Well, you’ve got to hand it to ZANU-PF spokesperson Patrick Chinamasa: This is one hell of a comeback. The Zimbabwe government may be lying through its back teeth to conceal the widespread abuse of human rights in the country – but they have certainly got South Africa’s number with this parting shot at SANDF.
ZIMBABWE SLAM SA FOR ‘BRUTALITY CLAIMS’
On Friday, the ruling party of Zimbabwe reacted furiously to claims made by Ace Magashule. The ANC Secretary-General told eNCA that he and his comrades were concerned about reports of brutality by soldiers in the neighbouring nation. President Ramaphosa has issued two special envoys to investigate the situation across the border, but this has only served to anger Chinamasa and the rest of ZANU-PF:
- Patrick Chinamasa has denied that there is ‘any brutality’ in Zimbabwe – despite videos depicting otherwise.
- He claims ‘fugitives of justice’ escaped Zimbabwe and are now trying to smear the government.
- The spokesperson claims that Ace Magashule has ’embarrassed himself’ by listening to ‘keyboard warriors’.
- He says that the stories of crackdowns on Zimbabwean journalists are ‘hogwash’ – again, there is evidence that proves Chinamasa’s assertions are false.
- He also invoked the memories of Marikana, saying that Zimbabwe ‘did not intervene then’. Ouch…
ZANU-PF REMINDS ANC ABOUT SANDF CONDUCT
That wasn’t the only stick that Chinamasa used to beat the South African government with. Referring to the deployment of SANDF soldiers on the streets during lockdown, he made it clear that Zimbabwe was aware of the brutality happening on our shores. In terms of international diplomacy, we believe this is called a ‘mic drop’:
“We note that this isn’t the first time a senior ANC leader has sought to speak like Zimbabwe’s prefect. Zanu-PF categorically states that Ace Magashule’s utterances were completely out of order. For the record, there is no brutality of whatever form happening in Zimbabwe. We are just enforcing our lockdown measures.”
“SANDF has beaten non-compliant citizens using fists and sjamboks. In some circumstances, we’ve seen them fire rubber bullets at their citizens, resulting in serious injuries and deaths. It has been reported that members of SANDF killed eight citizens during the lockdown. Zanu-PF has not uttered a word in public.”
-Patrick Chinamasa
