SA ready for dialogue
SOUTH Africa stands ready to help Zimbabwe fight sanctions imposed by Western countries but called on all political players to engage each other for the betterment of the country’s economy.
President Mnangagwa has already opened dialogue with all political players who participated in the 2018 harmonised elections, except the MDC-A, which has decided to remain on the sidelines.
South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor said this on Monday during a symposium dubbed the best path to a prosperous Zimbabwe, at the University of South Africa in Pretoria.
The purpose of the symposium was to reflect on the call by the Southern African Development Community for the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the US and European Union member countries, as well as stimulating discussions on what can be done to kick-start the growth of the Zimbabwean economy following the economic challenges.
Minister Pandor said Zimbabwe’s economic solution must go hand-in-hand with a political solution before other countries intervened and all parties in Zimbabwe must agree to those interventions.
“We regard it as part of our modest contribution to beginning a process of articulating solutions to the many complex challenges, which we believe will be resolved primarily by the people of Zimbabwe, with the assistance of all countries.
“It seems clear that even as we support the call for an end to economic sanctions, the political dynamics are inextricably linked to the economic and thus should be confronted simultaneously,” said the minister.
President Mnangagwa on many occasions said that his door was open for dialogue to move the country forward and benefit Zimbabweans, in line with his approach for a broadbased and inclusive national interface that he first enunciated in November 2017.
The President has already initiated Political Actors Dialogue which is expected to engender a culture of peaceful engagement among Zimbabweans as a mechanism to deal with any issue that may affect the country.