Harare- South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has broken with tradition admitting that there was a political crisis in Zimbabwe.
In an interview, ANC’s International Relations Committee chairperson Lindiwe Zulu said there is an urgent need to resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe.
“We have already said it from an ANC point of view that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe that needs us from a party political angle as the liberation movement ANC plus Zanu PF liberation movement.
“It’s important for us to engage each other and go back to what has been happening in the past and how we got to where we are right now and then be honest and frank about what we need to do to help the situation. Zimbabwe is our neighbour, we cannot close our ears and eyes to that … What we think should be done is for both parties to be frank with each other about what is happening in Zimbabwe and we take it from there.” said Zulu
Zulu said engagement is the only way out of the current crisis and South Africa has also gone through the same phase.
“… There can never be a situation without a solution … This is Africa and we have always said as ANC that as Africans we must always find solutions to African problems and as a political party it’s our responsibility to continuously engage until we are comfortable with the situation there and feel that we are proud of what is happening, we are comfortable with what is happening.
“So, engagement is almost synonymous with that as South Africa. We have been there, we have gone through that, we are where we are today because we engaged until we got where we are, the same thing will happen about Zimbabwe.
“From the party political angle, we will engage but at the same time as we said so, we will respect the other processes of engagement by President Cyril Ramaphosa. He sent envoys there; the envoys will come back and report to him. We will leave that to the president to deal with when the envoys come back.” said Zulu
Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu PF has been rattled by recent outbursts from top ANC officials over the current political crisis. This is something that has not been happening over the years with South Africa preferring the quiet diplomacy approach.