On one hand, ZANU PF spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa has said the party takes exception to the utterances that have been attributed to Ace Magashule, the Secretary-General of the ANC where he appears hoodwinked by those seeking to destabilize Zimbabwe through peddling social media falsehoods while another section has written to regional revolutionary parties calling for the removal of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
“As revolutionary sisters, it has never been in our tradition to censure a fellow revolutionary movement or Leaders using megaphone approaches, more so when such utterances are misinformed and baseless, to say the least. Different countries have employed different measures and tactics to enforce #Covid19 imposed lock-downs on a non-compliant public.
“We have seen on social media South African soldiers beating up people ruthlessly using feasts and sjamboks while in some regrettable circumstances, we have seen them spraying rubber bullets on their citizens resulting in serious injuries and deaths, to the extent that it has been reported members of the SANDF killed 8 non-compliant citizens in the streets but we have not uttered a word in public despite President Mnangagwa being the Chair of the Sadc Troika the security organ of the regional body,” read a part of the letter written by Chinamasa.
The letter says ZANU (PF) members have watched Marikana killings that are unprecedented since the turn of the millennium by Government forces but have sought to respect South Africa’s right to deal with their own matters internally.
“We however are taken aback by these latest irresponsible utterances by Cde Magashule, who by all means should have sought clarifications from his counter-part Dr. Obert Mpofu, the Secretary of Admin for ZANU-PF. Honestly, for the ANC or Magashule to rely on a fortune-seeking organisation like Tajamuka or faceless social media posts is disturbing as it is shocking. We have seen our people suffering from xenophobic attacks with some ANC leaders spreading hostile messages that are xenophobic but we have sought to address that diplomatically. We deserve respect for once!” Chinamasa complained.
ZANU (PF) members under the banner, “Save the party” initiative have written a letter to former liberation movements requesting them to intervene in the internal matters of the party.
The letter was sent to the African National Congress (South Africa), Patriotic Front (Zambia), SWAPO (Namibia), Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Tanzania) and the MPLA and FRELIMO of Mozambique.
The matters highlighted in the letter signed by Chrispen Utete who is based in South Africa include the following:
- President Mnangagwa’s alleged adoption of neo-liberal policies and a departure from the revolutionary ethos of the party
- Increased use of the state security apparatus to silence dissenting voices in the party and outside the party
- The brazen corruption allegedly involving the First Family and the subsequent abduction and arrest of journalists covering the matter
- The systematic flouting of the party’s constitution and crippling of the party allegedly by President Mnangagwa through the dissolution of provincial structures who are alleged not to favour him and replacing them with unelected officials
- The alleged witch hunting and expulsion of party officials
The “Save the Party” initiative seeks the guidance of liberation movements to persuade President Mnangagwa to lead the party towards an extraordinary congress to pave way for a revolutionary leadership to relocate the party back to its revolutionary path of unity, peace and development.
