Build One South Africa (BOSA), a South African opposition political party led by Mmusi Maimane, has called for the severance of diplomatic relations between SA and Zimbabwe due to disputed elections held by the latter on 23 August.
In a statement released on 29 August, BOSA urged the South African government to expel Zimbabwe’s ambassador and declare that the recently-held Harmonised Elections a “sham”.
Read the full statement below:
Build One South Africa calls on the government of South Africa to cease diplomatic engagement with the government of Zimbabwe and expel the Zimbabwean ambassador.
Build One South Africa calls on the government of South Africa to declare the Zimbabwean elections a sham and to immediately cease diplomatic engagement with the government of Zimbabwe.
BOSA calls on the government of South Africa to begin reviewing economic relationships with Zimbabwe.
In the same way that ECOWAS has taken a strong position on coups in the West African region, it is time for SADC nations to take strong positions on irregular and unfair elections.
BOSA calls for an Extraordinary summit of SADC nations to discuss the electoral crisis in Zimbabwe and how to resolve the impasse.
BOSA calls for all South Africans to reject the election outcomes in Zimbabwe. There is currently no legitimately elected government in Zimbabwe and South Africa as a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) should uphold principles of democracy and the interests of the region and all of its peoples.
Democracy is built on the principle that those who govern derive their authority from the consent of the people of the nation.
That consent and a mandate is obtained from regular, transparent, free and fair elections. The elections in Zimbabwe have not been free, fair or transparent.
South Africa and the SADC region cannot proceed with business as usual while there is a democratic crisis in a key SADC nation.
In the Zimbabwean election period, there were numerous irregularities observed, opposition rallies were arbitrarily and capriciously banned, there was limited access for opposition parties to state media on print, radio and television and opposition politicians were arrested.
These actions had the cumulative effect of limiting the ability of opposition parties to exercise their political rights and speech rights.
There ZANU PF was observed engaging in voter-buying practices during its rallies. The election period before voting day was therefore not free and not fair.
On election day, there were material delays in the delivery of voting materials to key opposition constituencies such as Harare and Bulawayo, this compromised the ability of many voters to exercise their constitutional rights to vote.
Even taking into account that the voting was extended into a second day, it is foreseeable that some voters who wanted to vote would not be able to vote on the second day.
Taking into consideration the announcement that over 7 million ballot papers had been printed by the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) the failure to deliver ballots timeously to these urban cities indicates ipso facto an ulterior motive.
On election day there were members of a state-affiliated security organisation known as Forever Associates Zimbabwe (FAZ) who participated in voter intimidation and harassment at various polling stations.
The intention of this entity was ostensibly to intimidate voters into voting for the ZANU PF. Failure to address the operations of this organisation and its impact on the election is an indication of gross negligence of the ZEC., intimidation of voters is illegal.
Various official election observer missions have issued preliminary findings about the elections in Zimbabwe and they are consistent in finding that the election did not meet the standards of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
The observer missions were clear that there were significant and material transgressions in these elections which led to their declining to endorse the elections in Zimbabwe.
It is critical to note that for the very first time, the SADC Election Observer Mission (SOEM) did not endorse this election.
South Africa is a leading member of SADC and as such must not deviate from the findings of the SOEM or undermine the integrity or authority of SADC.
BOSA calls on all South Africans to recognise that a political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe directly affects South Africa.
Our healthcare systems, our social services and our communities are facing increasing strain from the influx of undocumented immigrants from Zimbabwe.
Our nation cannot ignore the democratic crisis on our doorstep because the conflagration from the collapse of Zimbabwe creates secondary fires in our nation.
More: Pindula News
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