Paul Nyathi|In 2002, journalist and activist Basildon Peta fled Zimbabwe, his country of birth, due to fears for his safety.

In 2010, he wrote the following about his return to his homeland after nine years.

I had been branded a “sell-out”, and an enemy of the state for my reports in the foreign media on how the ruling party and its supporters waged their land war against white farmers and then tortured and murdered hundreds of black opposition supporters. The decision to leave my homeland permanently came after I was told I was a dead man walking and after the arrival of an A4 brown envelope filled with live ammunition and containing chilling words in red telling me I was marked for death.

On Monday Peta joined South African Talk Radio 702 anchor Eusebius McKaiser to talk about being a journalist under Mugabe’s regime and the real human toll of his legacy of power.

You can listen to the full conversation below.

I still just want to be home. I still just want to be with my elderly parents. But unfortunately, the country has nothing to offer me.— 

Basildon Peta, Journalist and activist

On being in exile, Peta says it is “not an exciting place to be”.

You are in some far-fetched foreign lands which you are temporarily calling home for various reasons.— 

Basildon Peta, Journalist and activist

Listen to the full interview below:

Source: Talk Radio 702