So eager is Chamisa
for Pretoria to show renewed interest in Zimbabwe’s political developments,
that he recently led an MDC Alliance delegation to the South African embassy in
Harare, where he met Ramaphosa’s ambassador Mphakama Mbete — to whom he officially made
his request for the SA leader to facilitate the mooted dialogue.
This comes two months after Ramaphosa first dispatched
special envoys to Harare, and later a highpowered delegation from South
Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), to try and assist Zimbabwe
resolve its decades-long political and economic crises.
It also comes as churches and various other interest groups
have stepped up their efforts to push Mnangagwa to hold crucial talks with all
key stakeholders in the country, including the opposition and civil society
organisations.
Well-placed sources in the MDC Alliance confirmed to the
Daily News On Sunday yesterday that Chamisa had led a delegation of the
coalition to meet with Mbete, relating to the urgent need for dialogue with
Mnangagwa.
The sources said Chamisa was accompanied by the alliance’s
secretary for international relations Gladys Hlatywayo, deputy secretary for
local government Jacob Mafume and Harare North Member of Parliament Rusty
Markham.
The meeting was held in the backdrop of claims by the
opposition that Zanu PF was allegedly frustrating Pretoria and the ANC from
returning to Zimbabwe to meet with opposition parties, the church and civil
society organisations.
“The party believes that the crisis in Zimbabwe emanates
from a disputed election. The president (Chamisa) met with the South African
ambassador to make an official request for Ramaphosa’s intervention.
“When the ANC came, it was because they had observed the
crisis. But we felt that we must make an official request for them to return.
“Mbete told the delegation to be patient while South Africa continues to e n g a g e Mnangagwa’s government as well as Zanu PF.
“The team was told that South Africa was eager to see
Zimbabwe’s situation resolved, because it was affecting them too,” one of the
sources told the Daily News On Sunday. “Chamisa also requested to meet
Ramaphosa’s special envoys and the ambassador (Mbete) promised to engage his
president.
“Mbete promised that he would come back to Chamisa with a
response as soon as possible. “However, he (Mbete) made it c l e a r that it w
o u l d be difficult for South Africa and the ANC to convince Zanu PF about the
need
for dialogue if the
MDC Alliance does not show respect to Mnangagwa and Zanu PF,” another source added.
Contacted for an official comment by the Daily News On
Sunday, Mbete said: “I know nothing about such a meeting”. On his part, Chamisa
said he was not going to comment because he was not happy with the way the Daily
News and the Daily News On Sunday were covering him.
This comes as both Mnangagwa and Chamisa have previously
said that they were interested in dialogue, although nothing concrete has
happened — primarily because of differences over the form and platform on which
the talks should take place.
Mnangagwa has repeatedly said that he is prepared to engage
the opposition, but only within the confines of the Political Actors Dialogue
(Polad) — a platform which brings together candidates of the 2018 presidential
elections.
At the same time,
Chamisa insists on having direct talks with Mnangagwa outside Polad, which he
claims is packed with the Zanu PF leader’s lackeys.
But there are still hopes that the much-talked about
national dialogue could still happen after church leaders recently embarked on
a fresh push to initiate talks between Mnangagwa and Chamisa.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa and the ANC have said they are eager
to help Zimbabwe end its longstanding political and economic crises, which date
back to the tenure of the late former president Robert Mugabe.
In September, ANC bigwigs visited Harare for bilateral
talks with Zanu PF, which gave them the green light to meet with local
opposition groups and other key stakeholders in future. The two former
liberation movements were described as having been very candid and robust with
each other in their heart-to-heart dialogue, which was held at the Zanu PF
headquarters in Harare.
At the end of their visit, the ANC bigwigs implored Zanu PF
and the opposition to work together in the interest of the country, and to end
Zimbabwe’s myriad challenges.
Briefing the media, ANC secretary general Ace Magashule
said the meeting with their Zanu PF counterparts had progressed well as both
parties were “frank with each other”.
South Africa and its leaders — including former presidents
Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma — have in the past successfully mediated Zimbabwe’s
political crises.
A decade ago, both Mbeki and Zuma helped to broker the
stabilityinducing 2008 government of national unity between former opposition
giant Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe — who are both late — following the hotly
disputed 2008 presidential election.
Zuma also assisted in minimising Zimbabwe’s chaotic
approach to the equally disputed 2013 national elections. Daily News
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