South Africa & Zimbabwe: Two Coups Imminent - What Will Happen to SADC?

If South Africa coughs, the entire SADC catches a cold. Should a coup d'état erupt in South Africa, Zimbabwe will follow. The infighting between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga has reached boiling point. Minister in the ANC Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, recently hinted at the possibility of a coup, stating that the government is monitoring a situation ripe for upheaval.

There is concrete evidence that the SADC region is fragile. Last year, Mozambique was rocked by post-election protests amid allegations of rigging. Eswatini saw mass demonstrations aimed at dismantling its medieval monarchy. After Jacob Zuma's incarceration in 2021, South Africa experienced its worst unrest since apartheid. These protests were not random - they were messages to leaders who have failed their people. The region demands a complete political overhaul. Governments that serve the people are needed - urgently.

The death of Ambassador Nkosinathi Mthethwa in Europe is no coincidence. It reflects the deep-seated corruption within the ANC government. Unpacking South Africa's rot is a disservice for an outsider - it's too convoluted. Almost simultaneously, Julius Malema was convicted for illegal gun possession and public discharge. If upheld, he faces a minimum 15-year sentence.

According to The Daily Maverick, the South African government had lost R700 billion in public funds by 2015. Ten years later, how much more has been embezzled by ministers and top civil servants?

What a continental embarrassment - an ambassador commits suicide in Europe. Mthethwa's death and Malema's conviction are not isolated events. They expose the ANC's corruption, which plays directly into the hands of white establishments both locally and globally. Even the EFF, once a voice for economic justice, is tainted. Malema's gun-toting is a symptom of rogue politics.

The ANC is politically unsalvageable. It will sink, unelectable and unfit for coalition. The EFF will lose its radical edge if Malema is imprisoned. It has already lost key intellectual pillars. Zuma's Umkhonto We Sizwe party is no alternative - it's a family enterprise, not a national movement.

The black independence that Nelson Mandela and millions fought for has come to naught. Black communities are worse off than during apartheid. Is that not shameful?

> "It is better to misgovern ourselves than to be misgoverned."  
I grew up reciting this mantra. But what does it mean? If asked to explain, I'd struggle. It's a haunting question.

The Democratic Alliance is emerging as the only party without glaring corruption in parliamentary conduct. That's telling. White South Africans have long claimed that blacks are incapable of governing a complex economy. With access to public funds, black officials enriched themselves - developing private estates with public money. Zuma did it. Mthethwa did it.

Zimbabwe's situation is equally dire. Citizens want ZANU PF gone. They want a new dispensation that benefits the people - not Chinese investors. But change won't come easily. Something must give. The winds of change are blowing across South Africa and Zimbabwe.

What happens if coups erupt in both countries simultaneously? Who will rescue the region from chaos? Political events are spiraling. The Mkhwanazi allegations - dating back to 2010 - have exploded, implicating Mthethwa, who served as Police Minister under Zuma. The rot may run deeper than social media suggests.

President Ramaphosa's muted response to Mthethwa's death is disturbing. He should be alarmed by the death of an ambassador abroad. His body language says otherwise. Was it suicide - or assassination?

If police and army departments collude with criminals, who protects the citizenry? How could the ANC disappoint so profoundly? Independence was hard-won - even supported by global citizens. If R500 billion was stolen by ANC elites, who will clean up the mess?

The DA has found its moment. Did we not say South Africa would become a colony again? It's happening in our lifetime.

There are 4 million white South Africans. If a coup occurs, Afrikaners will seize control of key institutions, claiming to restore law and order - what the ANC failed to do. The ambassador's death is the scandal of a lifetime, smearing Africa as a whole.

Gogo Matshiqi once said: African governments are a curse to this continent - from Cape to Cairo. There's no evidence South Africa has a president on the ground. It remains an entity floated on the New York Stock Exchange.

The economy is white capital. Ramaphosa is its manager. Can we imagine a president stashing millions of US dollars in sofas and mattresses? Ramaphosa must have learned from Mnangagwa, who allegedly hoards bales of cash. Ramaphosa's jovial photo ops with China and Russia give me goosebumps. In China, he'd have faced a firing squad long ago.

Major corruption reveals the black ruling class's desire to live like the white elite. But colonizers have amassed wealth for centuries. Government wages are meager. Ramaphosa's Phala Phala case remains unresolved. His high-profile corruption charges await the right moment to politically finish him.

It took seven years to charge Malema. Why so long? Black politicians are deliberately exposed to corruption - to prove the point: "A black man is corrupt." The evidence is everywhere. General Mkhwanazi is exposing ANC rot block by block.

Meanwhile, former colonialists laugh: "Did we not say it? An African is corrupt through and through." African leaders haven't mastered basic civil administration. What was Uhuru for? What socialism did the ANC promise during the liberation struggle? What happened to the Freedom Charter?

In Zambia, we sang with South Africans: "Freedom in our lifetime." Where is that freedom?

Former Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith once said: "Not in a thousand years can an African master good governance." In black governments, children play in open sewage and don't recognize the smell. This is happening in Harare and Bulawayo. In Tshabalala Township, where I grew up, sewage is reportedly out of control.

In German, I'd say: "Warten und Tee trinken" - wait and drink tea. The coups are imminent. What will life after ZANU PF look like?

Hapana chisinga peri ka.