Ramaphosa, speaking after an ANC meeting, said the party had resolved that it must engage all stockholders. He added that South Africa felt the challenges facing its neighbour and was keen to see an end to the crisis.
The MDC welcomed the decision but Mnanagagwa’s spokesman George Charamba was dismissive, saying that South Africa over-estimated its capacity to solve conflicts on the continent.
With typical Zanu PF pretentious arrogance he said: ‘Whence comes this impression that South Africa can intervene in Zimbabwe, assuming there are grounds for such intervention? On what basis, what might, what capacity, beyond that of solidarity, camaraderie and good-natured concern by a neighbour?
‘South Africa is the youngest state in our region. It faces myriad problems of a long apartheid. It has no capacity to help any African state in SADC, beyond friendly solidarity. Let that sink into minds of all and sundry.’
Charamba suggested that South Africa could not intervene in Zimbabwe except through SADC: ‘South Africa is no donor state in SADC. If anything, its long apartheid legacy makes its post-1994 subregional role quite problematic for the rest of SADC states who know the continued dominance of Afrikaner capital in SADC does not benefit the ANC or blacks in Soweto or Khayelitsha. That is the sordid truth.
‘South Africa cannot intervene militarily in any SADC country. That lesson was driven home during the Mandela days when it sought to do so in Lesotho. Since that disastrous escapade, South African diplomacy has been tempered and restrained to function within SADC structures, as should be! Just what is the logic and implication of Zimbabweans of insufficient history and national consciousness asking for South African intervention in Zimbabwe outside SADC structures?’
Charamba claimed ‘only Zimbabwe has the capacity to play a stabilising role in SADC’ while accusing South Africa of allowing itself to be ‘instrumentalised’ by Western powers against Zimbabwe. (See: https://bulawayo24.com/index-id-news-sc-national-byo-191365.html.)
The insulting language employed by such Zanu PF extremists as Charamba is characteristic of deranged cults as they approach Armageddon, displaying what psychiatrists might categorise as Tourette’s syndrome, when people say offensive things because they just can’t help it.
In last week’s diary we reported Zanu PF’s paranoid attack on senior South African official Lindiwe Zulu for saying there is a crisis in Zimbabwe. We refrained from mentioning that she was called ‘a stupid and idiotic street girl’ . . .
Recently the Ambassador of Zimbabwe’s most generous aid provider, the United States, was called an ‘Uncle Tom’ (meaning a black person who sides with the whites) for speaking of a crisis in Zimbabwe. Then there were the gratuitous insults levelled at the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Harare Robert Ndlovu. He was basically called an evil traitor for criticising the government’s handling of the situation. And of course human rights activists in Zimbabwe are routinely reviled as ‘foreign agents’ and accused of inciting violence . . .
Other Points:
- Zanu PF is scornful of other Africans, dislikes whites but loves the Chinese, even though they are notoriously racist towards black people, who they regard as less than human. Despite bitter clashes with their Zimbabwean workers, the Chinese are being given a free run in Zimbabwe and have now begun a exploring for coal in the protected Hwange National Park. One of the leading wildlife conservation organisations, Bhejane Trust, said Zimparks rangers arrested some Chinese they found drilling. They delivered them to the police but they soon reappeared with a permit giving them the right to carry out exploration drilling. Apparently with no consultations, President Mnangagwa had granted special concessions to two Chinese companies (see: https://allafrica.com/stories/202009030350.html).
- Because of the coronavirus we can no longer physically meet outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London, so we have a virtual Vigil while the lockdown continues. We ask our activists to put on Vigil / ROHR / Zimbabwe regalia and take a photo of themselves holding an appropriate poster reflecting our protest against human rights abuses in Zimbabwe. The photos are uploaded on our Flickr site: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/albums/72157715776546702.
- For Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website.
Notices:
- The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s partner organization based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil to have an organization on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents us.
- The Vigil’s book ‘Zimbabwe Emergency’ is based on our weekly diaries. It records how events in Zimbabwe have unfolded as seen by the diaspora in the UK. It chronicles the economic disintegration, violence, growing oppression and political manoeuvring – and the tragic human cost involved. It is available at the Vigil. All proceeds go to the Vigil and our sister organisation the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe’s work in Zimbabwe. The book is also available from Amazon.
- Facebook pages:
Vigil: https://www.facebook.com/zimbabwevigil
ROHR: https://www.facebook.com/Restoration-of-Human-Rights-ROHR-Zimbabwe-International-370825706588551/
ZAF: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zimbabwe-Action-Forum-ZAF/490257051027515
Post published in: Featured