ACTSA statement on international reaction to the death of Robert Mugabe

ACTSA is saddened and frustrated by comments made by the South African and British governments following the death of former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, on 6 September 2019.

President Cyril Ramaphosa is correct to assert that Mugabe was a hero of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle who inspired and supported the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. Yet the South African leader’s remarks are completely one-sided. Ramaphosa simply ignores the many serious crimes for which Mugabe was responsible, including: massacres in Matabeleland and the Midlands in the 1980s; a violent and corrupt land reform programme initiated in 2000; a major campaign of forced evictions in 2005; and large-scale violence against his political opponents in the 2008 elections. Ramaphosa also overlooks the crimes of Zimbabwe’s current leaders, President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga, whose penchant for brutality and tolerance of corruption is reminiscent of the man they deposed.

So many Southern African leaders, Ramaphosa included, are guilty of misplaced solidarity. Governments in the region should unite and vigorously challenge an unjust global economic system that leads to huge financial outflows from the poorest countries, thus harming the ability of governments to realise the economic and social rights of their citizens. Instead, the vast majority of leaders in the region are silent when their peers violate civil and political rights – at times they actively shield them from criticism. Such an approach is nothing other than a betrayal of the great anti-colonial movements of the 20^th century.

When Mugabe was forced out of power in November 2017, human rights and democracy activists, including ACTSA, criticised claims that the tyrant’s downfall automatically meant that Zimbabwe had a brighter future. We understood that Mnangagwa and Chiwenga had only ever shown contempt for human rights and democracy. Sadly, the UK government not only ignored these warnings, but actively promoted the idea that the new Zimbabwean leadership was committed to principles of inclusive and effective governance. However, after the regime killed 12 people during the fuel protests in January 2019, the UK government completely changed its position, arguing that European Union sanctions on Zimbabwe should be extended.

Yet the UK government’s comments following the death of Mugabe clearly suggest that it is returning to its original narrative – a narrative that has proven to be nonsensical. A Downing Street spokesperson has claimed that the coup marked a ‘turning point’ and that Mugabe’s death may somehow allow ‘Zimbabwe to move on from the legacy of its past’. There was no significant change in Zimbabwe after Mugabe’s resignation. It is extremely difficult to see how anything will change for the better following his death. The UK government must accept that the current leadership is committed to holding onto power at all costs and to crushing dissent.

Governments in the region and key international actors, such as the UK government, must review their approaches towards Zimbabwe and place human rights at the center of their foreign policies.