By A Correspondent | ZimEye | Following the just-ended elections in South Africa in which the Blue Colour party, DA, has sprung into state-level power, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s ZANU PF party has changed its stance against Nelson Chamisa. After spending six years unleashing the military on him—to kill supporters, rape women, and change election results on the militaristic advice of controversial activist Hopewell Chin’ono, ZANU PF has suddenly changed its position just after appointing the self imposed Sengezo Tshabangu into parliament.
The Democratic Alliance is made up of a combination of local South Africans and displaced Zimbabweans who are exiled in that country, riled by the breakdown of the rule of law that the ANC party has created in Zimbabwe, which has been condemned by the Supreme Court of South Africa.
On 1 Aug 2018, ZANU PF unleashed soldiers into the streets to kill perceived Chamisa supporters to change the election results. In successive years, the Zimbabwe military, under the advice of controversial activist Hopewell Chin’ono, unleashed soldiers onto civil society. Chin’ono advised the Minister of Defence, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, to take this action to reduce political tension, an operation that would see him elevated as an arbiter in the militaristic chaos he created.
Says Hopewell Chin’ono, in a public Twitter inquiry on 30 Aug 2021, “I am the one who suggested to the VP in the meeting that Government (military leadership) should meet with the diplomats regularly. More importantly, I suggested that Government (military leadership) should meet with Civil Society regularly to avoid tension and suspicion. I did so because I wanted to see a better Zimbabwe,” he answers in response to multiple allegations that he leaked the addresses of safe houses to the military.
As a result of these many military deployments and a pile of rambling allegations by Chin’ono on behalf of the military, Chamisa has ended up giving up his newly set up party, the Citizens Coalition for Change.
Chin’ono was also an activist for pro-ANC propaganda leadership, as he led the public to believe Chamisa cannot lead Zimbabwe because the ANC-controlled government does not support him. The latest of this propaganda has resulted in the deployment of the IPU-condemned political imposter, Sengezo Tshabangu, who has since been appointed the leader of the opposition in parliament in Chamisa’s stead last week.
Within days of the appointment, South Africa’s elections have changed the trajectory of African politics, and a new government is now set to adopt a pro-rule of law stance.
In the latest development, ZANU PF has rushed to announce a change in stance, with its Director Of Information Farai Marapira saying they are now open to talking to Chamisa.
The Director of ZANU PF, quoted by the pro-ZANU PF Daily Newspaper, says although Nelson Chamisa “is not more important” than other Zimbabweans, the party remains open to engaging with him if he puts the interests of the country first. Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, ZANU PF Information Director Farai Marapira also said the ruling party wanted to see Zimbabweans working together to lift the lives of all the country’s people. This comes after it emerged recently that President Emmerson Mnangagwa had been holding talks with the acting leader of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), Welshman Ncube, and other opposition bigwigs. It also comes after the administrator of the CCC’s other main faction, Jameson Timba, said any dialogue that did not involve Chamisa would be viewed by many people as a “political charade”. “Chamisa should learn to push people’s interests. He must know that he is not more important…”