SOUTH Africa’s main opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema has called on Zimbabweans to stand up against the deteriorating human rights situation under President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration ahead of the August 23 harmonised elections.
Malema’s call comes at a time when Zimbabwe's political environment edges towards an uneven playing field with critics and analysts predicting a contested election.
Last year, ZimRights in a survey established that next month’s polls were the leading cause of distress among Zimbabweans as political tensions heighten.
In an interview aired on SABC News, Malema said it was time for Zimbabweans to defend the vote and restore peace and dignity.
“They must never despair. They must continue to fight for their country and reclaim it from kleptocracy and criminality that has hijacked Zimbabwe,” Malema said. “We want Zimbabweans to fight to take their own country back. We want the international community to lift the sanctions and let’s get Zimbabwe to function again.”
Malema also called on Zimbabweans in the diaspora to help in defending the vote in solidarity with the struggling masses back home.
“These people who are saying they are Zimbabweans all over are the ones who should be marching in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and demanding free and fair elections.
“This thing of pretentious elections is not going to work and is not going to deliver the much-needed confidence that Zimbabweans need now from the international community.
- Letter to my people: Mthuli Ncube is mounting a dead horse
- Arbitration insights: The origins of commercial arbitration
- News in depth: Mnangagwa administration elbows out British investor under a cloud
- Letter to my people: Mthuli Ncube is mounting a dead horse
Keep Reading
“The Zimbabweans must never despair and must continue to fight for their country, one day they shall know real peace and freedom.”
Early last week, Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland urged Zimbabweans to hold free and fair elections.
“We wish Zimbabwe well,we ask all of the actors to have a peaceful, just, democratic election so the voice of the people of Zimbabwe will be heard and heard carefully and clearly. We say to Zimbabwe our prayers are with all of you,” she said.
