'Ramaphosa being used as a pawn in US diplomacy on Zimbabwe'

President Mnangagwa's spokesman George Charamba has said that only Zimbabweans could resolve the country's myriad challenges and that it was futile for anyone to expect outsiders to lift the nation out of its current difficulties. He said it was disconcerting that some Zimbabweans expected the country's problems to be resolved by outsiders.

He also confirmed that Mnangagwa and his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa had recently discussed and agreed that Pretoria's special envoys to Harare would return in addition to the country hosting a delegation of African National Congress senior officials.

Charamba said South Africa's actions raised suspicion that Pretoria was being used as a pawn in United States diplomacy, adding that only Zimbabwe had the capacity to play a stabilising role in the Sadc region.

"Lastly, whence comes this impression that South Africa can intervene in Zimbabwe, assuming there are grounds for such intervention?" Charamba tweeted yesterday under a pseudonym @Jamwanda2.

"On what basis, what might, what capacity, beyond that of solidarity, camaraderie and good-natured concern by a neighbour? South Africa is the youngest State in our region. It faces myriad problems of along apartheid. It has no capacity to help any African State in Sadc, beyond friendly solidarity."

South Africa last month deployed three envoys to Zimbabwe after its own ruling ANC party and the international community raised alarm over worsening human rights violations under Mnangagwa's watch.

The position was taken after ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, chairperson of the international relations committee Lindiwe Zulu and Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Naledi Pandor warned that the Zimbabwean crisis could spill into the region.

Mnangagwa has, however, denied that the country is in a crisis.

"Let that sink into minds of all and sundry. In any event, Zimbabwe, alongside many Sadc countries which got their independence before South Africa, has gone quite some way in resolving its colonial legacy and empowering its people, something the ANC government is grappling to do just now," Charamba added.

"South Africa is no donor State in Sadc. If anything, its long apartheid legacy makes its post-1994 sub-regional role quite problematic for the rest of Sadc States who know the continued dominance of Afrikaner capital in Sadc."

South Africa got her independence in 1994.