseat the RF in 17 years. In 1985 he served as campaign manager for all the independent candidates contesting seats in Matabeleland. The independent candidates stood against Ian Smith's then Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe
The Conservative Alliance of Zimbabwe was the final incarnation of a party formerly called the Republican Front and prior to that the Rhodesian Front...
.
In 1991 Coltart spoke out against proposed economic liberalisation, arguing that it would not work without political liberalisation.
In 1992 Coltart was appointed legal adviser to the opposition Forum Party
Forum Party
The Forum Party of Zimbabwe was a conservative political party in Zimbabwe.The Forum party was formed in March 1993 and was led by a former Zimbabwean Chief Justice Enoch Dumbutshena...
, established that year and led by Dr. Enoch Dumbutshena
Enoch Dumbutshena
Enoch Dumbutshena was a distinguished Zimbabwean judge known for defending the independence of that country's judicial branch. He became Zimbabwe's first black judge in 1980 and served as Chief Justice from 1984 to 1990. Dumbutshena's decisions were often highly critical of President Robert Mugabe...
, Zimbabwe's first black Chief Justice. In June 1992 he drafted the Forum Party's manifesto entitled A Blueprint for Zimbabwe.
In 1994 Coltart wrote an open letter to Mugabe and the church in Zimbabwe condemning corruption, human rights abuses and the failure of justice and the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
In 1998 and 1999 Coltart sat on the Constitutional Drafting Committee of the National Constitutional Assembly and played a role in advocating successfully for the rejection of the government's draft constitution in the February 2000 referendum
Zimbabwean constitutional referendum, 2000
A constitutional referendum was held in Zimbabwe on February 12-13, 2000. The proposed new Constitution of Zimbabwe, which had been drafted by a Constitutional Convention the previous year, was defeated. The defeat was unexpected and was taken as a personal rebuff for President Robert Mugabe and a...
.
In 1999 Coltart was asked to join the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) by trade union leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is the President of the Movement for Democratic Change - Tsvangirai and a key figure in the opposition to President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe on 11 February 2009...
who appointed him interim Legal Secretary for the party. In January 2000, at the inaugural congress of the MDC, Coltart was elected Secretary for Legal Affairs. This position gave him the responsibility of formulating the MDC justice policy, of conducting the MDC's electoral court challenges and of organising the legal defence of MDC members who had been detained and prosecuted, including Morgan Tsvangirai's treason trial.
Coltart was one of the founders and directors of Capital Radio, an independent radio station that started broadcasting on 28 September 2000 from a Hotel in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, following a Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Zimbabwe
The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe is the highest court of order and the final court of appeal in Zimbabwe.The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who, like the other justices, is appointed by the President on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission. The court consists of...
ruling that nullified the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation's
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation is the state-controlled broadcaster in Zimbabwe. It succeeded the Voice of Zimbabwe Rhodesia in 1980, which in turn had succeeded the Rhodesian Broadcasting Corporation in 1979...
monopoly. On the evening of 4 October, Coltart's house was raided by eleven armed police looking for equipment that was allegedly in contravention of the Radio Communications Act. The police failed to produce a valid search warrant, but nevertheless conducted the search and found nothing. The houses of other directors were also searched and equipment was seized from the Radio's broadcasting premises.
Member of Parliament
Coltart was elected to the House of AssemblyHouse of Assembly of Zimbabwe
The House of Assembly of Zimbabwe is the lower chamber of the country's bicameral Parliament. It was the unicameral legislative body from 1989 until late November 2005, when the Senate was re-introduced....
in the 2000 election as a member of the Movement for Democratic Change, unseating the ZANU-PF incumbent and becoming the MP for Bulawayo South. During his first term in Parliament he was the Shadow Justice Minister and chaired the Parliamentary Justice Committee. He was re-elected in the March 2005 general election, winning his seat with a 76% majority against a ZANU-PF cabinet minister.
