Nkosi (GM) retweetet
𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗢𝗦𝗔’𝗦 𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧 𝗔 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥 𝗠𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨𝗡𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗚𝗪𝗔’𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠 𝗜𝗡 𝗢𝗙𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗘.
In politics, actions are words, and those actions are meant to speak louder than actual words.
By Ramaphosa coming to Zimbabwe to visit President Mnangagwa on a Sunday—after a week in which South Africans were protesting vehemently against foreigners, in a country where Zimbabweans constitute 40% of immigrants, and where the Ramaphosa government did not stop the protests—a week in which the former head of the army and Vice President gave an allegory about how King Hezekiah spent the rest of his years in prison after asking God to prolong his life, and immediately there were calls for his dismissal—it is clear that the visit illustrates an urgent attempt by President Ramaphosa to mediate a dangerous rift between the Vice President and the President that could fracture Zimbabwe and destabilize the whole region.
Ramaphosa is here to say to our President: you need to fix your house by uniting and stop making reckless decisions that could destabilize the country and region by displacing more of your people into a volatile South Africa.
It is clear that Zimbabwe is on the brink of another coup because of the reckless attempts by the President and his advisors to force-change the constitution in order for the current President to halt the ascendancy of Vice President Chiwenga. But that is not being taken lying down by the thousands of men and women who fought behind Chiwenga in Mozambique, Congo, and Angola and did peacekeeping in Sudan, Somalia and Chad, despite attempts to manipulate the leadership of the army.
How do we know this is the case? We know it from history, because just before the coup against Mugabe in 2017, Thabo Mbeki came to meet and warn Mugabe’s G40 that the military was not happy with their moves, and they did not take heed.
As a result of this failure, Thabo Mbeki has lost the respect that Zimbabweans used to have for him as a mediator; this is why Ramaphosa himself, as the President of the most powerful economy in Africa, had to come to try and speak sense into his counterpart, who is on the brink of causing the biggest instability in this region since apartheid.
Some say Ramaphosa is here to ask for money for the ANC’s election campaign, but the timing is not conducive for that, especially after the Ghanaian government has been loudly opposing the protests against foreigners in South Africa.
This visit is more a sign of a crisis than a friendly meeting between two leaders. Despite the South African government allowing protests against African foreigners—sending a loud message to leaders who mismanage their countries and displace refugees—Ramaphosa was compelled to come to Zimbabwe, the very country this message is mainly directed at, to avert an existential crisis that could spill even more Zimbabwean refugees into South Africa.
Another fact that proves this theory is had Ramaphosa come to ask for money on behalf for the ANC, other ANC leaders like the SG Fikile Mbalula would have come along, but he came alone. Additionally, South African government officials wouldn’t have leaked the information of the trip if it was not a sign of a crisis. Zimbabwe is at the brink and we hope leadership will prevail over self-interest.
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