As we were waiting for Coltart to arrive at the Quinns Baptist College in Perth, where he was to give his presentation, I chatted to a Zimbabwean dentist who has now made his home in Perth.
"David is one of those rare Zimbabweans who has no enemies. Everyone, on every side of politics, loves David Coltart.
"He can say what he wants. He can criticise the government as much as he likes. He can walk the streets of Harare without fear of being arrested by the CIO (Zimbabwe's notorious Central Intelligence Organisation).
"He helps people everywhere, without caring for their political persuasion," my new dentist friend enthused, somewhat eloquently but a little inaccurately. There are some who fear and resent Coltart's tenacity in protecting and promoting civil rights in Zimbabwe.
Never having met the man before, African Angle muscled his way to the front of the queue to get Coltart to sign a copy of his 648-page book titled ‘The Struggle Continues: 50 years of tyranny in Zimbabwe'.
We had a lot to chat about in a short space of time. We were born within months of each other, we both have an undying love for Zimbabwe, we both studied the Shona language at university and we both entered careers thorough which we, somewhat idealistically, believed we could try shape the post-colonial Rhodesia. As a human rights lawyer, Coltart has turned ideals into reality.
The conversation lasted about 90 seconds, but it felt as though I had known him all my life as his boyhood in the second largest city of Bulawayo substantially mirrored mine in the farming town of Masvingo (previously Fort Victoria).
As the subtitle of this magnificent tome of history suggests - ‘50 years of tyranny' - there are no political innocents, and certainly none are guiltless, in the process which led to the position in which Zimbabwe finds itself today.
‘The Struggle Continues' ruthlessly exposes every shortcoming in the making - or destruction - of modern Zimbabwe from the British colonisers, the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by Prime Minister Ian Smith, the 10-year-plus bush war and now the current deleterious rule of Prime Minister Robert Mugabe.
Coltart has paid his political dues. He was a founding member of unionist Morgan Tsvangarai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and served as an MP for Bulawayo South from 2000 to 2008. He became Minister for Education, Sport, Arts and Culture in Mugabe's government from 2009 to 2013.
He has been praised by Mugabe, and defamed by Mugabe, his house has been raided and some of his MDC party colleagues have either been killed or relentlessly harassed by the henchmen of the ruling ZANU PF party. Coltart has survived attempts on his life.
Chatting to the man, you would never have guessed he and his family have been through these traumas. He is endlessly cheerful, enthusiastic and upbeat about what his countrymen could achieve in this small, landlocked but resource-rich African state.
On page 600 of ‘The Struggle Continues', Coltart - a devout Christian - answers the million-dollar question on the lips of the bemused world wondering why the people of Zimbabwe have not yet disposed of Robert Mugabe.
Coltart: "Many foreigners have wondered why Zimbabweans have not long since overthrown the ZANU PF regime.
"The reason for this, I believe, because common Zimbabweans have learnt the lessons of war; having experienced two in their lifetimes, they have no desire to start another. Although politicians have threatened wars and destruction, those thoughts have never gained traction among the vast majority of Zimbabweans.
"Thank goodness Zimbabwe has no strategic interest and has avoided the devastation the world has witnessed in the last decade in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
"Through all those years of struggle, I remain more convinced than ever that only the pursuit of non-violence will result in national healing. We do not want or need the interference of the West, or, for that matter, other African states to complete our journey to a more democratic order."
Coltart concludes his book on a hopeful thought: "In the pursuit of democracy, there is never a final victory, because democracy is a process, not an event. Even countries that have had democratic constitutions for over a century experience the evolution, refinement and, on occasion, the reversal of democracy.
"Zimbabwe, as a young, emerging democracy, is no different. The struggle continues - yes, indeed it does."
