Zimbabwe will not intervene in SA political fights, says Zanu-PF

THE ruling Zanu-PF party yesterday said Zimbabwe will not intervene in South Africa's violent protests which were triggered by the jailing of the country's former President Jacob Zuma.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday deployed soldiers to restore order after days of violent protests and looting by South African nationals, who outnumbered the police, resulting in their failure to prevent attacks on businesses across the country.

Zanu-PF director for information and publicity Tafadzwa Mugwadi yesterday said Zimbabwe's ruling party would respect the decisions of the South African government and would not meddle in their affairs despite concerns about the safety of millions of Zimbabweans in the neighbouring country.

"I hope lessons have been learnt from the conduct of the Zimbabwe government and our ruling party Zanu-PF," Mugwadi tweeted.

"We have no business poking our noses in matters internal within a sovereign South Africa. We wish them well, but we will never impose our idea of the way forward. Expect no statement from us."

Mugwadi later told NewsDay that the ruling party was in compliance with the principles of the Southern African Development Community liberation movements, which encourage member States to respect the sovereignty of other nations.

"As the ruling party, we have not yet come up with a position on what is happening in South Africa right now. We have not yet been invited for an input. Of course, we are aware that there are concerns on what government's plans are about the situation since there is a significant number of our own people in the neighbouring country. But we have to respect the sovereign nation so that it deals with its own situation decisively without our interference. We will only intervene when invited to do so," he said.

South Africa is home to more than three million Zimbabweans, a majority of them undocumented immigrants who fled the country in search of jobs following the collapse of the economy in Harare two decades ago.

"My opinion is that government may need to consider helping our nationals to be evacuated back home for security reasons. I personally encourage those crossing to South Africa to halt their visits while they study the situation. Every Zimbabwean's life is crucial to us never mind where they are," Mugwadi tweeted.

South Africa has attempted to intervene in the Zimbabwean political and economic crises and has, on two occasions, sent special envoys as part of efforts to assist in resolving the political impasse in Harare.

Last year, Mugwadi sparked criticism following his insinuation that there was a hidden agenda by the African National Congress top leadership when they came to Harare last year after persistent calls for Zanu-PF to resolve local socio-economic problems.

But on Monday, in a series of tweets on the South African civil unrest, Mugwadi said Zimbabwe was way ahead of other African countries in terms of maintaining peace and order.

"Looking from the terraces as a non-interested onlooker who is no diplomat, but a bombshell expert, Zimbabwe is a bastion of civilisation, peace and harmony - and is rising to the mountain top developmentally in Africa. Hello Limpopo. Talk of crisis!!! Rule of law?" he tweeted.