During the June 2000 election one of Coltart's polling agents, Patrick Nabanyama, was abducted in front of his family and has not been seen since. Six war veterans
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association is a Zimbabwean organization ostensibly made up of veterans of the 1970s bush war against the government of Ian Smith. In 2005, the government looked into ways to make members of the organization part of the army of Zimbabwe.- History :The...
were arrested but later pardoned. One of those arrested, Cain Nkala, was subsequently murdered in November 2001. ZANU PF accused Coltart of involvement and imprisoned his former campaign manager for five weeks before dropping charges. Nkala’s death has since been blamed on his own party, ZANU PF, following suggestions that he was about to publicise what happened to Nabanyama, although this has not been proved either.
During this time, Coltart's family were reported to have evacuated to South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
but this was refuted when his wife, Jennifer, went to the offices of The Chronicle with their two month old daughter to prove they had remained in the country.
Coltart was again linked to Nkala's death in ZANU PF's 2002 presidential election campaign, which also emphasised his former role in the BSAP and falsely accused him of being a former member of the Rhodesian Selous Scouts
Selous Scouts
The Selous Scouts was a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army, which operated from 1973 until the introduction of majority rule in 1980. It was named after British explorer Frederick Courteney Selous , and their motto was pamwe chete, which, in the Shona language, roughly means "all...
. Mugabe accused him of being an instrument of the British and announced in September 2002 that such people, "like Bennett and Coltart, are not part of our society. They belong to Britain and let them go there... If they want to live here, we will say 'stay', but your place is in prison and nowhere else."
Coltart was the subject of much harassment in the early 2000s. He received numerous death threats, and was arrested and briefly detained in February 2002 for allegedly discharging a firearm in a public place. Charges were eventually withdrawn in June 2003. In March 2003, Coltart, with his two youngest children (then aged 9 and 6 months), drove out of the family home and were followed at speed by three armed men around their neighbourhood until the pursuers were intercepted by Coltart's security team and Coltart and his children were secured in a safe house.
As MP for Bulawayo South, Coltart established the Bulawayo South Development Trust to assist poorer communities in his constituency. The Trust's remit was extended to cover the Khumalo constituency when Coltart was elected Senator for Khumalo in March 2008. The Trust has developed self-sustaining farming projects, given assistance to individuals suffering from HIV/AIDS and funded other individuals facing various difficult circumstances.
In 2003, Coltart met with the Zimbabwean cricketers Andy Flower
Andy Flower
Andrew "Andy" Flower OBE is a former international cricketer for Zimbabwe and is currently the England coach.-Playing career:...
and Henry Olonga
Henry Olonga
Henry Khaaba Olonga is a former Zambian-born cricketer for Zimbabwe.- Cricket career :He made his international debut in a Test match against Pakistan at Harare in 1995, at age 18 years, 212 days, becoming the youngest player to represent Zimbabwe. He helped Zimbabwe to its first ever Test victory...
to discuss their plans for making a protest against the Mugabe regime at the forthcoming World Cup
2003 Cricket World Cup
-Group stage tables and results:The top three teams from each pool qualify for the next stage, carrying forward the points already scored against fellow qualifiers, plus a quarter of the points scored against the teams that failed to qualify.-Pool A:...
, and came up with the idea of the two cricketers wearing black armbands during the match, signifying the death of democracy in Zimbabwe. He also assisted them draft their protest statement.
MDC split
When the Movement for Democratic Change split in October 2005 Coltart was the only member of the National Executive of the party not to take sides in an effort to reconcile the two factions which emerged after the split. He eventually joined the smaller Mutambara faction (MDC-M), stating the Tsvangirai faction's (MDC-T) unwillingness to confront violence within the party as the prevailing factor in his decision.Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture
In the March 2008 Senate electionZimbabwean parliamentary election, 2008
A parliamentary election was held in Zimbabwe on March 29, 2008 to elect members to both the House of Assembly and the Senate of the Zimbabwean parliament...
