Zanu-PF spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa has insisted that no party will interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.
FILE: ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule at the post-NEC media briefing on Wednesday, 11 December 2019, at Luthuli House. Picture: @MYANC/Twitter
JOHANNESBURG – The governing party in Zimbabwe said that it had agreed with the African National Congress (ANC) that South Africa could not interfere in its internal affairs, saying that the two countries were equal sovereign states.
The BBC is quoting Zanu-PF spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa describing this week’s meeting as very frank and candid, with both parties agreeing that there was no need to intervene on Zimbabwean domestic matters.
The ANC delegation, led by secretary-general Ace Magashule, was in Harare for talks amid reports of human rights violations in South Africa’s northern neighbour.
Zanu-PF said that the ANC had been made to believe that there was a crisis in Zimbabwe.
Party spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa has insisted that no party will interfere in the country’s domestic affairs.
The meeting comes weeks after alleged political tensions in Zimbabwe, with claims of human rights abuses against those who are critics of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government.
Journalists and social activists were arrested for staging protests in Harare.
The ANC’s trip, meanwhile, has been mired in controversy after it emerged that the delegation used an SANDF jet to fly to Zimbabwe.
President Cyril Ramaphosa wants Defence Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to explain.
The Presidency’s acting spokesperson Tyrone Seale: “In the interest of good governance and the prudent and ethical use of state assets, the President has directed the Minister to provide a report within 48 hours that will set out the circumstances around the flight and the passenger list. The president welcomes the interest shown by South Africans in this matter as an indication of the nation’s vigilance against allegations of improper deployment of public resources.”
ANC NEC member Lindiwe Zulu, who was part of the delegation, has said that the crisis in Zimbabwe was a case of national importance which warranted the use of state resources.