Zanu PF now rural party: SA minister

Source: Zanu PF now rural party: SA minister – DailyNews Live

Gift Phiri      31 May 2017

HARARE – South Africa (SA)’s Higher Education minister Blade Nzimande has
slammed President Robert Mugabe’s long-ruling Zanu PF, labelling it a
“rural party”.

The general secretary of South African Communist Party (SACP) – an ally of
the ruling African National Congress (ANC) – told a Cosatu meeting in
Pretoria on Monday that Zanu PF had lost the largely black urban base
after embarking on a controversial land repossession programme that
brought the once prosperous southern African economy to its knees.

He said 93-year-old Mugabe seized white-owned commercial farms to resettle
landless blacks, who had little or no experience in agriculture.

“Because iZanu PF essentially has lost the urban working class, has lost
the middle classes, has lost the professionals, has lost many urban-based
organisations, it’s become a rural party because of the mistakes they are
making. Now ama comrades are denying that there is a problem,” he said.

The rural vote is the mainstay of support for Mugabe and Zanu PF, which
liberated Zimbabwe from white minority rule in 1980 after fighting a
guerrilla war.

Nzimande said urbanites – dominated by academics and professionals – have
largely become “enemies” of Zanu PF.

“When we went to Zimbabwe around 2000, i(the) SACP sent a delegation on a
fact-finding mission when we were engaged with our Zanu PF comrades.

“Everybody was the enemy. I ZCTU (the largest labour federation Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions) was the enemy, ama professionals, ama academics,
everybody.

“And then we said, how come comrades all these forces you say are enemies
today were part of the victorious forces led by Zanu PF on the victory of
your struggle in 1980? What has changed?” Nzimande said.

Mugabe says the land seizures were part of an ambitious black empowerment
drive and sought to correct colonial injustices that left 70 percent of
the best farmland in the hands of whites.

The long-time ruler – raring to stand in Zimbabwe’s 2018 election when he
turns 94 – blames Zimbabwe’s economic woes on Western-imposed sanctions.

Nzimande warned that “i (the) danger (is) once ama liberation movements
begin to lose power or sense that they are beginning to lose power, they
start doing a lot of funny things. Yes”.

“The first thing, they start coming up with radical concepts esingazazi
ukuthi zivela ngaphi (which we have no idea where they are coming from),”
he said.

His remarks come amid a push in SA to amend its laws to allow
expropriation of land without compensation for owners, as it tries to
speed up the redistribution of land to its black majority.

“UMugabe lost i referendum and started radical land reform. Wathathi
umhlaba (He seized land) anyhow. And the next thing, if they don’t
succeed, they unleash the security forces on the population. And we must
not think that we are immune to that,” Nzimande said.