By Leonnel Mhuka
On the 29th of May this year, South Africa held its general elections. The elections were generally free, fair and transparent despite a few issues with counting in some parts of the country.
The major issue that analysts are discussing is the emergence of the MK party led by the ANC and South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma and the significant loss of support by the ruling party ANC.
The uMkonto weSizwe, abbreviated as MK, came to fame in December 2023. Upon announcing the MK party, Jacob Zuma said he was not going to vote for his former political home, the ANC, but would rather run with the MK.
In analysis, the way Jacob Zuma indirectly fought with the ANC is similar to how G40 Zanu-PF members led by Kasukuwere tried to achieve success in the August 23, 2023 elections.
Kasukuwere’s ambitions were shut down by using the courts, where a Zanu-PF member challenged the eligibility of Kasukuwere to contest as a presidential candidate in Zimbabwe. Through the courts, Zanu-PF effectively barred Kasukuwere from contesting.
The ANC tried this court’s way, but fortunately or unfortunately, South Africa’s institutions, courts included, are still independent to some level and allow the rule of law to prevail.
The MK was allowed to remain on the ballot despite the fact that Zuma was by the court found ineligible to become South Africa’s president again.
On another scenario the Electoral Commission was once approached by one Mr. Jabulani Khumalo, claiming that he was the new leader of the MK party and that the IEC should remove Zuma’s face from the ballots. However, the IEC declined this and refused to take orders from anyone other than the registered party’s leader. This is quite similar to the situation that happened in Zimbabwe, where the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission asked political parties to submit the names and signatures of their signatories.
The Citizens Coalition for Change, under President Nelson Chamisa, submitted theirs, which they said was three or so per province. What shocked the nation was that double candidates emerged, and it was revealed that ZEC allowed people who were not official signatories to sign for these double illegal candidates.
Still on the issue of imposters, and to show the extent of state institutions capture in Zimbabwe, the then-president of CCC, Adv. Nelson Chamisa, wrote to the parliament and the Ministry of Local Government, notifying them that his office was the only way to communicate with the two institutions regarding the MPs and councillors.
However, someone woke up claiming to be the interim Secretary General of the Citizens Coalition for Change and started recalling their representatives.
Parliament did not hesitate or bother to confirm with CCC’s presidential candidate, Nelson Chamisa. The Speaker of Parliament, who is a top leader in ZANU-PF, announced the removal of CCC MPs from parliament. The Minister of Local Government followed suit by announcing the recall of several councillors. In that chronological order, the courts further strengthened Tshabangu’s powers until Nelson Chamisa was left with no otion than to resign from the party.
The disheartening part of the Zimbabwean saga is that it removed two Nelson Chamisa appointed young female Mayors, Anna Sande for Epworth and Shantel Chiwara for Masvingo City. Shantel was the youngest Mayor at 25 and the first female Mayor for Masvingo since 1980.
Since the formation of the Citizens Coalition for Change in January 2022, more than 105 of their rallies were either banned or stopped by the Zimbabwe police. This is another dark stain on Zimbabwe’s democracy as there’s no record at all of any restrictions on political gatherings in South Africa.
Despite banning and disrupting rallies, the Zimbabwe police actively participated in the arrest, torture and prosecution of opposition members and leaders. Many cases were reported where victims of political violence were turned into prisoners upon reporting or running to the police for protection.
In South Africa, there’s no single case of police intervention of this nature.
The most dispiriting issue after all this is that after the SADC Observer Mission, among other observer missions, condemned the Zimbabwe elections, saying they fell short of the requirements of the Zimbabwe constitution, the Electoral Act, and the regional and international regulations on elections, the African National Congress leadership opposed this stance and went on to congratulate Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The ANC is considered a powerful voice in Southern Africa and therefore used this privilege to silence all the voices that were speaking against Zanu-PF and the rigged election.
Zimbabwe has been going into disputed elections for a long time, and the ANC has always played a critical role in legitimizing Zanu-PF and silencing the aggrieved opposition.
Due to these disputed elections, Zimbabwe has remained stagnant in terms of economic development. The major beneficiary of Zimbabwe being economically weak is South Africa, as Zimbabweans are flocking into that country to look for employment and a better business environment.
The behavior of the Electoral Commission of South Africa, the police and the courts shows that the country has a functioning democracy and rule of law.
