Share

‘Things can boil over’: Solidarity group wants a legitimate election in Zim

accreditation
Musa Koopedi, the director at the Action Support Centre, which hosted the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum on Thursday morning. Picture: Phelokazi Mbude.
Musa Koopedi, the director at the Action Support Centre, which hosted the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum on Thursday morning. Picture: Phelokazi Mbude.

With concerns of an undemocratic election in Zimbabwe on July 30, the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum sent a team to the country to note the sentiments of the citizens ahead to the elections.

The team – which included representatives from labour, faith-based, human rights and student organisations – lived in communities hosted by ordinary people in the country to get a better understanding of what people think and feel about the upcoming elections.

In a report back at the Action Support Centre offices in Johannesburg on Thursday, the team said what they hoped was to help produce “a conducive environment” for a legitimate election.

“The main purpose of the mission was to carry out an assessment of the pre-electoral environment in the run up to the harmonised presidential, parliamentary and local 2018 Zimbabwe elections,” said the forum in a statement delivered by activist, Bishop Paul Verryn.

“Priority was given to areas of potential conflicts based on an assessment of the 2013 election hot spots and updated information received from our solidarity partners in Zimbabwe,” said Verryn.

The forum said it identified Gutu North, Hurungwe East and Hurungwe West, among others, as hot spots for political violence. They said they monitored Hurungwe East particularly close.

The Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum team that went to Zimbabwe was lead by Munjodzi Mutandiri. They said their activities in the country included interacting with Zimbabweans “from all walks of life”. This included officials at the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and police officers at rallies.

“The mission interacted with activities directly related to the elections including rallies, voter education seminars, political debates, civic education sessions and direct campaign events,” said Verryn.

The forum said it was already taking action by holding various pickets in Cape Town, Pretoria and other parts of the continent.

“We believe that solidarity is part of [the] important ingredients as to shape societies but at the core of that solidarity must be a people-centred agenda,” said Mutandiri.

“In many respects the 2018 election environment appears to be free and fair than any other election that has come before it. But this appearance might also still be revealed as a shallow cover-up of deeper electoral concerns,” said Verryn.

The forum identified a number of concerns they observed at the different communities in Zimbabwe, the main concerns being fear of intimidation and the state of the economy.

“The militarisation of ZEC undermines the credibility of the election, not least because of the role that the military has played in the body politic of Zimbabwe since independence,” said Verryn.

They said they found that there was serious tension between Zanu-PF and National Patriotic Front (NPF) supporters.

Mutandiri said he got a sense that “things can boil over”.

Gosiame Choabi from the South African Council of Churches, who was also part of the team in Zimbabwe said people expressed concerns about being told to “vote correctly” at voting stations – particularly in Masvingo province, a province in the south east of Zimbabwe.

He said locals also told them about army presence in institutions of learning while the education programs continue. He called this “silent intimidation”.

The Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum now calls on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the Zimbabwe government and all political parties to make all efforts to minimise chances of a disputed election.

In addition, the forum wants the Southern African Development Community to support Zimbabwe to hold a free and fair election that is credible, peaceful and transparent.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you believe that the various planned marches against load shedding will prompt government to bring solutions and resolve the power crisis?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes
20% - 103 votes
No
80% - 403 votes
Vote