55 of the opposite party. Gukurahundi has left the people of Matebeleland and part of the Midlands hurting and very angry. This reflects a nation that is torn apart and this time not along racial lines but along ethnic lines. No matter how much we pretend reconciliation was achieved with the merger of ZANU PF and ZAPU in 1987, deep down the people in Matebeleland are hurting and need to know the truth about their relatives who were victims of Gukurahundi. Genuine reconciliation is possible only when the truth has been told, confession made, and forgiveness received. 7.2.4 Murambatsvina. In May 2005, and for some months thereafter, an urban clean-up operation codenamed Murambatsvina (drive out filth) took place. According to official explanations this operation was aimed at ridding our cities of filth, illegal housing and illegal businesses. These objectives are noble. However, the methods and timing of this operation have left many scars of bitterness calling for healing. The destruction of poor people's shelters and their means of livelihood before any alternatives were provided caused great suffering. Hundreds of thousands of people, including women and children found themselves with no shelter in the middle of winter and later the onset of the rain season. Some victims of this operation failed to access social services such as education, health, water and sanitary facilities. 7.2.5 State Media Last but not least, in our catalogue of causes of our current conflict situation is the media. Our state-controlled media promotes a situation of violence by narrowing space for a meaningful reconciliation process to take place, so that it has created more confusion than solutions to the process of nation building. Like the colonial media which sought to divide Africans along ethnic, party and geographical lines, the current media is perpetuating the same, regrettably, in an independent Zimbabwe. 7.3 MOTIVATION FOR RECONCILIATION Reconciliation implies that the parties concerned both move ritually and physically from previous entrenched positions of advantage, comfort and defence to positions of discomfort, vulnerability and compromise. Generally, people fear to enter into the process of reconciliation because it leaves both parties with no claim for advantage. But there are strong motives for Zimbabwe as a nation to move to a position of reconciliation.