THE AFRICAN National Congress has promised to help president Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party to win the next general election in Zimbabwe, according to a South African newspaper report.
Addressing delegates at Zanu-PF’s annual congress in Bulawayo on Saturday, ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said South Africa’s ruling party would help them come up with election messages and strategies that would “deliver victory” in elections expected next year.
“It is important for Zanu-PF to regain lost ground and continue to represent the aspirations of the people of Zimbabwe,” South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper quoted Mr Mantashe as saying.
The offer by the ANC to help a sister liberation movement win an election has drawn surprised reactions from political observers in both countries, because of its potential to compromise South African president Jacob Zuma’s role as mediator between Zimbabwe’s warring political parties.
Since the disputed general elections of 2008 Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party have been involved in a transitional government that has failed to function from its inception due to the ideological gulf between both groups.
Mr Zuma, who is also ANC leader, was appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate between the parties as part of regional efforts to make the transitional government work, and avoid a return to the conflict that blighted the 2008 polls.
However, Mr Mantashe defended his initial comments in Bulawayo, saying the offer of ANC support to Zanu-PF would not compromise Mr Zuma’s independence as a mediator.
“These are government-to-government relations, and Zuma is working under the auspices of SADC, [while the] ANC is a different animal altogether. The ANC wishes to affirm her commitment to being a good and trustworthy neighbour to a fellow liberation movement.
“We will send campaign strategy teams to work with you; this will be the best way to celebrate the centenary of the ANC in January 2012,” he said.
The ANC’s decision to get involved in Zimbabwean politics came shortly after Zanu-PF’s ailing 87-year-old president said he would not retire ahead of proposed elections next year and will stay on to lead the country.
Mr Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, told the Zanu-PF party faithful it would be “an act of cowardice” for him to step down before fresh polls take place to elect a new government.
“Luckily, God has given me this longer life than others to be with you and I will not let you down,” he said.
The four-day convention in Zimbabwe’s second largest city passed resolutions confirming Mr Mugabe as its sole presidential candidate and called for elections “early next year without fail”.
For the past 12 months Mr Mugabe, who turns 88 in February, has reportedly been struggling with a number of illnesses, but according to delegates at the conference he spoke for two hours and looked fit and energetic.