IF there was any doubt on the pedigree of the South African ruling party, the ANC, and to an extent ZANU PF, then results of elections that have been held in the two countries in the past year have surely put to bed those doubts.

ZANU PF went into the July 31 2018 harmonised elections on the back of subtly but increased pressure from an eternally agitated and abrasive West but sailed home with what turned out to be an easy victory.

It was the turn, last week, of another giant in the form of the ANC to face the pressure which had been temporarily shifted to South Africa but as widely expected, the liberation party romped to victory against the several pretenders-to-the-throne who had thrown their hats into the ring.

There will be many post-mortems of the performances of both the ANC and ZANU PF but most of these will emanate from the frustrations of those who have been yearning to see the backs of these liberation movements.

The analyses will also centre on fresh attempts to extinguish the flames of liberation movements across Africa.

That remains a pipe dream that will find little or no takers.

“Our people have given all of the leaders of our country a firm mandate to build a better South Africa,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in supporting voters who gave his party a fresh mandate.

This is why it is important for the governments of Zimbabwe and SA to continue fulfilling the aspirations of the liberation struggle.

The land issue has, in the past few years, been a hot topic in SA with President Ramaphosa and his ANC moving in to ensure that the millions of landless blacks in that country get a piece of the revered asset.

Land ownership statistics do not make good reading in SA.

Statistics by the South African Government show that white people, who make up just nine percent of the population, own 72 percent of the farmland held by individuals.

Last year, when President Ramaphosa announced that the ANC would push for the amendment of Section 25 of the South African Constitution, all sorts of threats were thrown at the ruling party.

Typically, the West threatened to slap SA with economic sanctions, the same way they reacted to Zimbabwe’s Land Reform and Resettlement Programme of 2000.

The US led the economic onslaught on Harare, imposing sanctions called ZDERA on December 21 2001 while Britain accosted the EU to follow suit with their own raft of sanctions which were put into effect on February 18 2002.

Since then, Harare has been reeling from the devastating effects of those sanctions.

But that has done little to dampen the spirits of land hungry Zimbabweans whose impressive outing in the fields have already surpassed the previous records posted by former white commercial farmers, especially in tobacco farming.

The resettled farmers are now posting statistics in excess of 200 million kg of tobacco per season.

This is despite having to contend with a raft of challenges that include lack of funding and a harsh economic environment.

SA must never be intimidated by threats of sanctions.

That is why the war of liberation was waged, so that blacks could be in firm and total control of their land and resources.

Even the media is being used to pursue the intimidation agenda with a January 24 2019 article by news24 titled ‘Throwback Thursday to a once prosperous Zimbabwe’ coming to the fore.

Below is what the article says in part:

“Throwback Thursday to a once prosperous Zimbabwe, before the Lancaster House Agreement was signed with Britain, guaranteeing Zimbabwe independence but giving the despotic, genocidal Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF, free reign to do as they wished for decades to come, until present day. 

Under the guise of ‘land reform’, the Zimbabwean government moved to seize all land owned by white farmers without compensation once Britain, led by Tony Blair, ceased payment of subsidies providing for the ‘Willing buyer, willing seller’ arrangement. This effectively signed the death warrant for many innocent landowners of British descent, including the thousands of farm workers that worked on those lands.

The majority ZANU PF electorate cheered at the thought of free land and all riches included as innocent, productive landowners were forcibly removed off of their properties, most of them violently. Mugabe was hailed as an African liberator and a national hero.

The Zimbabwean story is such a disaster and a terrible idea, you would think that no sane person would ever try to replicate it, however, the South African government is following in the exact same footsteps!! It is like Deja-Vu. The same rhetoric and propaganda is fuelling racial discord, totally distracting the people while the ruling ANC government steals whatever they can! Corrupt leaders are exposed for serious crimes on a daily basis with zero accountability. Minorities are constantly made the scapegoats for government failures. 

The world needs to start paying attention to what is happening in southern Africa and to stop giving aid that finds its way directly into the back pockets of corrupt leaders and never to the people who most need it. Next time you complain about your leaders saying some mean things or perhaps making controversial decisions, have a read up about our leaders and thank your lucky stars you live in a free, democratic, capitalist society. You’ve never had it so good.”

Liberation movements are yet to die.

They will not be culled by funded opposition parties that seek to reverse the gains of the struggle.

Let those with ears listen.