The Democratic Alliance (DA), a key partner in South Africa’s coalition government, has urged the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to reconsider hosting its upcoming summit in Zimbabwe.
The call comes as Zimbabwe faces a surge in arrests of pro-democracy and human rights activists, sparking concerns over the country’s commitment to freedom of expression.
In a statement, the DA expressed its concern over the unilateral arrests and urged South African government officials to speak out against the crackdown.
The party emphasized that the SADC Summit, scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe, must address the issue decisively.
Ironically, Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to assume the chairmanship of SADC, despite his government’s questionable human rights record.
The DA’s call for a venue change highlights the growing unease among regional partners about Zimbabwe’s actions and their implications for the region’s democratic values.
“The Democratic Alliance calls on the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, to exercise South Africa’s right as a member of SADC and urgently demand that the 44th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads State and Government – scheduled to be held on 17 August 2024 in Harare, Zimbabwe, be moved to a different location.
“The DA makes this call following multiple reports of yet another State-sponsored clampdown on pro-democracy activists by a paranoid ZANU-PF regime, fearing public protests in the lead-up to the summit,” reads the statement.
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) points out that the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) founding treaty explicitly requires member states to uphold and adhere to the fundamental principles of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
By hosting the summit in Zimbabwe, SADC risks contradicting its own founding values, given the country’s recent track record of human rights violations and suppression of democratic freedoms.
“ZANU-PF illegitimate regime in Harare has yet again vi0lated these principles with impunity in the lead-up to the summit: Jameson Timba (an opposition politician), together with 77 opposition activists, have been detained, held in horrific conditions, and repeatedly denied bail after they were arrested for allegedly holding an ‘unauthorised political meeting’.
“Recently, four democracy activists were taken off a plane at Robert Mugabe International Airport and charged with disorderly conduct for being part of a protest that demanded the release of the 77 opposition party members who have been in pre-trial detention for over six weeks.
“By @busing state machinery to violate the rights of Zimbabweans, the unrepentant ZANU-PF regime has demonstrated that it is prepared to go to any lengths to vi0late the law in order to entrench its authoritarian rule. South Africa, and by extension the SADC, have an obligation to hold the Zimbabwean government to account.
“Allowing the summit to proceed under the current circumstances will not only endorse ZANU-PF’s flagrant @buse of international law, but further undermine the principles upon which SADC was established. President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s upcoming SADC Chairmanship is testament to the continued failure of regional leaders to hold these political thugs to account,” further said the former opposition party.
“South Africa, as a leading member of SADC, must now take a firm stand to uphold international law and advocate for the summit to be moved to a location that upholds and respects democratic values.
“This action would send a clear message that South Africa, as a member of the SADC, will no longer tolerate the suppression of democratic freedoms on our doorstep,” reads the statement.
