Contrary to many expectations, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe didn't hand in a resignation yesterday.

Resignation or not, they are very interesting times for not only those in Zimbabwe, but aboad as well.

Collin Nyabadza is from Zimbabwe and lives in Swift Current. He has a charity organization that helps kids education back in Zimbabwe.

He said 37 years under Mugabe has been painful, and that the recent instability in the political environment makes it hard to get support for his organization.

Nyabadza is hoping for an end to Mugabe's autocratic rule, and yesterday when Mugabe was expected by many to announce his resignation, Nyabadza said "it's been a painful 37 years with that tyrant."

While pressure increases in opposition to Mugabe, things have been relatively peaceful.

Ian Spears teaches African politcs at the University of Guelph in Ontario and said having the head of state removed can cause things to collapse.

Spears said in a country where institutions aren't strong, there are two ways to keep the country together - coercion and patronage.

"By patronage I mean that you pay people off, you give them perquisites of power or give them resources. Sometimes it's just one person that has the ability to do that... In African politics, they call it the 'Big Man,'" said Spears.

Spears used some examples, including the Ivory Coast after then-President Félix Houphouët-Boigny left office, to show that when that 'Big Man' is out of power, things can come unglued.

"He or she is the one that can distribute resources. And when that person is gone for whatever reason, things can fall apart. I'm thinking about Somalia, Ivory Coast, Congo - what was then Zaire - when the leader in each of those countries has gone, there can be violence and there can be civil war. A lot of it is going to depend on how successful the next leadership is at, to be frank, keeping things as they were, keeping things glued together."

Nyabadza is more optimistic.

"The only good thing is that Zimbabweans are very tolerant people, even though it has cost us big time," he said. "I therefore don't think we will go the same road as Zaire, Ivory Coast, Somalia and others. It would be catastrophic."

Nyabadza said that Mugabe remains in power because of the patience and tolerance of the Zimbabweans.

Both Spears and Nyabadza expect Emmerson Mnangagwa - a former vice president in Zimbabwe - to take over, but Nyabadza called him a "better devil" than Mugabe.