OPINION: South Africa Envoys: They Came, They Saw And Nothing Changed - NewsDay Opinionist

A Newsday Columnist penned the following piece in which he spoke about the events leading to President Mnangagwa’s popularity as a reformer nosediving since the infamous August 1 shootings till now. The opinionist also spoke about reports circulating that the president barred the South African Envoys sent by South African President Cyril Ramaphisa saying there is no crisis in Zimbabwe and said the president would do anything to cling to power and history will judge him harshly for that:

So, the special envoys sent by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa came and went and nothing has changed, or looks like it will in President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s dystopian reality that has become Zimbabwe. According to reports and sources, the trip did not start or end well, with Mnangagwa denying the three-team delegation of Baleka Mbethe, Sydney Mufamadi and Ngoako Abel Ramatlhodi the opportunity to meet other stakeholders that did not start and end with him. Mnangagwa, still living in a world in which he is lord of all he surveys and everyone who is not his footstool is the problem, is adamant that there was no crisis in the country. He argues that he is merely dealing with some malcontents that are hellbent on causing chaos in what should be his paradise.

The “malcontents” of course, include pesky journalists such as Hopewell Chin’ono and Mduduzi Mathuthu for daring to write about the grand theft of COVID-19 tender funds worth US$60 million given to a two-week-old firm, Drax International that is connected to his family, including his wife and children. Mnangagwa, of course, denied ever meeting Delish Nguwaya, a convicted criminal who has met him and his wife, Auxillia several times and is a business associate of his son, Collins.

This is despite State media running pictures of Mnangagwa meeting with the shady character for a US$60 million COVID-19 “donation” that turned out to be false. ZBC even suspended the journalist who took the video for the story which headlined its main 8pm bulletin.

Valdano Brown, Mnangagwa’s chief bodyguard and nephew, was also awarded a tender under similarly suspicious circumstances for a company called Jaji Investments. Mathuthu went into hiding as State security agents sought his arrest and has so far avoided the fate that befell Chin’ono who has been a guest of the state for attempting to hold Mnangagwa accountable. Other “malcontents” include all those who have dared question him and political opponents who have made his life uncomfortable by speaking against his misrule.

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Since August 1, 2018, the world came to know that Mnangagwa was no democrat and certainly no reformist but gave him a free pass and hoped it was a one off. January 2019 showed that hope to be misplaced and such has been the brutality of the latest assault on human rights by the regime that the world had to do something. Powerful images of soldiers and police unleashing terror on helpless civilians, political activists, nurses, journalists, trade union leaders being arrested or abducted and tortured showed the world the depravity of the regime and Mnangagwa’s fast descent into a tinpot dictator.

No amount of denying or spin will help Mnangagwa, as the United Nations, African Union and have already made a statement: We are watching you. As responsible media, we are recording all your actions for history to judge.

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