SA has power to rescue Zim

A Zimbabwean political expert has made it clear that Zimbabwe-an people looked up to South Africa to rescue them from the grip of governing Zanu-PF oppression because it can use its economic power to push for change. Political analyst Dr Ibbo Man-daza said South Africa should do more to push Zimbabwe to respect human rights and tolerate free political activities in the same way that South Africa did.

Had South Africa used its muscle as an economic power to confront the Zimbabwean authorities, there would have been changed for the better in the neighbouring country. According to Mandaza, a critic of the Zanu-PF and the Harare government, South Africa enjoyed the largest economic slice in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and was better placed to deal with the Zimbabwean situation.

“If South Africa had the cour-age during the 2017 coup in Zimbabwe and confronted it and dealt with it as such, we would have had a different picture in Zimbabwe now,” Mandaza said. Speaking at a virtual debate on the topic Post-colonial Zimbabwean Experience – Lessons for the ANC, organised by the OR Tambo School of Leadership, Mandaza said the legacy of violence in Zimbabwe began after independence in 1980, and most of the violence in the country was state-sponsored.

He said the violence was accompanied by the use of brute force witch-hunting against citizens or opponents.

There had been a long history of militarisation characterised by the dominance of the army in the country’s politics “The history of military dominance creeped in post-independence in Zimbabwe and there is a dominance of society and politics by the military,” Mandaza said.

He said South Africa could play a role as a dominant economic power in the region to make Zimbabwe change. The expert cited the fact that the balance of trade between Zimbabwe and South Africa was $2 billion (about R34 billion) in favour of South Africa – and Zimbabwean unemployment was at 95%, with at least four million Zimbabweans living in South Africa. “There are more Zimbabweans working in South Africa than they worked in their own country,” said Mandaza.

A total of 75% of Zimbabwe-an professionals worked outside the country and mainly in South Africa. SA’s mediation must ensure that Zanu-PF engaged other parties in Zimbabwe. He expressed doubt about the role of the ANC is trying to resolve the situation there because the ANC alone could not help the situation in the country.

He said the way South Africa was able to tolerate other parties or the opposition was some-thing Zimbabweans could learn from- and he commended the work done by individuals such as former public protector Thuli Madonsela to stand for human rights.

He echoed the ANC stalwart and former minister of communications Pallo Jordan, who said the liberation movement, both in South Africa and Zimbabwe, had become problematic. Mandaza said the liberation movement had failed people in Zimbabwe. The Zanu-PF was heavily tainted as a party and was an appendage of the military.

“Whatever life of the Zanu-PF or the state, which is declining, More Zimbabweans working in SA than in Zimbabwethey must engage other parties. He said it was time for the liberation movements in the two countries to close shop.“The liberation movements have to either reform or pack up and go. It is naïve to think that Zanu-PF could turn around the Zimbabwean fortunes; it is naïve to think that the ANC alone can resolve the problems of Zimbabwe,” Mandaza said.

The analyst lambasted the brotherhood role played by the SADC because it ignored violations by member states like Zimbabwe. He believes the SADC’s strength diminished after the death of apartheid because the system kept them going as a regional body. “Apartheid was a huge factor on the SADC agenda,” he said. – ericn@citizen.co.za

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