SA must intervene in Zimbabwe

The recent furore following the ANC delegation hitching a ride to Zimbabwe on a state plane deflected attention from the president’s “see no evil, hear no evil” approach to the crisis in Zimbabwe.

The ride, for which the ruling party paid for in lost credibility (and now in hard cash) only served to provide Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF with an opportunity to flex its nonexistent international muscles through the spewing of slogans such as “Zimbabwe is not a province of South Africa”.

This it did without addressing any issues of substance that the ANC delegation should have at least tried to raise so they could at least salvage something from their joyride they hoped the taxpayer would pay for.

Why does Zimbabwe matter to South Africa? The Beitbridge border is not the busiest post in the whole of Africa by accident.

It is testament to the fact that even though Zimbabwe may not be a province of this country, its economic destiny is irrevocably linked to that of South Africa.

Zanu-PF spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa can go on telling the world how Zimbabwe is a sovereign country and there is no crisis, but South Africa has a moral obligation to the people of the South African Development Community (SADC) to use its relatively better economic position to ensure economic and political stability for its neighbours.

That does not have to be done through the waving of some big brother stick, but through legitimate channels such as the SADC and the African Union.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government’s inability to even issue a statement on the crisis, even in the face of such blatant abuse of human rights through the arrests of renowned author Tsitsi Dangarembga and investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono for standing up to ZanuPF’s heavy-handed tactics is shameful.

It is not surprising, though, because the ANC’s foreign policy in Africa has been based on that illusive “comradeship” between former liberation movements which has long reached its sell-by date.

Who can forget Thabo Mbeki’s quiet diplomacy which allowed Robert Mugabe’s rule to be extended by about a decade more in that country?

South Africa does not possess a magic wand that can cure all of Zimbabwe’s problems overnight, but there is a historical and moral obligation on the SA government to call out its neighbour.

It is simply the right thing to do.

Recent rumblings by organisations like Put South Africa First and the emergence of Herman Mashaba’s People’s Dialogue mean that internally in SA, relations between Zimbabwean economic refugees and locals hit hard by the pandemic-ravaged economic are growing worse.

The first place to start doing something in mending relations would be for the government to ensure less economic refugees cross Beitbridge by working towards stability in Zimbabwe.

The ill-advised “no interference” foreign policy of the ruling party is not based on benevolence and adhering to good international practice, but from the selfish intentions that they themselves will not be criticised for their own shortcomings.

When the ruling party asked for help during its fight against apartheid, it knew the world was morally obliged to intervene.

It is now morally obliged to do so in Zimbabwe.

Sydney Majoko.

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