A South African opposition politician Mmusi Maimane has criticised the country’s leader, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s call for the unconditional lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Western powers.
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recently, Ramaphosa said the sanctions should be lifted as they are also affecting South Africa. He said:
The sanctions that are also being applied against South Africa’s neighbour, Zimbabwe, should also be lifted as they are imposing untold suffering on ordinary Zimbabweans, but also have a collateral negative impact on neighbouring countries as well such as my own country, South Africa.
Responding to Ramaphosa’s remarks, Maimane accused the South African leader of siding with the oppressor. He said:
You are on the wrong side of history and are hurting both South Africans and Zimbabweans by supporting this dictator. You have chosen to stand with the oppressor.
South Africa pays the price for the dictatorship in Zimbabwe. We pay in healthcare, in housing and social services.
Hundreds of thousands, probably millions of Zimbabweans, have migrated to South Africa over the past two decades in search of greener pastures after Zimbabwe’s economic collapse.
The Zimbabweans who migrated to South Africa are accused of overburdening the country’s social services.
Some of the illegal migrants have resorted to occupying abandoned buildings and engaging in street hawking.
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