EXILED former Indigenisation Minister Saviour Kasukuwere has accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of attempts to reverse the gains of black empowerment which were introduced by late former President Robert Mugabe.
Kasukuwere was speaking Thursday at an event organised by South African opposition Economic Freedom Front (EFF) to celebrate the life of Mugabe.
The event was attended by thousands of supporters of EFF supporters in Soweto, Johannesburg.
Just like Mugabe’s Zanu PF, EFF has modelled its politics around a push for black empowerment.
“We now have a leadership that does not believe in black empowerment back home,” said the former Zanu PF political commissar.
“The moment you see yourself being acceptable to western capitals, just stand back and say, ‘comrade why am I selling out, what is the problem what have I done’?
“If President Mugabe was a coward, we could still be negotiating on terms on how to get the land.
“Yes, it has brought tremendous suffering to our country but comrades never sacrificed principle at the altar of expedience.
“In our country now, they are (Mnangagwa administration) busy reversing the gains of black empowerment to make who happy? White people, inviting them to run our country.
He added, “We are now waiting for a signal on how to deal with them. The old man (Mugabe) is gone, he should have just told us on how we were going to deal with these sell outs.
“Those who once turned against him and are now trying to get him back, those who want to bury him where he never wanted.
“How do you remove someone using an army and you say he is your hero tomorrow. You never wanted him in the first place.”
Kasukuwere was referring to the November 2017 Mugabe ouster with the assistance of the country’s military.
The former Mount Darwin MP also told the EFF that for several years, western countries tried to remove Mugabe from power but failed.
“The Western world failed to remove him from power; everyone else had failed. But who brought him down, it is those disciples, his disciples,” he said.
“They claimed that I wanted to remove President Mugabe from power, they removed me from the party and within four weeks, who removed him from power? Who exactly wanted to remove President Mugabe? They have no principles.”
The EFF meeting was also attended by former Zanu PF politicians once linked to G40, a term coined to refer to a group of younger politicians who were fiercely opposed to the old guard remaining in control of Zanu P.
Among those who attended the event are Mugabe’s nephew and former cabinet minister Patrick Zhuwao and former legislators Wonder Mashange and Shadreck Mashayamombe.
