Ramaphosa defends congratulatory message to Zimbabwe president Mnangagwa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has explained that his congratulatory message to Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa for his re-election was a response to the declaration by the country’s electoral commission.

Ramaphosa was responding to media questions at Maponya Mall, he held a dialogue with boys and young men on preventing and combatting gender-based violence on Tuesday.

Zimbabweans voted on Wednesday and Thursday for a president and new parliament, in polling marred by delays that sparked opposition accusations of rigging and voter suppression.

I congratulate President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his re-election. I wish him and the people of Zimbabwe well for the upcoming term.

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 28, 2023

Mnangagwa, 80, won a second term with 52.6% of the ballots against 44% for his main challenger, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa, 45, according to official results announced late Saturday by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).

The CCC refused to ratify the results, asserting that they were “false”.

Foreign monitors also announced on Friday that the elections had failed to conform to regional and international standards.

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Observer missions from the European Union, the Commonwealth and the 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) listed a number of concerns, including banning opposition rallies, issues with the voter registration rolls, biased state media coverage and voter intimidation.

Zimbabwe’s ‘harmonised elections’

Ramaphosa was criticised after releasing a statement on Monday evening congratulating the Zimbabwean government for organising and holding “harmonised elections”.

“South Africa is conscious that these elections took place under a difficult economic environment due to the burdening sanctions which the people of Zimbabwe continue to unjustly endure,” said the Presidency.

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Although South Africa was aware of the preliminary pronouncements by the invited International Observers Missions, including the African Union (AU) and the South African Development Community (SEOM) Observer Missions, Ramaphosa called on political parties in Zimbabwe to work together to sustain peace “and work towards development and shared prosperity in the country”.

‘Let’s wait’

Defending his congratulatory message on Tuesday, Ramaphosa called on his critics to wait until everything has been finalised before writing off the election results.

“The SADC body has issued a preliminary report. They will still sit down with many other observers and analyse everything. So, let’s wait until all that comes out, but the Electoral Commission in Zimbabwe has made a declaration, and on that basis, we have issued our congratulatory message,” said Ramaphosa.

“So, the rest of the things still need to be processed, and everybody, including the government of Zimbabwe, accepts that. So let’s wait until everything is well-processed.

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“Elections are processes that are always either accepted or disputed. When they’re disputed, there are always channels in every country to challenge the outcomes of the elections, and we always want that to be done on a peaceful basis.”

He further condemned the reported violence against opposition members in the country.

“Violence is one of those reactions that we abhor and want to avoid, and the secretary-general of the United Nations has made the same call, and so do we, that violence must be avoided at all costs,” he said.

Additional reporting by AFP