Lindiwe Zulu has warned ZANU-PF that the crisis in Zimbabwe is not just a concern to the leadership but also to South Africans in general. Lindiwe Zulu said the relationship between ZANU-PF and the ANC should no longer be about what happened in the past but also about improving the lives of the people in both countries.

Key Points

  1. The ANC delegation that went to Zimbabwe reports to the ANC NEC and not Ramaphosa
  2. This is not time to mince words on what the crisis is about as what is happening in Zimbabwe has a negative impact on South Africa.
  3. The ANC expressed that what is happening in Zimbabwe is not good
  4. Challenges in Zimbabwe are having an impact in South Africa
  5. The focus should not be on the past but on the economy, poverty and unemployment
  6. The ANC is at risk if the situation in Zimbabwe is not resolved
  7. South African are raising the issues of Zimbabweans in South Africa illegally
  8. The ANC will write to opposition parties through the embassy
  9. No one can stop the ANC from coming back to Zimbabwe to meet the opposition
  10. The ANC wants to meet everyone so that they can gain a full understanding of the situation.

On the other hand, ZANU-PF says the ANC has no right to meet with opposition parties in Zimbabwe.

Key Mistakes that the ANC Has Made on Zimbabwe

The ANC has over the years used Zimbabwe as a source of cheap labour and scarce skills. They have therefore ignored the problems in Zimbabwe as long as they were benefiting. They deliberately made it easy for young Zimbabweans to cross into South Africa through specific programs:

  1. Quota work permists were introduced in 2005 at the height of the Zimbabwe crisis for degreed and experienced Zimbabweans in a number of categories.
  2. An Amnesty was introduced in 2010 which covered unskilled Zimbabweans and these were extended. There is no South African household that does not have a Zimbabwean domestic worker, security or gardener.
  3. The South African government has introduced an asylum seeker program that allows Zimbabweans to live and work South Africa and is far more powerful than the work permits.

This is over and above the 1994 exemptions for SADC that was given to mostly Zimbabweans who had been in South Africa before 1994.

Conclusion

A showdown is looming between ZANU-PF and ANC over the Zimbabwe crisis. The issue has not yet reached the majority of South Africans and is still manageable, However, time is running out.

  1. If the Zimbabwe crisis is taken up by ordinary South Africans, ZANU-PF will lose control of the situation and the ANC will be forced to take a hard line.
  2. The ANC has therefore had formal programs for attracting Zimbabweans to South Africa and is now trying to use an informal method for asking Zimbabweans to go back home.

 

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