By Jane Mlambo| Former Deputy minister of Higher Education, Dr Godfrey Gandawa has poured cold water on the meeting between sister revolutionary parties ANC and Zanu PF on the deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe saying the varied understanding of crisis will mean the conversation starts at cross purposes.
In a Twitter thread, Gandawa said the Zimbabwean crisis is being understood from very different angles with the MDC Alliance taking it from a bilateral perspective based on the 2018 elections while former G40 members believes it emanated from the November 2017 military coup.
“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.
According to Gandawa, all these narratives do not fit into the ANC’s understanding of the Zimbabwean crisis as they recognise President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the legitimate leader of the country.
He said the ANC is not worried about MDC Alliance or G40 grievances as they are more concerned about helping their counterparts stabilize the situation.
“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,” added Gandawa.