Zimbabwean national protest at Zimbabwe embassy photo by Dimakatso Modipa
Several Zimbabwean citizens based in South Africa marched to the Zimbabwean embassy in Tshwane on Thursday.
This in protest against their country’s president Emmerson Munangagwa who they say must step down from his position as he is a dictator and runs the country like he is running his own family trust fund.
“There is violation of human rights and killing of innocent people in Zimbabwe,” said Phumudzo Mukhwathi, one of the leaders of the protest march.
“We are calling on all people at grassroots level to stop fighting one another and instead fight against the system which Munangagwa is responsible for,” said Mukhwathi.
He blamed both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Emmerson Munangagwa for “the chaos prevailing in the SADEC region.”
He called for the establishment of the SADEC tribunal court to prosecute people like Munangagwa for their criminal actions.
He also complained about the apparently high passport fees which range from R4000 to R5000 that have been introduced by Munangagwa in Zimbabwe.
He said the high passport fees lead to Zimbabweans coming to South Africa without passport as they can’t afford the high fees and once they are found without passports in South Africa they get deported back to Zimbabwe and that Munangagwa is the cause of this state of affairs.
“Munangagwa and his Ministers are living in luxury but we want them to get medical help from public hospitals because we queue for hours when we need medical help while they as leaders of Zimbabwe won’t be affected by the sanctions that United States President Donald Trump has introduced as they receive private health care,” he said.
He said they will take the government of Zimbabwe to international courts like the ICC “We want all dictators in the SADEC region to be taken to international courts because there is the matter of Operation Guguragundi whereby many Ndebeles living in the Matebeleland area of Zimbabwe were killed by Munangagwa,” he fumed.
Zimbabwean national protest at Zimbabwe embassy photo by Dimakatso Modipa
“People looking for jobs here in South Africa are being killed, people’s trucks are being bombed and these but Munangagwa is keeping quiet about these issues so we are saying because Munangagwa is employing his own children in the office of the Zimbabwean Defence Force and also in the Finance Department while Zimbabweans are here in South Africa suffering,” he said.
Meanwhile, Silwangani Gladwin Ncube of the Economic Emancipation Association of Zimbabwe told Tshwane Talks that President Munangagwa must release detained journalist Blessing Muhlanga as he is not a criminal, was wrongfully detained and doesn’t deserve to be in prison.
He also said said Munangagwa must step down as he is presiding over an economy which does not absorb people into employment.
He added that President Munangagwa is suffering from dementia and doesn’t have reasons to be the president of Zimbabwe except that he has been harbouring this ambition since 1980 to follow in the footsteps of late President Robert Mugabe.
“We are told that Zimbabweans are the most intelligent people in the whole of Africa and so we won’t allow ourselves to be ruled by a person who does not know what he is doing,” enthused Ncube.
“Today we are saying we are no longer negotiating with the President of Zimbabwe Munangagwa, we are saying the time is now for him to step down and we are saying he must write a resignation letter and thank the people of Zimbabwe for giving him an opportunity to be the country’s President, which is an opportunity he didn’t deserve in the place,” said Ncube.