Sowetan

Government must stop treating murderous Zanu-PF with kid gloves

Zimbabwe crisis is our problem and SA must take action

- Malaika Mahlatsi

On Friday, I attended a picket outside the embassy of Zimbabwe in Pretoria. The picket, organised by the #Zimbabwe an Lives Matter movement, was marred with some violence by the triggerhap­py South African Police Service (SAPS) that threw stun grenades and shot at us with rubber bullets without any provocatio­n.

No matter how often I witness the contempt with which the police treat foreign nationals in our country, I do not seem to get used to it. It was as heartbreak­ing on Friday as it is every year when I drive to Zimbabwe and bear witness to the brutality of immigratio­n officials at Beit Bridge border post, who treat Zimbabwean­s trying to enter our country legally like criminals.

Over the past few weeks, the Zimbabwean government has been clamping down on innocent civilians – arresting and torturing journalist­s, activists and anyone who dares to call the regime by its proper name.

In response, Zimbabwean­s across the Diaspora have been staging protests under the banner# Zimbabwe an Lives Matter, to force the world to see the cruelty with which the Zanu-PF government is treating people and has been for many years. It is cruelty that began under Robert Mugabe’s leadership and which continues to this day under Emmerson Mnangagwa, a man who so many hoped, naively, would be better than his predecesso­r Robert Mugabe who was removed through a bloodless coup shortly before he died.

Many South Africans contend that we ought not to be bothering with the Zimbabwean crisis because Zimbabwe is not our problem. On social media, many argue that Zimbabwean­s should, instead of protesting against their government from South Africa, return home and leave us to deal with our own internal problems. The reality, however, is that the Zimbabwean crisis is our problem. Our fate is intricatel­y linked with that of

Zimbabwe, and we are connected by more than just a border and a shared history of liberation Struggle. There is no prosperous future for SA without a prosperous future for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean people did not start migrating into SA in large numbers until the political instabilit­y of the early 2000s started. But it was when the post-election violence of 2008 erupted that multitudes entered SA.

The ongoing economic collapse has led to even more Zimbabwean­s entering the country – legally and illegally. So, it is evident that until such time as there is political stability and economic developmen­t in Zimbabwe, there is no reasonable way in which we can expect Zimbabwean­s to not come to our country to seek greener pastures.

The argument that they must just go back is as irrational as it is naïve. Throughout history, migration has been defined by economic prospects.

Zimbabwean­s, like everyone else, have the fundamenta­l human right to live. Chasing Zimbabwean­s back to a country where they cannot live is effectivel­y sending them to their death, for how do we expect them to generate meaningful livelihood­s in the absence of subsistenc­e?

SA must intervene in the Zimbabwean crisis. Our government must stop treating the murderous ZanuPF regime with kid gloves.

In 2008, then president Thabo Mbeki mediated in an unpreceden­ted political crisis, then turned around and boldly declared that “There is no crisis in Zimbabwe”, even as the entire world stood watching the carnage that was happening.

Today, we dare not repeat the same mistake.

There is a crisis in Zimbabwe and SA has an obligation to intervene by cutting ties with the Zimbabwean government until such time as the demand for the protection of human rights is met. In the meantime, we must protect the Zimbabwean nationals who are in our country by extending compassion and ensuring that they are not denied basic services.

Continuing to treat Zimbabwean people like they are a problem while doing nothing about the regime that is forcing them to flee Zimbabwe is wrong and cruel. Zimbabwe is our problem – and we must resolve that problem before a genocide happens.

Zimbabwean­s have right to generate meaningful livelihood­s

 ?? / GALLO IMAGES / LEFTY SHIVAMBU ?? Police tear-gas members of the public who were protesting in solidarity with Zimbabwean­s at the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria last week.
/ GALLO IMAGES / LEFTY SHIVAMBU Police tear-gas members of the public who were protesting in solidarity with Zimbabwean­s at the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria last week.
 ?? / GALLO IMAGES /LEFTY SHIVAMBU ?? Members of Not In My Name SA movement protest in solidarity with Zimbabwean­s at the Zimbabwean embassy against the human rights violations taking place there.
/ GALLO IMAGES /LEFTY SHIVAMBU Members of Not In My Name SA movement protest in solidarity with Zimbabwean­s at the Zimbabwean embassy against the human rights violations taking place there.
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