Zimbabwe opposition’s stark warning to SA

Opposition leaders in Zimbabwe have issued a stark warning to South Africa, saying the country can no longer look away from the deepening crisis north of its border. It is now entering a dangerous phase, as the ruling Zanu-PF party appears determined to ram through constitutional reforms to tighten its grip on power.

“Zimbabwe is on the cusp of one of the most serious crises we’ve faced since 1980,” said David Coltart, Mayor of Bulawayo and former Zimbabwean minister of education, speaking at a forum meeting this week at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) in Johannesburg.

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Zimbabwe and the wider region are at a crossroads.

“If we can convey anything to South Africans, it is this: it’s time to start taking this crisis seriously, because it won’t be confined just to Zimbabwe.

“It will have grave ramifications for SA,” said Coltart.

Activist Samkeliso Tshuma said the ANC leadership in South Africa has coddled Zimbabwe’s leadership for too long, and that it’s about time the ANC and other political parties deal firmly with Zanu-PF.

She argued that the influx of Zimbabweans into SA over the decades has been a matter of survival rather than choice.

“Remember, Zimbabwe was once a country that received migrants. When people move to SA, it’s not because they want to [create] problems. It’s survival,” she added, referring to the resurgence of xenophobia in SA, where Zimbabweans are often the target of harassment and violence.

‘Permanent state of crisis’ 

Former finance minister and opposition figure Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe has been in a permanent state of crisis and has been since the founding of Rhodesia in the 1890s.

The planned amendments to the constitution represent the country’s biggest crisis since Gukurahundi, when more than 20 000 people were slaughtered in Matabeleland in the 1980s for their opposition to Zanu-PF.

“The transition has been arrested; it has been captured. Some 46 years after independence, Zimbabwe still does not have a nation state with one vision,” he said.

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The proposed Third Constitution Amendment Bill (CAB 3) would extend the presidential terms from five to seven years, potentially allowing President Emmerson Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030.

The president would also be elected by parliament rather than popular vote and voter registration would be transferred to the registrar general, who would be appointed by the president, rather than the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.

Left to right: David Coltart, Samkeliso Tshuma, Tendai Biti and Nick Binedell, (founder of Gibs).

Another crucial change would remove the army’s duty to ‘uphold’ the constitution, replacing it with an obligation ‘to act in accordance with’ it.

Many regard this as an attempt to weaken the military and insulate the existing government against the kind of coup that removed Robert Mugabe from power in 2017.

The amendments also propose adding another 10 Senate seats through presidential appointment rather than public vote. All this is happening while constituency boundaries are being gerrymandered in favour of Zanu-PF.

Cyril’s Zim visit

Opposition voices in Zimbabwe have been fiercely critical of SA President Cyril Ramaphosa’s recent visit to Zimbabwe, during which he was a guest at Mnangagwa’s farm. “We have no doubt that they discussed everything but CAB 3” says Biti.

“If they do this [proceed with CAB 3], they will deepen the crisis. The last thing we want in Zimbabwe is another coup like in 2017.

“Our appeal to people like President Ramaphosa is that wisdom must prevail, so that Emmerson Mnangagwa and the Zanu-PF are persuaded to withdraw CAB 3. Pushing through with this will lead to further implosion of society.”

Corruption on steroids

Coltart believes the constitutional changes are designed to entrench the power of a tiny and corrupt elite. “We have state capture on steroids. It makes the Guptas look like choirboys.”

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Press reports from Harare last week celebrated the lavish wedding of Taonanyasha John Tagwirei, the son of prominent businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei, as he was showered with gifts worth more than $20 million in cash, land and other goods.

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The president’s sons reportedly gave the couple $100 000. Others gave much more. “The state brazenly boasts about it. The head of Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption unit was at the wedding,” said Coltart.

“When I was minister of education in 2013, I was aware that 300 000 children were out of school because of poverty. I am reliably told that well over a million children are now out of school because of poverty.

“Mental health patients cannot get the basic medication they need; they are instead told to go to a pharmacy. Yet, at the same time, you have these flagrant displays of wealth.”

Elite-linked procurement

Soon after being elected Mayor of Bulawayo in 2024, Coltart was told the city had just received three fire engines from Belarus. At the handover ceremony, only two machines were there. “I was told the third one couldn’t come because it couldn’t get into reverse.”

The vehicles had cost $400 000 each. A team of firefighters from the UK came out and were shocked to learn the price paid by the city for these engines, when top of the line Volvos and Mercedes fire engines cost $250 000.

He also questioned the cost of the new border building at Beitbridge and the road to Harare, which has been counted as a great achievement for the country – at a cost of over $300 million.

Coltart says the project should have cost roughly half that amount, particularly as the road is already showing signs of deterioration, as several of the contractors were found to have skimped on materials.

He added that four of the five companies awarded tenders for the project are closely linked to the political elite.

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Prior to a recent election in Zimbabwe, computer equipment costing a few thousand US dollars was supplied at 10 times the going retail rate. “Once again, the tender was awarded to people close to the regime,” said Coltart.

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“Virtually all those who were granted these tenders attended the [Tagwirei] wedding. Now they realise that Mnangagwa’s about to end his term of office in 2028, and their proximity to his office is under threat. There is an element in Zanu-PF that [is] determined to change the constitution and pour a vast amount of money into the process.”

Gold mafia revelations

An explosive four-part Al Jazeera Gold Mafia documentary, which exposed alleged gold smuggling and money laundering networks in Zimbabwe, detailed how a criminal elite had free passage in and out of the country.

Gold prices are now double what they were when the documentary was produced, meaning the beneficiaries have an enormous war chest to rig the political machine in their favour.

However, not everyone within Zanu-PF is on board with this new constitutional change.

Two people not in attendance at the wedding were Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, former head of the army, and the governor of the Reserve Bank [Dr John Mushayavanhu]. Elements within the military are known to be hostile to the proposed changes.

“Chiwenga has been speaking in parables, but he has made it clear that he does not support this process. There are numerous war veterans that do not support this.

“The constitutional amendments have been brought by a small number of younger people who had no role in the liberation, supported by some whites who supported (former prime minister) Ian Smith,” said Coltart.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that a number of opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC) members appear open to co-option by Zanu-PF and its financial backers.

This bleak assessment of Zimbabwe’s near-term future is not without a glimmer of hope: “It’s a struggle between the vast majority of Zimbabweans and this tiny clique,” Coltart said.

Once set on the right political path, the economic rewards from a revitalised Zimbabwe will set the region alight as new investment pours into mining, tourism and agriculture. Which is why pressure from SA is now long overdue.

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