Ramaphosa’s Zimbabwe Jaunt Raises Questions

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

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be submitting parliamentary questions to the Presidency to determine whether state funds were used to pay for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s jaunt to Zimbabwean President, Emmerson Mnangagwa’s private residence on Sunday for a what the Presidency has deemed an “in-person catch-up between two neighbours”. South African taxpayers deserve to know whether they are footing the bill for the president to fraternise with those responsible for Zimbabwe’s captured state.

News reports have now confirmed that Zimbabwean businessman, Wicknell Chivhayo, who formed part of the meeting delegation is under investigation by South Africa’s Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) over allegations of money laundering to the value of more than R800 million in Zimbabwean public funds linked to the country’s 2023 general election. Chivhayo’s bank accounts and high values assets, allegedly to the value of R5 billion, were also frozen by the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.

It is telling that just six months after South Africa managed to exit the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) greylist, our president continues to rub shoulders with alleged money launderers operating in our own country.

The Presidency’s claims that President Ramaphosa was unaware of the identities forming part of the Zimbabwean meeting delegation are a hollow excuse for a long history of African National Congress (ANC) leaders who have openly fraternised with Zimbabwean dictators since the ZANU-PF captured the country’s democracy and hijacked the state under the late former Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe.

President Ramaphosa’s meeting with Wicknell Chivhayo is not some random event which occurred by chance. It is what happens when the ANC not only meets with, but celebrates African dictators on the continent and in our own region. President Ramaphosa invited President Mnangawa to his inauguration as a guest of honour in 2024. The President’s engagement with deeply corrupt Zimbabwean businessmen, colloquially known as the ‘Zimbabwean Guptas’, is not by accident, but by diplomatic design.

If President Ramaphosa and the ANC showed any allegiance to the principles of freedom, democracy, and human rights enshrined in the constitution, they would not be openly associating with and celebrating those responsible for state capture in our own region. Zimbabwe’s democratic backslide is the sole reason for the immigration crisis South Africa has been subjected to since the late 90s, which places a tremendous burden on civic and social services, and stokes violent societal division in our country.

Presidential spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, yesterday stated that: “Africa needs to confront the root causes of high levels of migration, including conflict and misgovernance, instead of simply condemning South Africa over allegations of xenophobia”. It is high time Mr Magwenya and the ANC confront their own role in propping up and celebrating the very African dictatorships which are the root cause of migration and instability on the continent.

It is not the people of Zimbabwe who are to blame for fleeing to South Africa for a better life, it is President Ramaphosa and the ANC who continue to ignore human rights abuses and democratic capture in their own backyard out of pure political expediency. There must be diplomatic and economic consequences for those who jail opposition politicians, interfere with democratic processes, and capture elections – not Sunday afternoon jaunts.

As a member of the Government of National Unity (GNU) the DA will not tolerate the ANC’s excuses for smiling and waving with those responsible for Zimbabwe’s demise. Our constitution makes it very clear what our country should and should not tolerate in diplomatic principle. Perhaps the ANC should read it.