Open letter to Comrade Gwede Mantashe

Dear Comrade Secretary General

When the ANC campaigned to be elected as the new government of South Africa, it promised not only to uphold the constitution of South Africa but to protect the rights of its people and put into place economic and social transformation that would hopefully result in a better quality of life for all it's the majority of its citizens.

The overwhelming majority of South Africans gave you the privilege to implement your stated vision and to manage the affairs of the state of this country, only on that promise. On that day, the ANC ceased to be a liberation political party and became a government with a mandate to manage this country and its institutions and promote and represent democracy and freedom in all its dealings for all its peoples.

On that day the responsibility of the ANC ceased to be only to its party members but became a responsibility to all including those Africans that may be affected by its dispositions on issues and challenges not limited by its borders but by its influence on the future of Africa.

It is with much embarrassment that I write to you to remonstrate at your recent attempt to separate the ANC's foreign policy and the responsibilities of the government of the Republic of South Africa towards Zimbabweans in general.

Comrade it inconceivable that as a representative of the leading party in government you seek to separate your views, positions and objectives and those of the government of the Republic of South Africa. In my opinion, it would be similar to you dissociating your party's stated economic policy with that of government and yet it is on that very ticket that you enthusiastically and successfully campaigned on why you should govern.

When you overtly support ZANU(PF) and boldly state that it is the only political formation that can represent the interests of Zimbabweans and even dispatch your apparatus to strategize support and assist ZANU(PF) so that it may stay in power, you rubbish the lives of 20,000 Zimbabweans slaughtered for political gain in Matabeleland.

You rubbish the lives and livelihoods of an estimated 700,000 families who lost their homes simply because ZANU(PF) decreed that it shall be so. My comrade, you rubbish the opinions, aspirations and hopes of in excess of 3 million Zimbabweans who have chosen to leave the comfort of their motherland and seek a livelihood elsewhere because of ZANU(PF) has failed to represent their interests and hopes for a better future. Suffice it here to remind you that these 3 million count more than the membership of your political party that seeks to see ZANU(PF) retain its advantageous and injurious political position.

Comrade, in your statement, you have carelessly rubbished those that died during our liberation struggle and our struggle heroes who fought and died to liberate all Zimbabweans from tyranny regardless of which political party they may support and who the tyrant may be.

Under the skirt of support for other liberation movements, a policy your party chooses to continually dissociate from human rights issues the rights of Africans in general, you hide and claim that the support of ZANU(PF) by your party provides no conflict  or paradox between the South Africa Presidency and its responsibilities towards ushering freedom in Zimbabwe. If the truth be said, this is a highly irresponsible and insensitive disposition that I encourage you to reexamine.

You see, my dear comrade, despite what you may wish, it is trite to attempt to separate the South African government's policies from that of the ANC for surely that would make you irrelevant as a party. It would mean to most of us that, as soon as the ANC dissociates its policies and dispositions from that of the responsibilities of the government it is by insinuation, reneging on its responsibilities to those that voted it into power.

I would dare you, comrade, to try and campaign during the next elections on the understanding that as the ANC your policies that you use to gain votes with will not necessarily be those that you represent once you are in government and that your views as the ANC must never be associated with those of the government. That is what you are saying to us when it comes to Zimbabwe and yet we should not think the same when it comes to other pressing issues faced by this country.

Comrade you cannot and must not forget your responsibilities as a party in the promotion of democracy and freedom in Zimbabwe and on that issue you can only stand by that which is right for ordinary Zimbabweans and not enthusiastically and without shame support a party that has demonstrated its disregard for the hopes and aspirations of many Zimbabweans.

In my mind there is no difference between Julius Malema supporting Mugabe and his minions while rubbishing the opposition party as your party president (and the current president of the Republic of South Africa) attempts to mediate and you stating that you will, as a political formation, continue to support and do all you can to prop up a dictatorship whose demise is inevitable as has been the case in North Africa. Surely my comrade you could face a disciplinary hearing for that?

Comrade, I have no doubt at all that the ANC needs to look to the future of this region and not its past relationships with those that have ceased to represent the interest of those they govern. It is time comrade for you to educate and empower yourselves to be relevant in that future and your relevance will be based on what economic freedoms you achieve for your people and not what you achieved through the armed struggle for that, although necessary and laudable, is now a historical fact.

Africans are looking for a new leadership that sheds the hangover of past victories and looks to building a new Africa based on respect of human dignity and freedom for them to pursue their ambitions without hindrance from those that may have liberated them. Our country has suffered because the past is always used as justification for current injustices perpetrated by our so called liberators. Our liberators have become our oppressors and I doubt that this is a mentality you wish to propagate especially given the current state of affairs within this country and your party in particular.

As an African I am dissatisfied at your disposition towards Zimbabwe and your insinuation that we must separate that which you say from the intentions of a government represented by those that comprise your party membership and are therefore bound by the party's principles, values and policy objectives. You cadres, whom you have deployed within state institutions and strategic sectors of this economy, must surely be in conflict as they attempt to represent and manage the interests of all South Africans while getting direction from their party that denies congruence between government and party policy?

My comrade, as we break for the holidays I propose that you afford yourself an opportunity to reflect on your views and disposition towards ZANU(PF) and Zimbabwe. I urge you to hasten the renewal of your mind if indeed; the ANC is to remain relevant and true to its values that I respect.

With much respect I beg you my comrade, to let these truths force themselves into your judicious mind and pray that those that have placed you in your current position as the secretary general of the ANC and leading party in the government of the Republic of South Africa exonerate and afford you the opportunity to rethink and accelerate your edification on this matter

May peace be with you and let freedom ring.

Yours truly,

Comrade Vincent  Musewe

Vincent Musewe is a Zimbabwean economist based in South Africa and you may contact him on [email protected]

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