Incoming South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula says the party does not support the idea of regime change in Zimbabwe.
Mbalula was recently elected secretary general at the 55th ANC elective congress that also saw Cyril Ramaphosa retaining party Presidency.
Speaking to journalists in Johannesburg, Mbalula took a swipe at the United States of America and Britain saying sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe must be lifted.
“We must be very much concerned about what is happening in Zimbabwe, and what role we need to play. We do not subscribe to the idea of regime change in Zimbabwe. We need to campaign very hard to get things right, because Zimbabweans are coming to our country in their numbers.
“Something is not right in their own country (and) we must support them. Once that country becomes what it was, there will be no Zimbabwean here. So, the British must think very hard about what they have done, and the Americans. They must uplift the sanctions so that Zimbabwe can grow.
“The British know what they agreed in Lancaster. They must come to the party, and invest in the compensation of Zimbabwe in the programme of land redistribution. The 40 or something billion pounds they promised Mugabe and Zanu-PF, they must come to the party and not use the land reform programme of Zanu-PF as a scapegoat and run away,” said Mbalula.
He said the influx of Zimbabweans seeking greener pastures in South Africa had cast a burden to the country’s economy.
“They must come to the party, and Zimbabwe will be a better country. Zimbabweans never (used to) come into this country, that was the bread basket of the African continent. It was an economy that was alive, people were working in Zimbabwe. Now you have Zimbabweans crossing (into South Africa), facing life and death … coming into our country, because there is no life. Life is here in South Africa and that has burdened our economy.”
“As the ANC we will not agree in ideological terms, that Zimbabwe must be turned into a client State, next to us. So, we need to get that right. We need to campaign for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara, and the Cuban people,” he said.