, Coltart won the seat of Khumalo, standing for the Mutambara faction of the MDC; he received 8,021 votes against 6,077 for Joubert Mangena of the Tsvangirai faction. When the ZANU-PF–MDC Government of National Unity
Zimbabwe Government of National Unity of 2009
The Government of National Unity refers to Zimbabwe's coalition government that was formed on 13 February 2009 following the inaugurations of Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Thokozani Khuphe and Arthur Mutambara as Deputy Prime Ministers...
was sworn in on February 13, 2009, Coltart became Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture. In May he was appointed in addition to the position of Co-chair of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform.
As Minister for Education, Coltart brought an end to the ongoing teacher strikes, enabling schools to re-open in 2009. He has raised teacher salaries, although they remain significantly lower than the figure demanded by the unions. He has not abolished the controversial 'teacher incentives' that school pupils are expected to pay in many schools to supplement teachers' incomes. In 2010 Coltart secured funding via UNICEF to provide all school children with textbooks in certain core subjects. He has also set in motion a curriculum review, the first since the 1980s, and is planning to establish Academies of Excellence in each province
Provinces of Zimbabwe
|Zimbabwe is divided into 8 provinces and 2 cities with provincial status:-See also:*Districts of Zimbabwe*Municipalities of Zimbabwe*List of provincial governors of Zimbabwe*ISO 3166-2:ZW-External links:*...
, with full scholarships available for talented disadvantaged children.
In his role as Sports Minister, Coltart was instrumental in Zimbabwe's re-entry into Test cricket
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
in August 2011, their first Test in six years. Coltart was also influential in the refurbishment of Bulawayo's Khumalo Hockey Stadium, enabling it to host the African Olympic Hockey Qualifiers in September 2011 in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.
Other views
Coltart is against the death penalty, currently legal in Zimbabwe, and is anti-abortion. Since the formation of the inclusive government in February 2009, Coltart has repeatedly argued against the use of sanctionsInternational sanctions
International sanctions are actions taken by countries against others for political reasons, either unilaterally or multilaterally.There are several types of sanctions....
in Zimbabwe, claiming that they are ineffective and that the international community should support the transitional government as Zimbabwe's only viable non-violent route towards a more democratic society. Coltart is opposed to the use of violence as a solution to the problems facing Zimbabwe, believing that political transition must occur gradually through democratic means. He has also criticised the West for high levels of military spending in relation to the development assistance they give. Coltart is a proponent of nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
and is a World Council member of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament is a global network of over 700 parliamentarians from more than 75 countries working to prevent nuclear proliferation. Membership is open to current members of legislatures and parliaments at state, federal, national and regional levels...
(PNND). Although himself a committed Christian, Coltart believes that there should by a clear separation between church and state
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
and that the church as a body should not support a particular political party.
Electoral history
See also
- ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
- Zimbabwe House of Assembly
- BulawayoBulawayoBulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
- Bulawayo SouthBulawayo SouthBulawayo South is a parliamentary constituency of the Zimbabwean House of Assembly located in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. The current member of the House of Assembly for Bulawayo South is Eddie Cross, a member of the Movement for Democratic Change...
- Whites in ZimbabweWhites in ZimbabweWhite Zimbabweans are people from the southern African country Zimbabwe who identify themselves as white...
External links
- Parliament of Zimbabwe
- Official website
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/hardtalk/8837935.stmDavid Coltart on HARDtalkHARDtalkHardtalk is a flagship BBC television programme, consisting of in-depth half-hour one-on-one interviews.It is broadcast four days a week on BBC World News and the BBC News channel. Launched in 1997, much of its worldwide fame is due to its global reach via BBC World...
], discussing Zimbabwe's unity government with Stephen SackurStephen SackurStephen John Sackur is a BBC journalist who presents HARDtalk, a current affairs interview programme on BBC World News and BBC News 24. He is also the main Friday presenter of GMT on BBC World News...
, British Broadcasting Corporation, July 20, 2010 - Personality Profile - David Coltart