Parties join social media frenzy about takeover

SOUTH AFRICANS were yesterday part of the world social media frenzy expressing views about the unfolding Zimbabwe drama.

EFF president Julius Malema and his African People’s Convention counterpart Themba Godi welcomed the developments.

Malema said the time had come that something was done to wrest power from the ageing Robert Mugabe.

“Someone had to do something. The army should make sure that there is no loss of life.

“However, anyone seeking to undermine this transition should be dealt with decisively. Finally free and stable Zimbabwe is coming in our lifetime,” he tweeted.

Godi wrote that the Zimbabwe military’s action was fully supported by his party, adding that it was “inevitable (and) unavoidable due to the greed (and) recklessness of Mrs (Grace) Mugabe”.

A Twitter page called Concerned Zim Citizens tweeted that although Grace and the G40 grouping of younger leaders were gone, Zanu-PF was still in power. This did not help the situation as former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa “and his friends” were “just as corrupt as the ones they’re locking up”.

Boni Khalwale used Mugabe’s Struggle credentials in his appeal to the military to treat Mugabe with respect.

“President Mugabe, along with other comrades, was in the armed struggle that gave the people of Rhodesia freedom in 1980. We appeal to the Zimbabwe Defence Forces to treat him with respect as an African old man and facilitate his joining his family in South Africa,” he wrote.

Roland Tec on Facebook accused Mugabe of having destroyed the country during his 37-year tenure.

“It’s stunning to think of how much has been lost, how much of... Zimbabwe (once the breadbasket of Africa) broke down in the 37 years since Robert Mugabe seized power and began his absolute authoritarian (and dysfunctional) rule of his country in 1980,” he wrote.