Cool reception for SA envoys in Zimbabwe

Baleka Mbete and Sydney Mufamadi’s visit to Zimbabwe over the weekend was overshadowed by a public spat between the ANC and Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF over ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule’s reference to the Zimbabwe Government’s recent ‘brutality’. As previously reported in Legalbrief Today, Ramaphosa appointed the diplomats as his special envoys to ‘engage’ with Harare and relevant stakeholders ‘to identify possible ways in which SA can assist’. The Daily Maverick reports that both Zanu-PF and the opposition MDC welcomed Ramaphosa’s initiative, although not without reservations. Nkululeko Sibanda, spokesperson for MDC leader Nelson Chamisa said ‘we certainly welcome the effort by SA, including SADC and the AU, which President Ramaphosa currently chairs'. However, Zanu-PF said Magashule accusations were baseless, ‘considering that his sources are self-exiled Saviour Kasukuwere and friends’. Kasukuwere was a Minister in the Cabinet of former President Robert Mugabe who was ousted in November 2017 by current President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the military.

Meanwhile, police fired rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse dozens of protesters outside the Zimbabwean embassy in Pretoria on Friday. About 100 mainly Zimbabwean migrants gathered to protest economic hardship and the recent crackdown on dissent and political opposition back home. A report on the News24 site notes that Mnangagwa last week vowed to ‘flush out’ critics who he described as ‘dark forces’ and ‘terrorists’ after the authorities thwarted anti-government protests. Draped in their county's national flag, protesters waved placards, some reading ‘Mnangagwa: You are going to The Hague! Murderer!’

In other developments, the Zimbabwean High Court judge has dismissed an investigative journalist's appeal against a lower court's ruling denying him bail. Hopewell Chin'ono was arrested on 20 July for allegedly using his Twitter handle to incite the public to topple the government. The Nation reports that High Court judge Tawanda Chitapi said Chin'ono's lawyers had made a procedural error by filling an application challenging his placement on remand instead of contesting the bail refusal. Several activists were arrested for taking part in the protests while others are still in hiding.