Cape Town – Outspoken One SA Movement leader, Mmusi Maimane has written a strong message to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa, telling him that Zimbabweans will be free and that those in South Africa will return home to build their country.
“Your days of evil and tyranny will come to an end. In 2023 Zimbabwe will be free, the Zimbabweans who are in South Africa will return and rebuild their country.
“We will be watching closely and you will not find any appetite for your tactics,” Maimane tweeted.
To “quarter Mugabe” @edmnangagwa your days of evil and tyranny will come to an end.
In 2023 Zimbabwe will be free, the Zimbabweans who are in South Africa will return and rebuild their country.
We will be watching closely and you will not find any appetite for your tactics.
— Mmusi Maimane (@MmusiMaimane) March 26, 2022
Maimane said this as Zimbabweans voted on Saturday in key parliamentary by-elections seen as a test for Mnangagwa’s ruling party in next year’s general polls.
According to Times Live, Maimane is a supporter of Nelson Chamisa, leader of the opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC). Chamisa’s newly-formed party contested elections for the first time.
The polls generated so much interest in the run-up that Mnangangwa led various campaign rallies to shore up support for his Zanu-PF candidates.
The southern African country has for years been grappling with economic hardships, joblessness and accusations the government was stifling dissent.
ALSO READ | By-elections in Zimbabwe seen as test for ruling party
Chamisa, who is seen as the most formidable challenger to Mnangangwa, formed his new CCC party three months before the by-elections.
He sees the election as a “crucial… a dry run of the 2023 election”, AFP reported.
The new party drew massive crowds to its campaign rallies.
Chamisa’s party complained of growing repression by the authorities as several of its rallies were banned by the police during the two-month-long campaign.
Unrest at an opposition rally last month left one person dead and 22 injured.
During the campaign, the country’s vice president Constantino Chiwenga likened the opposition to lice which should be “crushed” and Mnangagwa vowed at a Thursday rally that Zanu-PF would rule “forever”.
Zanu-PF, which has led the country since independence from Britain in 1980, also attracted huge campaign crowds.
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Additional reporting by AFP
