South Africa and China have called on anyone aggrieved by the results of last week’s harmonised elections to follow available legal processes and not resort to violence.
In an interview with his country’s media yesterday, South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa said the SADC region and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, detest violence in all its forms, and called for peace in Zimbabwe.
“Violence is one of those reactions that we abhor and want to avoid. And the Secretary-General of the United Nations has made the same call and so do we,” said President Ramaphosa.
“Violence must be avoided at all costs.
“Elections are processes that are always either disputed or accepted, and when they are disputed, there are always channels, in every country, to challenge the outcome of the elections and we want that to always be done on a peaceful basis.”
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President Ramaphosa said it was important to wait until all processes underway in Zimbabwe were completed before people made unnecessary remarks.
In Zimbabwe, High Court judges preside over Electoral Courts which deal with petitions for the Parliamentary elections, with very tight deadlines for submitting the petitions and deciding the issue, and the Constitutional Court, again with tight deadlines for submitting a petition and for making a decision, deals with the Presidential poll.
President Ramaphosa said he had sent his congratulations to President Mnangagwa following his re-election, on the basis of the declaration of results by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC).
In its congratulatory statement, China’s deputy director of information at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Mr Wang Wenbin, said as a friend to Zimbabwe, they have been closely following the general elections in Harare.
He said at Zimbabwe’s invitation, China sent an observer mission there, which believes the elections were held in a peaceful and orderly fashion with active participation by the people.
“We have noted the result released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and extend congratulations to President Mnangagwa,” said Mr Wang. “We stand ready to work with the new Government to bring our two countries’ comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership to new heights.”
Mr Wang called on all parties to put the people’s interests first and resolve any differences properly through legal means.
“China adheres to the principle of non-interference in other countries’ internal affairs. We respect the Zimbabwe people’s choice, wish the country continued stability after the election and greater progress in pursuing national development and prosperity,” he said.
South Africa and China’s remarks come after CCC leader Mr Nelson Chamisa has promised to unleash violence so as to grab the leadership of the country.
Addressing the media this week, Mr Chamisa said he will not wait until 2028 to try to become Zimbabwe’s president.
But police have said they have adequate machinery to deal with any trouble-causers who may want to unseat a democratically elected Government.
Yesterday, CCC deputy spokesperson Mr Gift Siziba said they wanted fresh elections, despite the fact that all those who won in National Assembly and local authority elections have been celebrating their victories, achieved under similar electoral circumstances.
Some of the CCC winners such as Ms Fadzayi Mahere, who won the Mt Pleasant National Assembly seat, have since congratulated voters for voting for her. Herald
