DA to Announce Steps to Resolve Zimbabwe Crisis in Face of Ramaphosa’s “Failure”
Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will tomorrow announce a set of immediate interventions the DA will pursue in order, it says, to resolve the current crisis occurring in Zimbabwe… because, they say, so far South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government have failed to show leadership and intervene in what has now become […]
Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, will tomorrow announce a set of immediate interventions the DA will pursue in order, it says, to resolve the current crisis occurring in Zimbabwe… because, they say, so far South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa and his government have failed to show leadership and intervene in what has now become a humanitarian crisis.
Protests erupted in Zimbabwe mid-January following a hike in fuel prices and lasted for several days.
Security forces dispersed demonstrations by force and cracked down on activists, leading to fears that President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government is reverting to the strong-arm politics seen during Mugabe’s 37-year rule.
Amnesty International said children as young as 11 had been detained along with hundreds of others, and called for the authorities to “immediately stop this merciless crackdown” on people who are “guilty of nothing more than exercising their right to freedom of expression”.
So far President Ramaphosa’s reaction has been met with major disappointment and criticism by many quarters. In one video that’s gone viral a Zimbabwean woman accuses Ramaphosa of behaving like a “Zanu-PF puppet” for talking of a no-strings-attached bail-out and a lift on sanctions whilst ignoring the corruption. (Watch below.)
The DA maintain that the President is “mistaken to focus solely on the economic situation in Zimbabwe, whilst turning a blind eye to the dictator-like military clampdown on citizens which has to date claimed the lives of at least 12 people.”
The Zimbabwean government claims the unrest that broke out in mid-January was triggered by a video posted by activist pastor Evan Mawarire, who has been detained following the anti-government protests.
Zimbabwe‘s independent Human Rights Commission has accused security forces of systematic torture. The opposition says soldiers are apparently able to shoot and kill without being held accountable. An official inquiry said the army shot civilians to quell post-election violence last August.
Mnangagwa, who replaced Mugabe after a de facto coup in November 2017, promised this week to investigate security services’ actions against protesters, according to a Reuters report.
In a heartbreaking post from Zimbabwe yesterday, Bulawayo mom Shereen Thompson said: “Our tiny nation in Southern Africa is broken. Insidious fear has crept into every nook & cranny… The jails are full of ‘political prisoners’… Some prisoners are mere children.”
Thompson revealed the “absolute terror” one woman she spoke to had endured as “men broke into her house at night. She was beaten on her back. The men demanded to know where her children were. Accusing her all the time of hiding her kids from them…”
Today the DA said: “It is vital that stability is restored in Zimbabwe and in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.”
The DA is set to announce its steps to resolve the situation tomorrow at 11am in Johannesburg.
Tonight on Carte Blanche, Derek Watts unpacks the protests in Zimbabwe and asks “what’s happened to the promises made by Emmerson Mnangagwa?” If you’re overseas: you can stream the show from Tuesday evening by subscribing to Showmax International. (FREE for 14-Day Trial).
(Written by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Jenni Baxter, Editing by James Macharia, Robin Pomeroy and Jenni Baxter)
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WATCH Reaction to Ramaphosa’s interview about bail-out package for Zimbabwe, and call to lift sanctions
Ladies and Gentleman, I don’t have South Africa President twitter account, may someone help send this video to him @ProfJNMoyo @DebraWakanaka pic.twitter.com/eLkbZcY52R
— Victor Karonga (@vkaronga) January 22, 2019