Former Deputy minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Dr Godfrey Gandawa has warned the opposition against expecting resolution of the country’s crisis from the visiting South Africa’s ANC delegation saying they are only coming to help their sister party stabilize the situation to remain in power.
Posting on Twitter Tuesday morning, Gandawa said the problem with the Zimbabwean crisis is that it is being understood from different angles with different stakeholders expecting different solutions.
He singled out the MDC Alliance and G40 members whom he said understood the crisis in Zimbabwe as a bilateral stemming from the disputed 2018 elections and the November 2017 military coup respectively.
“At the risk of being the bearer of bad news, the ANC delegation that arrives in Harare today will not achieve any meaningful outcome. This is because what is widely described as a crisis, means different things to the stakeholders. The conversation starts at cross purposes.
“The MDC believes that the crisis is a bilateral dispute between itself and Zanu PF, which can only be resolved by Zanu PF surrendering power to the legitimate winner of the 2018 election. Over the past two years, this has found expression as the ‘crisis of legitimacy’.
“Meanwhile, the so-called G40 believes that the crisis arises from the 2017 coup which ushered in the Mnangagwa regime. The 2017 coup is viewed as the genesis of military interference and state capture. To fix Zimbabwe, the coup must be cured,” said Gandawa.
He however said the ANC is not concerned about those problems as it already recognises President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the legitimate leader.
“Unfortunately, the South African government does not accept any of these arguments. It recognises Mnangagwa as the legitimate president elected in 2018 and affirmed by the Constitutional Court decision rejecting the challenge to his victory. That matter is settled.
“As far as the ANC and Ramaphosa’s envoys are concerned, they are not in Harare to negotiate a transfer of power or to relitigate the coup or the 2018 election. As they have repeatedly said, they want to help Zanu PF stabilize the situation so that it can survive this crisis,” he said.
ANC’s visit follows an earlier visit by an envoy made up of Sydney Mufamadi and Baleka Mbete send by President Cyril Ramaphosa to meet Mnangagwa.
The delegation did not meet with other stakeholders including the opposition and the church as widely expected.
