MDC Alliance vice president Tendai Biti has warned that
Zimbabwe’s political and economic crises have now reached a critical point that
could soon lead to a bloodbath, the Daily News On Sunday reports.
This comes after President Emmerson Mnangagwa vowed
recently that the government would flush out “terrorist” opposition groups that
are allegedly working with international players to “destabilise” the country.
Speaking on Thursday evening during an online discussion
that was organised by South Africa’s Jacana Media, Biti said civil strife in
the country was imminent — adding that only international community
intervention could stop a bloodbath.
“We are entering a very dangerous phase, a phase in which
those that are controlling the State know one language — which is repression,
violence and authoritarianism. They don’t know dialogue. They don’t know how to
interface with the people.
“As Zimbabweans, we have to defend ourselves in the
parameters and limits defined by the Constitution, section 59 of the
Constitution. But our actions alone as Zimbabweans are not enough. We
need the agency, as well as the protection of international law,” Biti said.
“The action and activities of (South African) President
Cyril Ramaphosa, Sadc, African Union and the United Nations Security Council
are very key in international law.
“They have a duty to defend people where there is a
violation of human rights. The country’s president (Mnangagwa) a few days ago,
on the 4th of August made a presentation to the nation.
“In that presentation he used language that is dangerous.
He used language like ‘we will flush you out, you are dark forces’.
“The last time I heard that language was in February 1994
in Rwanda and a few months later in April 1994 about 800 000 people lay dead,”
Biti added.
“I see ominous signs and a closure of space. I see one
thing, a definitive attack on the citizens of Zimbabwe that will be very bloody
and very nasty.
“We as Zimbabweans, therefore, there is a limit to which we
can defend ourselves. We need the agency of the international community in
particular.
“President Cyril Ramaphosa, Sadc and the AU, we say this
with the circumspect that the region itself is a very toxic region,” Biti said
further.
“Look at what is happening in Tanzania, Zambia and DRC is
democratic in name only, the things that are happening in Mozambique.
“It’s a dangerous space that Zimbabwe has found itself in.
We are entering a very dangerous phase,” he also said.
Biti’s warning came
a few days after Ramaphosa dispatched his special envoys to Zimbabwe — former
vice president Baleka Mbete and ex-ministers Sydney Mufamadi and Ngoako
Ramatlhodi — to meet with Mnangagwa after an international outcry over alleged
gross human rights violations in the country.
The envoys are set to return to Harare soon, to consult
with other stakeholders — including the opposition and civil society — with
South Africa saying Zimbabwe’s crises are beginning to hurt the regional power.
Mnangagwa recently warned that the government was ready to
deal with “renegades”, “dark forces” and “terrorist opposition groups” that are
allegedly derailing the country’s
economic revival.
“We will overcome attempts at the destabilisation of our
society by a few rogue Zimbabweans acting in league with foreign detractors.
“The reforms, opening up, liberalisation and modernisation
we began shall continue with accelerated pace. Those who promote hate and
disharmony will never win.
“The bad apples that have attempted to divide our people
and to weaken our systems will be flushed out. Good shall triumph over evil,”
Mnangagwa said.
Biti said Zimbabwe was in a dangerous space as a result of
Mnangagwa’s utterances.
The atrocities that we are seeing today that include
arrests, abductions, sexual abuses are just the beginning of a fresh wave of a
vicious assault on citizens.
“We sit in a very dangerous space. This space is occupied
by four things. One of these is the absence of a social
contract, the absence of authority to govern those that are
governing.
“The authority to govern is given by citizens and where it
is withdrawn and where it was never given voluntarily you have a problem.
“So, the crisis of legitimacy started with the coup of
November 2017 which the international community and us Zimbabweans ignored
because at that time the concentration was on the departure of authoritarian
Robert Mugabe.
“The 2018 elections were contested and, therefore,
legitimacy remains an issue. The second issue is the rise of the securocratic
State and the rise of the military,” Biti said — adding that corruption was
also killing the country.
“The rise of State capture … at the core of the State
capture is something that has become so endemic, which is corruption.
“I chair the public accounts committee (in Parliament). I
have never seen the level of corruption that I have seen, where the Ministry of
Finance itself has become the epicentre of draining resources from the
government, and this corruption runs into billions.
“This government has failed and failed in absolute terms if
you look at our macro-economic figures. We have the second highest rate of
inflation in the world, at around 1 400 percent, second to Venezuela.
“We have been in economic decline since 2012. We are in a
recession that is fast tracking itself into an economic depression,” Biti
added.
He also lamented the fact that Zimbabweans lacked any
meaningful service delivery.
“When you lack delivery and people raise their voices you
resort to violence, vandalism. That is what we are now witnessing at the
present moment and no one is safe … literally every one of us is facing one
charge or the other.
“I have been convicted, half of our youth movement are
actually in hiding and also our vice chairperson Job Sikhala is also hiding …
the majority of people that are being assaulted are innocent citizens who
simply want to be governed well, want to be loved, to have food on their table,
electricity, but the bandit State now criminalises everyone and everything,
including expression,” Biti said further.
Speaking on Friday, South African minister of International
Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor, said Ramaphosa would again soon be
dispatching his emissaries to Harare — this time for wider consultations with
key stakeholders.
“We sent envoys there (to Zimbabwe) because there have been
huge concerns about reports of abuse of human rights, imprisonment of
opposition MPs and many other concerns which have been directed at the
presidency and my department.
“We agreed that the president would appoint three envoys
and they would visit Zimbabwe.
“We asked that they should meet the government,
particularly President Mnangagwa, but also meet other stakeholders in the
opposition, NGOs and so on,” Pandor told South African media.
“Unfortunately, they (special envoys) could not meet other
stakeholders, but Zimbabwe has indicated its readiness to facilitate such a
visit and we are in discussion with the president (Ramaphosa) about the envoys
returning to Zimbabwe to have wider meetings and to be able to have face
contact.
“So, we are not distressed by the fact that full
expectations were not met in the first visit.
“My understanding is that the discussion was cordial and
indeed the desire of President Ramaphosa is that there be meetings with
individuals and organisations other than the (Zimbabwean) government. This was
communicated by the envoys,” Pandor said further.
She also emphasised that South Africa would continue to
engage all stakeholders in Zimbabwe so that the crises in the country could be
resolved.
“This is something that we must continue to work at
because, as I say, the situation of Zimbabwe impacts on South Africa and South
Africa has to … resolve the problems there in order to address our own
situation and focus on the challenges of South Africa,” she added.
Following the meeting with Mnangagwa on Monday, Mufamadi
revealed that the envoys had discussed with him the country’s situation, as
well as the possible solutions to its problems — adding that the finer details
of the meeting would be availed later. Daily News
0 comments:
Post a Comment