Ugandan political scientist and journalist David Nyekorach-Matsanga, founder and chairman of Pan African Forum Limited and Associates, has called on South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), which currently leads a government of national unity, to take action against Zimbabwean war veteran Blessed Geza, who is reportedly in hiding in South Africa.
According to The NewsHawks, Nyekorach-Matsanga has long been known as a staunch ZANU-PF supporter and public relations operative, having previously worked as a propagandist for Zimbabwe’s ruling party during the late President Robert Mugabe’s tenure.
In a letter dated 18 May and addressed to ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula, Nyekorach-Matsanga urged the South African government to expel Geza.
He accused Geza of using South African territory as a base to launch attacks against Zimbabwe’s leadership, claiming that such activities undermine regional peace and security in contravention of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), African Union (AU), and United Nations (UN) treaties and protocols.
Titled “Urgent Legal and Diplomatic Concerns Regarding Activities of one Bombshell Geza and Associated Groups Operating from South African Soil,” the letter alleges that Geza is at the centre of a wider network of political groups, activists, NGOs, and digital media platforms.
This network, it claims, is orchestrating a coordinated “campaign of destabilisation” targeting President Emmerson Mnangagwa, ZANU-PF, and the Zimbabwean government. Part of the letter reads:
We write oo behalf of the Pan African Forum Limited & Associates, a continental advocacy and legal policy platform, to express our grave concern regarding the continued use of South Africa soil, particularly under the ANC-led government, as a staging ground for regime change activities targeting the sovereign Republic of Zimbabwe.
We have gathered credible intelligence and evidence indicating that one Bombshell Geza and a network of foreign-sponsored actors are actively operating from South Africa, utilising non-governmental organisations, digital media platforms, and political networks to coordinate a destabilisation campaign against the ruling party in Zimbabwe, ZANU PF, and President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration.
These operations, which include digital disinformation warfare and mobilisation of protest strategies, constitute a direct violation of regional and international law. This is where our specialty is.
Our legal and diplomatic concerns in the conduct of these actors that contravene Article 4(c) of the SADC Treaty, which upholds non-interference in the internal affairs of member states.
Their actions further breach the African Union Constitutive Act1, Articles 3(b) and (g), on sovereign respect and condemnation of unconstitutional changes of government.
South Africa’s inaction may amount to a violation of its obligations under the United Nations Charter, Article 2(4), as well as its own domestic legal instruments, including the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorism Act.
Nyekorach-Matsanga urged South Africa and the ANC to uphold Pan-African solidarity and respect for national sovereignty. He said:
We request ANC to co-operate with the Government of Zimbabwe and SADC regional mechanisms to ensure South African territory is not used for the destabilisation of a fellow member state.We however, state here that we are not acting on the instructions of Zimbabwe Government but we the watch tower of Africa.
Just like South Africa went to (International Court of Justice) ICJ for Human Rights abuses in Gaza by Israel, we have acted on behalf of better Africa.
We must add that failure to act on this matter risks eroding the integrity of SADC, undermining the credibility of the ANC as a Pan-African liberation movement, and encouraging further external manipulation of African political systems.
We are prepared to initiate a formal submission to the African Union Peace and Security Council and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation if this matter is not addressed expeditiously.
Geza, a war veteran and member of ZANU PF’s Central Committee, is wanted by the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) on a range of criminal charges.
These include the alleged theft of three motor vehicles, which were reportedly taken and disposed of without the owner’s consent.
He is also accused of undermining the authority of, or insulting, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, an offence under Zimbabwe’s Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, as well as inciting public violence, particularly in connection with his calls for a national shutdown in protest against the country’s worsening economic conditions.
Geza has been an outspoken critic of Mnangagwa’s administration, accusing it of corruption and gross economic mismanagement.
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