Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Presidency said it “noted” the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) reports of widespread irregularities in Zimbabwe’s elections.
But there was no mention of the claims of “intimidation” faced by Zimbabwean voters.
On Monday, the Presidency congratulated the Zimbabwean government and its people for “organising and holding the harmonised elections”, during which President Emmerson Mnangagwa, of the ruling Zanu-PF, was re-elected.
The Presidency, without elaborating, merely said it had “taken note of the preliminary pronouncements by the invited international observers missions”, which included the SADC and the African Union.
The SADC, in its initial findings, stated that the elections were marred by restricted freedom of expression for opposition parties and voters, including prevalent intimidation by rogue military formations.
“The [observer] mission was informed that the rural vote may be compromised by alleged intimidation attributed to a group called Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ), which is said to be a quasi-security intelligence organisation. The group was said to have been deployed to wards and around 36 000 villages,” reads the SADC’s report.
It added:
The Presidency, however, said: “South Africa is conscious that these elections took place under a difficult economic environment due to the burdening sanctions which the people of Zimbabwe continue to unjustly endure.”
Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission declared Mnangagwa the winner, with 52.6% of the vote, beating his closest presidential challenger, the Citizens Coalition for Change’s Nelson Chamisa, who got 44%.
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