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The President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa. (Photo: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
South Africa is clearly hanging some carrots in front of Zanu-PF’s nose to try to persuade Zimbabwe’s ruling party to allow special envoys of President Cyril Ramaphosa to meet with the political opposition and civil society as part of the Pretoria’s efforts to help the country resolve its growing political and economic crisis.
The Zimbabwean government wants South Africa’s help with personal protective equipment (PPE) and other equipment to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as support in trying to obtain international loans to overcome its desperate economic crisis.
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But Pretoria is evidently withholding requested support until Zanu-PF ceases to oppose Ramaphosa’s three special envoys meeting with all Zimbabwean stakeholders to get a real and comprehensive picture of the causes and possible solutions to the crisis.
Special Envoys Sydney Mufamadi, former minister of security and protection and of provincial and local government; Baleka Mbete, former Vice President and Speaker of Parliament; and Ngoako Ramatlhodi, a former minister of administration and public service, visited Harare on August 10, hoping to meet with a wide range of politicians and civil society leaders to assess the crisis.
But after they met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF, he prevented them from meeting with anyone else, including the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change-Alianza led by Nelson Chamisa, as well as a splinter group. smaller, the MDC-T led by Thokozani Khupe. Mnangagwa told the envoys that he had understood from their conversations with Ramaphosa that they were presidential envoys and therefore should only meet with him.
Mufamadi protested that the envoys had sent him their list of interlocutors in advance without raising objections, but Mnangagwa did not give in. He suggested that they should go home and inform Ramaphosa about their meeting with him and, if necessary, they could return to meet other players.
However, it is understood that Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF are now resisting the idea of a return visit from Ramaphosa’s envoys to meet these other players. Among those on the original agenda of the special envoys were the Zimbabwe Council of Churches, the Mnangagwa dialogue forum, the Political Actors Dialogue (POLAD) and the Zimbabwe Institute, as well as the two parties of the MDC.
Pretoria insists that envoys must meet with whomever they want. Ramaphosa made this clear on Monday when he delivered a press conference after the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. He said that in the extensive discussion his envoys had had with Mnangagwa and Zanu-PF on August 10, “it became clear that they would need a process in which they would participate with other people. And it was felt that we should consider that.
“And that’s obviously something we would like to see happen.”
In the meantime, he said that Mnangagwa had told him that he would like the ANC as a political party to meet with the Zanu-PF Politburo, which is why ANC General Secretary Ace Magashule and his Zanu-PF counterpart were now organizing this visit to take place “in a few days”.
Ramaphosa added that the NEC had “expressed the deep wish” that the ANC mission would also have the opportunity to meet other stakeholders.
“Clearly, it is important that we have the broadest possible view of what is happening,” Ramaphosa said, because South Africa was feeling the impact of the Zimbabwe crisis on its own borders. This was clearly a reference to the large number of Zimbabweans who illegally crossed the border into South Africa, mainly to escape economic difficulties.
Despite the NEC’s desire for the ANC delegation to meet with a wide range of Zimbabwean stakeholders, it is understood that Pretoria believes it would be best for the ANC to meet only with its ruling party counterpart, Zanu-PF, while Ramaphosa’s special envoys, who have a different mandate as they represent the South African government, should meet with the other stakeholders, as they originally intended to do on August 10.
Obviously, Zanu-PF would prefer that the mission of the envoys merge with that of the ANC and that neither meet with the opposition and civil society.
As a result of this intransigence, there are indications that Pretoria may have begun to put economic pressure on Zanu-PF, something it has rarely, if ever done before.
The bankrupt Zanu-PF government has requested the support of the South African government to acquire personal protection and other equipment to fight Covid-19. It has also asked Pretoria to help it obtain international private loans, although it is not yet clear what form this assistance could take.
The ANC government’s response to Harare has been to say that it cannot justify its electorate providing such support to Zimbabwe, while Harare prevents it from meeting with all stakeholders to try to resolve the crisis that has necessitated such South African support in the first place. place.
South Africa has another potential lever in that it is also providing Zimbabwe with significant amounts of grain to prevent hunger in a population where about half are food insecure.
But it is unclear whether Pretoria would also use this grain supply, which comes in the form of a grant, not a loan, as political leverage, as it is seen as humanitarian support. DM
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