The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), on Wednesday protested outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in Pretoria demanding an immediate end to alleged human rights violations in the country.
The protesters handed over a petition to a Zimbabwean Embassy administrator and finance officer, and urged him to hand it over to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
NUMSA said it had lost confidence in Mnangagwa, who ousted the late former President Robert Mugabe in 2017.
NUMSA president Andrew Phiri said despite promises that he would execute what late former President failed, Mnangagwa was ten times worse than his predecessor.
“People of Zimbabwe with the aid of the British they removed Mugabe from the throne … And we were all hoping that things will be different, we were all hoping that the mandate that they claimed Mugabe was not executing he (Mnangagwa) was going to execute.
“But Mnangagwa became worse than Mugabe. He became 10 times worse than Mugabe … Hence we are here today. He (Mnangagwa) eroded everything, human rights for Zimbabweans and as NUMSA, as SAFTU, as Socialist Revolutionary Party we cannot fold our arms and pretend as if nothing is happening to the people of Zimbabwe,” said Phiri.
Yesterday’s protests came barely two weeks after envoys from South Africa’s ruling African national Congress visited the country on a fact finding mission.
The ruling Zanu PF and Government have denied that there is a crisis in the country blaming the campaign on opposition parties.
The country is currently grappling with a deepening socio-economic crisis with the situation worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.
