Zimbabwe's embassy in South Africa has hit back at the
Economic Freedom Fighters, after the party's outspoken leader Julius Malema
lambasted President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government for its decision to
compensate white farmers who were dispossessed of land during a controversial
land reform process.
The Pretoria-based embassy led by Ambassador David
Hamadziripi, said it has previously restrained itself from responding to many
“provocative statements issued by the EFF about Zimbabwe”.
“On this occasion, we cannot remain silent in the face of
the EFF’s pretentiousness to know more about the history and politics of
Zimbabwe than the Zimbabweans themselves. Even more, the EFF has the audacity
to dare teach Zimbabweans, even our head of state about the land question in
our country,” it said in a strongly worded statement.
Last week, the Zimbabwean government said 4,000 white
commercial farmers whose farms were confiscated would now be getting US$3.5
billion compensation for improvements they had made on the land.
Government officials and the farmers’ representatives
signed a series of agreements, bundled as the Global Compensation Deed, at a
ceremony presided over by Mnangagwa at State House in the capital Harare.
Irked by this agreement, Malema said the Zimbabwwean leader
who replaced former president Robert Mugabe was either ignorant or had bowed to
pressure from the “white supremacist world”. Malema also questioned where
cashstrapped Zimbabwe would get the money for the massive payout.
“We are of the firm view that Mnangagwa is either deeply
misinformed about the real causes of the crisis in Zimbabwe, or is simply
capitulating to pressure," he said.
“Either way, this treasonous act of paying white settlers
money that Zimbabwe does not have will not resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe,
which is essentially a political crisis resulting from years of mismanagement,
at the centre of which Mnangagwa features prominently.”
The embassy in Pretoria said Malema was ill-informed in
suggesting that Harare was paying for its land.
“The signing of this global compensation agreement is a
significant step in the coming together of Zimbabweans in efforts to bring to
finality a long outstanding, highly emotive and divisive issue. This agreement
should be welcomed by those who genuinely wish Zimbabwe well,” it said.
“It is our expectation that the EFF and others who may wish
to comment on the land issues in Zimbabwe do so from an informed, objective and
constructive standpoint that respects the people of Zimbabwe’s struggles and
sacrifices for their land and contributes to the unity and progress of the
country.”
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