South African President Cyril Ramaphosa clarified his congratulatory message to Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa for his successful reelection in the recent elections.
Taking to his X account, Ramaphosa congratulated Mnangagwa on being reelected for a second term. He went on to wish him and the people of Zimbabwe well in the next five years.
“I congratulate President Emmerson Mnangagwa on his re-election. I wish him and the people of Zimbabwe well for the upcoming term,” Cyril Ramaphosa wrote on his X account on Monday evening.
Ramaphosa’s message garnered varied responses from both Mnangagwa’s and his challenger Nelson Chamisa’s supporters, causing tensions.
Truth Behind Ramaphosa’s Congratulatory Message to Mnangagwa and South Africa’s Next Steps
Addressing journalists after hosting the Presidential Young Men & Boys Indaba programme on Tuesday, Cyril Ramaphosa explained his congratulatory message despite concerns raised by the SADC Election Observer Mission and other observers on Zimbabwe’s recent elections. |
| President Cyril Ramaphosa Clarifies Congratulatory Message to President Mnangagwa and Outlines South Africa’s Next Steps |
He highlighted that the congratulation didn’t conclude the matter. He elaborated:
The SADC body has issued a preliminary report. They are still going to sit down together with many other observers and analyse everything. So let’s wait until all that comes out. But the electoral commission in Zimbabwe has made a declaration and it is on that basis that we have issued our congratulatory message. So the rest of other things still need to be processed no doubt and everybody, including the government of Zimbabwe, accept that. So let’s wait until everything is well processed.
The SADC body has issued a preliminary report. They are still going to sit down together with many other observers and analyse everything. So let’s wait until all that comes out. But the electoral commission in Zimbabwe has made a declaration and it is on that basis that we have issued our congratulatory message. So the rest of other things still need to be processed no doubt and everybody, including the government of Zimbabwe, accept that. So let’s wait until everything is well processed.
A Stark Warning: Ramaphosa’s Advice to Chamisa Amid Rising Tensions
Ramaphosa also directed advice to Nelson Chamisa, the Presidential candidate of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), advising him against resorting to violence and instead urged him to seek legal recourse.“Well, violence is one of those reactions that we abhor and want to avoid and the Secretary General of the United Nations has made the same call and so do we, that violence must be avoided at all costs. Elections are processes that are always either disputed or accepted and when they are disputed there are always channels in every country to challenge the outcome of the elections and we want that to be always done on a peaceful basis,” Ramaphosa urged Chamisa.
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