SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s emissaries yesterday held a closed-door meeting with Zanu PF officials and later indicated that they would be back in the country \u201cin a month\u201d to engage other stakeholders in Zimbabwe\u2019s multi-faceted crisis, including the United States envoy.<\/p>\n
The six-member team, led by African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule, made the commitment after what it said \u201cwas a frank discussion\u201d on the Zimbabwean crisis.
\nZanu PF has, however, insisted that the country is not in a crisis, and last month barred the ANC envoys from meeting other stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Magashule said Zanu PF had agreed after their meeting that his delegation could meet with other stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a frank, open and very robust discussion and committed ourselves to introspection. We agreed that at the centre of what we do as liberation movements should be our people who are still marginalised, poor and jobless with no water and no shelter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe agreed that as ANC, because now there is no time, we will come back to engage other stakeholders and political parties to understand and comprehend the challenge. We agreed there are challenges that are being faced in both countries.\u201d<\/p>\n
On human rights abuses in Zimbabwe, Magashule said it was the responsibility of liberation movements to protect the rights of the people.<\/p>\n
The delegation included the party\u2019s international relations committee chairman Lindiwe Zulu, chairperson Gwede Mantashe, Tony Yengeni (national executive committee member), Defence minister Nosiviwe Nqakula and national executive committee member Enoch Godongwana.<\/p>\n
Before the meeting, Magashule told journalists that he had received requests to engage other stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have also received some requests to meet other stakeholders like Transform Zimbabwe, an opposition party, Dr Simba Makoni (Mavambo\/Kusile\/Dawn leader), the Zimbabwe African People\u2019s Union, Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, MDC Alliance as well as the United States ambassador to Zimbabwe (Brian Nichols), but we felt, together with Zanu PF, that indeed there is no problem meeting with their structures. So, therefore, we are going to make arrangements to once more come back and meet with these organisations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ANC secretary-general, who was last month publicly rebuked by Zanu PF acting spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa for behaving like a Zimbabwean prefect after chastising Harare over gross human rights abuses, also said yesterday\u2019s meeting was \u201cfirst and foremost\u201d to consolidate the two sister parties\u2019 relations and also at government level.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sure we are going to have open and frank discussions away from the media so that we engage on the challenges faced by the liberation movements. We will be able to engage frankly to appreciate the challenges, the poverty challenges of our economies, our people are hungry and deal with all those issues facing us,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Zanu PF delegation was led by the party secretary for administration Obert Mpofu and it included Simbarashe Mumbengegwi (secretary for external affairs), July Moyo (secretary for transport), Sibusiso Moyo (politburo member and Foreign Affairs minister), Central Intelligence Organisation director-general Isaac Moyo, who is a former ambassador to Pretoria, and other senior party officials.<\/p>\n
Mpofu said Zimbabwean and South African ruling parties together with former liberation movements across the continent were faced with a common problem of \u201cneo-colonialism\u201d, hence the need to work in solidarity.<\/p>\n
Mpofu said the two parties also discussed the issue of \u201cfugitives\u201d, in apparent reference to former Zanu PF officials exiled in South Africa, whom he said were at the centre of peddling \u201cfake news\u201d about a crisis in Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
He maintained that there was no crisis in Zimbabwe though admitting they had had a \u201cno-holds-barred\u201d meeting with the ANC delegates.Mpofu said the meeting also resolved to confront issues of corruption in both countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sacrifices of our departed and still living heroes of the liberation struggle still remain our source of courage and resilience to jealously guard our hard won independence and sovereignty from our colonisers,\u201d Mpofu
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should, therefore, trudge against the ever-evolving enemy in maintaining our solidarity, comradeship, trust and our togetherness, lest we perish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zanu PF has accused the United States of financing opposition actors to effect regime change in Zimbabwe, a claim rubbished by Nichols, who said Washington was committed to assisting Zimbabwe to achieve democracy and respect for human rights while also continuing support on the humanitarian front.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s emissaries yesterday held a closed-door meeting with Zanu PF officials and later indicated that they would be back in the country \u201cin a month\u201d to engage other stakeholders in Zimbabwe\u2019s multi-faceted crisis, including the United States envoy. The six-member team, led by African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Ace Magashule, made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":21216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[38,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-27536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-parties","9":"tag-zanu-pf","10":"tag-ramaphosa"},"yoast_head":"\n