Johannesburg - Political parties in South Africa have reacted strongly against the Zimbabwean elections that recently took place.
Zanu-PF was re-elected as President Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, won the election with 52.6% of the vote, while opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa got 44%, the election commission said on Saturday.
Action SA president Herman Mashaba said his party believes the Zimbabwean Election Commission’s declaration of Zanu-PF president, Mnangagwa, as the winner of last week’s national elections exemplifies how South Africa’s "silent diplomacy" has been an abysmal failure and has instead increased the humanitarian burden on South Africa.
Mashaba said there was no way the Zimbabwean elections can be declared free and fair, as confirmed by observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with widespread reports of voter intimidation and the cancellation of opposition rallies.
"But instead of demanding accountability from Zanu-PF, the ruling party has chosen to support the murderous regime and has even previously provided millions of dollars in bailouts to the nation.
"The ruling party has repeatedly allowed Zanu-PF to abuse the Zimbabwean people, leading to thousands of Zimbabweans crossing our borders to seek jobs, healthcare, and shelter in South Africa," said Mashaba.
Mashaba also highlighted that his party reaffirmed that South Africa’s foreign policy posture should favour human rights and encourage nations to become self-sustaining so that the nation may provide for the needs of its people.
"Our foreign policy proposals will be approved at our inaugural policy conference from September 12 to 14, 2023. We cannot allow a situation where humanitarian disasters are created because the South African government favours murderous regimes instead of demanding accountability for human rights abuses," said the ActionSA leader.
DA spokesperson on international relations and co-operation, Emma Louise Powell, questioned whether the silence of President Cyril Ramaphosa in what she called Zimbabwe’s sham elections, which saw Mnangagwa controversially "re-elected" for a second term, is a tacit endorsement of the Zanu-PF government’s electoral farce.
A preliminary report by the SADC Election Observer Mission (SADC-EOM) noted that the elections "fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections (2021). Similarly, other observer missions — from the African Union, Commonwealth, and European Union — have raised concern that the conduct of the election process could impact the credibility, transparency, and inclusivity of the process.
“With this broad condemnation of the flawed election, including a condemnation by the United Nations Secretary General, the ANC government’s silence is further hastening South Africa’s decline as a leader on the African continent and a defender of human rights and the rule of law.
"It is completely reckless for Ramaphosa and his government to outsource South Africa’s foreign policy to Luthuli House. Since the announcement of Mnangagwa’s ‘victory’, ANC SG Fikile Mbalula has been heaping praise on the flawed election and expressing solidarity with a Zanu-PF government that is yet again facing a crisis of legitimacy.
"Ramaphosa should come clean and confirm whether his government agrees with Mbalula’s position that the ANC will be a willing underwriter of the sham Zimbabwe election," she said.
The EFF said the party believed that the elections were not free and fair.
"But welcomes the fact that there was an absence of violence as an improvement, as elections in Zimbabwe are ordinarily characterised by violence," read a party statement.
Mnangagwa has told the media that those who feel the race was not run properly should know where to go.
Meanwhile, the main opposition to Zanu-PF, the CCC, said that it has initiated a comprehensive citizen review of the vote count.
"This endeavour is firmly rooted in hard evidence collected from all regions of Zimbabwe. Our grassroots movement, made up of brave volunteers, endures intimidation, harassment, and violence," read a party statement.
The Star