ZIMBABWE is slowly but surely edging towards becoming a ‘South Africa’ in terms of crime. There is an evident wave of robbery and murder crimes sweeping across the country.

The courts have been filled with multiple cases of robbery. Further, there is a reported surge in gun­related crimes in the past few months as confirmed by the Zimbabwe Republic Police.

Last Monday evening, a dangerous gang of armed men with deadly weapons was busted in Harare’s Waterfalls area. They confessed to having killed and maimed for money.

The free­ speaking outlaws blamed the need to live for their heinous actions. Just two weeks back another dangerous gang of armed robbers also owned up to killing four people in the Ruwa area after it was smashed when they appeared in court recently.

The gang comprised men and, quite strangely, women.

The story is scarcely different in Bulawayo where residents are now under a ‘curfew’ because of increasing crime.

Crime is simply on the rise.

Against this backcloth, followers of preacher, Emmanuel Makandiwa, have alleged that their leader had prophesied of these things way back.

Makandiwa, sometime back indicated that he had seen the country needing to build bigger institutions of prisons because jails would ‘fill up’.

He highlighted that God had shown him many people committing crime and being arrested. This was prophecy according to him.

Now, that the new breed of prophets is intensely fighting for recognition and space is apparent.

Another supposed pastor or prophet, Paul Sanyangore’s infamous call to God may be the clearest indicator that these men and women will stop at nothing in their bid to win people’s pockets and delude true worship.

However, I will not delve much into this hallucination by a made ­up pastor seeking to draw the attention of the world.

Instead, this week I will focus on Zimbabwe’s emerging crime rate and the alleged prophecy by Emmanuel Makandiwa.

Going back in time, many will remember how another popular preacher, Walter Magaya, ‘prophesied’ chaos and violence in the country and southern Africa in general.

Mind you, Magaya’s prophecy was made at the height of Pastor Evan Mawarire’s popular protests that saw similar subsequent protests erupting across the country.

Placards were waved, street signs destroyed and shops burnt at the time. Magaya then made the ‘prophecy’ to a rapturous audience then.

However, there is a common factor in both ‘prophecies’ by the popular clergymen.

These prophets are never known for predicting things ahead of time; they rather state the obvious.

The much acclaimed ‘prophecies’ are merely statements of the obvious. They speak like political or social analysts.

Political analysts comment on topical matters and the same is apparently true of the prophets.

Makandiwa’s ‘prophecy’ on the country requiring bigger prisons is a mere statement of what is known in every civilization.

It is a sociological fact, long established in the 18th century by researchers that whenever there is high unemployment in a country, crime will proportionally increase.

Sociology studies state that where there is an economic boon, crime rates naturally decrease. One does not need to be an Immanuel Kant or an Albert Einstein to realise the truth of it.

Independent economists put Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate at 88%. That effectively means about 800,000 people have jobs in a country with 14 million people.

The rest are having to vend for survival. It is clear that the rise in crime and prostitution is attributable to the economic paralysis and a failed system of governance currently presiding in Zimbabwe.

It is not and has nothing to do with prophecy. A sinful researcher poring over sociology textbooks would have made the same utterances.

There is no prophecy at all in crime increasing in a country like Zimbabwe. It is obviously asking too much for followers of these prophets to see the truth for what it is.

It would appear these followers would take it as prophecy if their prophet where to ‘prophesy’ that the sun will rise tomorrow.

These people have lost their power to use discretion. Coming to Magaya’s prophecy in which he predicted chaos in southern Africa, one wonders what has happened to the chaos now.

These prophecies, like I highlighted, always top at a time when something analogous is happening.

The prophets cannot make a radical prediction of something beyond the scope of happenings of the current time.

One person, in jest, indicate that it is surprising that despite all the prophets in Zimbabwe, none had seen the bond notes taking over from the American currency.

It may have been said in jest, but in it lies a profound truth. If these men were not dabbling in guess­work they would talk of things ahead of time and things beyond the comprehension of the present.

If Magaya’s prophecy had been true, southern Africa, by now, would have been representing a war zone.

Such prophecies are never followed up on. It is quite sad seeing as it is that these supposed men of cloth manipulate the gullible and tinker with their minds.

It is actually something akin to a sin for the followers to ask of ‘botched’ prophecy from these demi­gods called prophets.

The laity must wake up and realize that these popular men are stating the obvious. Real prophecy is made of sterner stuff.