ZANU PF First Secretary President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday urged Party members to resist an alleged onslaught from Western countries against liberation movements in the region.
This comes weeks after South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.
In the National and Provincial Elections held on 29 May 2024, the ANC garnered a mere 40.2% of the vote, down from the 57.5% it received in 2019.
The ANC is now engaged in talks with various other parties such as DA and IFP to form a unity government for it to remain in power.
Addressing the 376th Ordinary Session of the ZANU PF Politburo at the party’s headquarters in Harare yesterday, Mnangagwa said:
I challenge us to remain vigilant and resolute in the face of the neo-imperial machinations from our country’s detractors.
Lessons and emerging trends against former liberation movements within and beyond the region are stark reminders of the sustained hegemonic tendencies of our erstwhile colonizers.
We must raise the political consciousness of our membership to defend our country, independence, and territorial integrity, now and into the future.
ZANU PF failed to secure a two-thirds majority in Parliament in the 2023 general elections even though the polls were condemned by international observer missions, including SADC, as not meeting regional standards.
However, soon after the elections an unknown former MDC member Sengezo Tshabangu recalled elected opposition CCC representatives saying he was the party’s interim secretary-general.
Subsequent by-elections enabled ZANU PF to finally secure a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly, amid reports Mnangagwa intends to hang on to power beyond 2028 when his second and final term ends.
