Ramaphosa told Mnangagwa to stop Constitutional Amendment Bill, drop thoughts of firing Chiwenga – claims former ally
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa came to caution President Emmerson Mnangagwa against firing his deputy Constantino Chiwenga and continuing with the highly contentious Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3, former ally Rutendo Matinyarare has claimed.
Ramaphosa, who was Mnangagwa’s guest at Precabe Farm in Kwekwe over the weekend, was seen cosying up with a select group of the President’s allies known to be in support of the amendment that seeks to keep him in office beyond his constitutionally mandated two terms.
While Harare said his visit was private, Pretoria described it as a “working visit” where issues of mutual and bilateral interests were discussed.
Matinyarare, claimed there was no way Ramaphosa could have come for a weekend off in Harare considering the immigrants’ crisis he is facing at home due to Zimbabwe’s poor governance.
“Ramaphosa, the leader of the most powerful nation in Africa and a member of the G20, would not make an unscheduled emergency trip to a small country like Zimbabwe, which only imports 2.3% of South Africa’s exports but discharges thousands of refugees that are costing the ANC power, to come and support an illegal Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3(CAB3) to extend the President’s term in office,” said Matinyarare.
“Why? Because CAB3 has the potential to destabilise Zimbabwe and discharge more refugees into South Africa, in a South African election year where migration might cost the ANC local government.
“It is diplomatic logic that Ramaphosa would not come to support a government that has just been condemned by its own Chapter 12 Human Rights institution for beating, jailing, abducting, and burning the offices of those who oppose the Bill, to prolong Mnangagwa’s stay in power.
“Do not be fooled by fake reports: Ramaphosa came to tell Harare to stop CAB3 and to not even think about firing the Vice President because this will destabilise Zimbabwe and the region.”
. Authorities in South Africa’s industrial capital, Johannesburg, are currently struggling to deal with xenophobic attacks that have been reignited by anti-migrant groupings such as March and March and Operation Dudula.
Mnangagwa, whose first policies after taking over from late President Robert Mugabe in a 2017 coup was re-engagement and cleaning his human rights record, will be hoping for regional support if he is to extend his second and final term by two years as intended.
Added Matinyarare: “The bottom line is that Ramaphosa’s visit was a crisis management intervention because Zimbabwe is on the brink of a coup, if not a civil war.
“We have been warning Harare that CAB3 is a national and regional security risk, and this visit-along with the false narratives around it-is confirmation that those concerns are materialising faster than expected.”
NewZimbabwe
