By A Correspondent- The much-hyped anti-sanctions march was a huge failure if the number of people who took part is to be used as the yardstick.

People in Mashonaland Central province were reportedly threatened with sanctions if they did not board free buses to travel to Harare for the march. A Mvurwi resident who spoke to a local publication had this to say:

We were 32 passengers on the bus from Mvurwi, but the second bus only had seven people on board.

We were being threatened with being denied inputs for this year’s agricultural season if we failed to come to Harare for the anti-sanctions march.

The 25th of October was set aside by regional organisation, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to collectively call for the removal of economic restrictions imposed on several Zimbabwean government officials and entities by Western powers.

In Beitbridge, about 1 000 members of South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) gathered in Beitbridge for a solidarity rally.

-Newsday