Arrest of Tendai Biti in Zimbabwe

Statement by Ryan Smith MP – DA Spokesperson on International Relations and Cooperation:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the arrest of Zimbabwean opposition leader, Tendai Biti by state police on the afternoon of 21 March 2026. Biti, who is the leader of the Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF), was detained by state authorities along with other party members and a local journalist in the town of Mutare. No details of the charges to be brought against Biti have been made public.

The CDF has garnered widespread support in recent years for its opposition to constitutional amendments to extend the rule of Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa. Zimbabwe recently gazetted Constitution Amendment Bill No. 3, which would introduce far-reaching proposals to usher in limitless presidential terms for the ZANU-PF under the guise of technical reforms to electoral cycles and governance structures.

This would further entrench the ZANU-PF’s dictatorship by bending the Zimbabwean constitution to permit and justify complete party-state control while crushing democracy.

This latest act of wanton state brutality on political freedom should sound alarm bells to the South African Presidency and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). Zimbabwe’s democratic backslide and subsequent state collapse continues to threaten regional stability and is the source of one of South Africa’s largest migration crises. South Africa cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the crisis on its doorstep.

We call on President Cyril Ramaphosa and Minister Ronald Lamola to condemn Tendai Biti’s arrest and urgently engage with Zimbabwean authorities through diplomatic channels to reconsider this draconian legislative proposal. South Africa cannot continue to prop up its fraternity of leaders who continue to trample on democracy and the rights of citizens across the Southern African region.

This recent act of state oppression follows a worrying trend seen in countries such as Uganda and Tanzania which have arrested opposition leaders on trumped up charges of treason to silence opposing voices and sideline democracy.

The ANC, which holds the presidency and the ministry of foreign affairs in the Government of National Unity (GNU), cannot turn a blind eye to the emergence of autocratic despots which threaten the stability of the entire Southern African region.

Section 11.9 of the GNU’s statement of intent commits South Africa to a foreign policy based on human rights and constitutionalism. South Africa cannot continue to speak out against every other injustice in other parts of the world while ignoring the most egregious violations next door.

President Ramaphosa and Minister Lamola have a duty to promote these values within our region, and it is incumbent on them to take seriously their constitutional duty to secure regional stability and prosperity by ensuring that freedom and democracy survive and thrive.