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The arrest of opposition former minister and MP Jameson Timba, a prominent figure in Zimbabwe politics, signals a renewed crackdown on political dissent in the country. The government, led by the ruling Zanu PF, has been accused of authoritarian political repression, arrests and detentions, abductions, torture, beatings and killings in recent months, as well as persistent trampling on political and civil liberties. Opposition CCC members have been arrested, abducted and some killed in recent months. Zanu PF has a long record of violence, brutality and murder. The international community has always condemned the crackdowns, with calls for the government to respect human rights, democratic principles, and the rule of law. The situation remains polarised amid fears of further repression and violence if the opposition tries to protest or express its simmering discontent in public. Agency Gumbo, opposition CCC Hatcliffe MP and lawyer, explains the situation following the arrest of Timba and 78 others for a private youth meeting held at his house in Harare on 16 June - Youth Day - originally commemorated in South Africa to remember the 1976 Soweto Uprising. The Soweto Uprising was triggered by John Vorster's apartheid government's decision to use Afrikaans as a language of instruction in black schools. It changed the course of history, hence it is commemorated in different countries. Gumbo says the reaction of the police with needless violence and brutality is typical of the Zanu PF regime, dating back to the late former president Robert Mugabe's era. The repression has hallmarks of the colonial Rhodesian system.