Zimbabwean journalist Witness Runodada has shared this heartbreaking video showing the destruction of parts of the National Sports Stadium, Zimbabwe’s only stadium currently approved to host international football matches. For more than seven years, Zimbabwe could not play its home matches on home soil. We were forced to travel to South Africa, Rwanda and other countries to host matches that should have been played in Zimbabwe. The government eventually renovated the National Sports Stadium, giving the country back a place where our national team could play before its own people. Yet, after only four matches, look at what has happened. Mirrors installed in the stadium’s bathrooms have been smashed. Facilities provided for public use have been deliberately destroyed. Some people have even asked why mirrors were installed in the first place, as though providing basic dignity and convenience to citizens is somehow a mistake. That is how deeply the culture of destruction has entered our society. I am going to be blunt. When people destroy public property without provocation, they are revealing something about their mindset. This stadium belongs to the public. It was renovated with taxpayers’ money. When citizens destroy it, they are not punishing the government. They are destroying their own property and stealing from their own communities. This is precisely the kind of behaviour that causes other societies to question whether we are capable of living responsibly alongside them. South Africans often accuse Zimbabweans of damaging public property and infrastructure. How do we convincingly reject that accusation when we are destroying facilities in our own country, in our own neighbourhoods, and in the only stadium currently available to host international football? For years, we criticised the government for forcing Zimbabwe to play its home matches abroad. The government eventually addressed that problem. The stadium was repaired, and international football returned to Harare. But what did some of our own people do? They entered the stadium and vandalised it after only four matches. We also witnessed disgraceful behaviour during the recent match against the Democratic Republic of Congo. Supporters invaded the pitch, behaved irresponsibly and treated a national facility as though it belonged to nobody. This is civic destruction. And then, when the government fails to maintain public infrastructure, the same people complain. When public facilities deteriorate, they blame politicians. But how can any country develop when citizens destroy what has been built for them? Government accountability matters, but citizens also have a duty to protect public property. This is why the argument that Zimbabwe’s problems will disappear simply because ZANUPF is removed from power is incomplete. Changing a government is necessary, but it is not sufficient. We also have to change the mindset that allows people to destroy public property, steal public resources and defend behaviour that should embarrass us. ZANUPF is, in many ways, a reflection of the society it governs. It reflects the corruption, impunity, disrespect for institutions and absence of accountability that have become normalised in Zimbabwe. It means that political change must be accompanied by social and moral renewal. We have become a people who can walk past overflowing sewage and act as though nothing is wrong. We can see public infrastructure collapsing and remain indifferent. We can destroy a facility built with our own money and then complain that nobody invests in Zimbabwe. We demand development while behaving in ways that make development impossible. The deeper tragedy is that many of us have become disconnected from our own history, our own communities and our own sense of collective responsibility. We have been taught to respect institutions and traditions that are not our own, while failing to respect the places, people and public assets that belong to us. A society that does not understand its roots, its responsibilities or its own worth will struggle to protect anything. If the people who smashed those mirrors had installed them in their own homes, they would not have destroyed them. They behaved that way because they believe public property belongs to nobody. That is the ignorance we must confront and cure. We must teach our children that public property is not government property. It belongs to them. The stadium belongs to them. The hospitals, schools, roads, libraries and public toilets belong to them. Destroying these things is not an act of rebellion. It is an act of self-harm. The most disturbing part is that some people will defend this behaviour. They will invent excuses, blame the government or accuse anyone who condemns the vandalism of being anti-Zimbabwe. But anyone who defends destruction is proving the very point being made, that we have a serious mindset problem. This is also why foreign companies and foreign powers often treat African countries as though our institutions are available for exploitation. They see societies that do not protect their own resources, demand accountability or respect their own public assets. When we fail to value ourselves, others will take advantage of us. What kind of example are we setting for our children? What are they expected to learn when they watch adults destroy the very facilities built for their future? How can we expect the next generation to be disciplined, responsible and patriotic when adults treat public property with contempt? As Zimbabweans, we need to pause and look at ourselves honestly. We must stop blaming everything on politicians while refusing to examine our own conduct. Even among Zimbabweans living in Britain, South Africa and elsewhere, there are people who now hesitate to associate themselves with anything Zimbabwean because of the embarrassing behaviour of a minority of our citizens. That is not a future we should accept. Dr. Nkosana Moyo was correct when he said that changing the government in Zimbabwe would not be enough. Zimbabweans must also change the way they think, the way they behave and the way they understand their responsibility to one another. A country cannot be rebuilt by citizens who destroy everything placed in front of them. Zimbabwe needs political reform, but it also needs civic education, consequences for vandalism, respect for public institutions and a complete moral renewal. The National Sports Stadium should have been a symbol of national restoration. Instead, within weeks, it has become a painful reminder that rebuilding a country is not only about repairing buildings. It is about repairing the conscience of the people who use them.