Ramaphosa’s private Zimbabwe farm visit sparks questions over true purpose
· Citizen
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s weekend visit to Zimbabwe has raised speculation and eyebrows about its real purpose and timing.
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Ramaphosa met President Emmerson Mnangagwa privately at his farm in Kwekwe.
Ramaphosa met Mnangagwa at his Kwekwe farm
Some speculated that Ramaphosa was on a mission to strike some private business deal or deals with members of the Zimbabwean business sector, given that he flew in the same helicopter as people described by the Zimbabwean media as “tender magnates” in that country.
Others wondered whether Ramaphosa might have been pursuing a Thabo Mbeki-style “silent diplomacy” to cut a deal that would secure Mnangagwa’s political future.
This, amid unconfirmed reports that some Zanu-PF members want the president to step down when his term ends in 2028.
Mbeki intervened in 2009 when president Robert Mugabe refused to accept defeat by Morgan Tsvangirai and step down.
The former SA president instead mediated a deal in which Mugabe remained president and Tsvangirai became prime minister, a newly created position.
Analysts suggest SADC talks about succession or private deals
Political analyst Sandile Swana said calling the visit private was a tactic to divert attention from the fact that Ramaphosa was there on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to initiate early talks about Mnangagwa’s exit.
Another independent analyst, Goodenough Mashego, linked Ramaphosa’s visit to Mugabe’s son, Bellarmine Mugabe, who last month paid a R600 000 fine and got deported instead of being jailed.
Mugabe pleaded guilty in a Johannesburg court to pointing a firearm and illegally being in the country.
He was arrested following the shooting of a 23-year-old man at his home in Johannesburg.
Pictures posted online by the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation showed Mnangagwa taking Ramaphosa around his farm.
Picture suggested visit was sanctioned by state
In another, the Zimbabwean leader is seen sitting in his armchair in official gear and Zimbabwean state colours, while Ramaphosa sits casually on a beige sofa smiling for the camera.
But Mashego said Ramaphosa and Mnangagwa’s dress codes belied what was officially announced about their meeting.
He said it was striking that while Ramaphosa was in semicasual wear in a Madiba shirt, Mnangagwa wore a suit and his traditional official Zimbabwean flag scarf.
Mashego said the whole picture indicated that Ramaphosa’s visit was sanctioned by the state in terms of the SADC tutelage.