The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have condemned the Democratic Alliance (DA)’s rejection of political asylum for President Robert Mugabe. DA told President Jacob Zuma’s African National Congress (ANC) that President Mugabe is not welcome in South Africa. The DA stressed that Mugabe should not be granted political asylum after reports that Mugabe had agreed in principle to step down. According to an article in NewsDay, Mugabe is expected to go into exile in South Africa after he was ousted by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces on Wednesday.
However, EFF said that ANC should grant Mugabe asylum as this will advance peace in Zimbabwe and provide even better conditions for Zimbabweans to move faster into a better future under a democratic civilian rule.
EFF CONDEMNS THE DA’S REJECTION OF POLITICAL ASYLUM FOR PRESIDENT MUGABE Friday, November 17, 2017 I Mbuyiseni Quintin Ndlozi
The EFF condemns the DA’s rejection of the granting of political asylum to President Mugabe with the disgust and contempt it deserves. The DA basis its rejection of political asylum on the legal argument that President Mugabe does not qualify for political asylum under our immigration laws since he is suspected of human rights violations. This is despite the fact that no court of law in the world has ever found President Mugabe guilty of human rights violation, neither are there any credible courts in the world that have put such allegations against him.
President Mugabe remains one of us despite his many mistakes as President of Zimbabwe. As a matter of fact, he does not need any passport to come and live in South Africa and we shall never confine our relationship with him as an African leader to colonially imposed borders.
The DA’s rejection of political asylum to Mugabe is hypocritical because as a party they themselves house many apartheid politicians and bureaucrats who facilitated and sustained the worst forms of crimes against humanity. These characters have never been held responsible within our law in relation to their role under apartheid because our people chose peace and reconciliation over vengeance.
The DA’s anti-pan-Africanist position is in essence driven by vengeance for white Rhodesians whose farms were taken following the failure of the British government to implement the Lancaster Agreement. In the name of the properties of these whites, DA wants South Africa to reject Mugabe as a form of punishment.
Many DA adults are beneficiaries of inhuman forced removals of black people that occurred under apartheid and colonial times. Their families continue to live in neighbourhoods in South Africa that are a result of these forced removals. This includes over 80% of DA voters who are white people living in a land attained through a crime against humanity; colonisation and apartheid, yet nobody to this day has demanded vengeance against them, including denial of basic rights.
The DA’s racism has no shame because they openly associate and embrace other world leaders who preside over crimes against humanity like Benjamine Netanyahu of Israel. They never rush to courts to stop state visits of USA presidents to our country despite their records of human rights violations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. This is because, for the DA, only black African leaders must be punished.
We call on the ANC to be decisive for once in their lives and grant President Mugabe political asylum. This will advance peace in Zimbabwe and provide even better conditions for Zimbabweans to move faster into a better future under a democratic civilian rule.
President Mugabe’s moral record, with all its weaknesses, is still superior to moral records of many in the ranks of the DA who actively participated, benefited and continue to benefit from apartheid crimes against black people. The DA houses many fascists and proto-fascists in its parliament caucus who never paid for their apartheid crimes. These include Rika Kruger, Johannes Blanch (Blanche), Leslie Labuschagne, Tertius Delpolt, Sam Pienaar to mention a few. They are therefore the last political party to moralise over President Mugabe’s legacy since their own legacies are more questionable.
Peace in Africa, amongst Africans, must always be the priority of those who love our continent. It is in the interest of peace and stability that we believe President Mugabe must come to his home, South Africa and retire peacefully, whilst giving other generations of leaders in Zimbabwe a chance to advance his anti-imperialist legacy for themselves and the rest of the continent.
ISSUED BY THE ECONOMIC FREEDOM FIGHTERS
MBUYISENI QUINTIN NDLOZI
(National Spokesperson)
Website: http://www.effonline.org
Email: communications@effonline.org
Facebook: Economic Freedom Fighters ll Twitter: @EFFSouthAfrica and @MbuyiseniNdlozi