President Cyril Ramaphosa is watching events unfolding in Mozambique carefully. The President is due to attend the inauguration of Mozambiquan President-elect Daniel Chapo in Maputo. There has been some serious political unrest in the country, however, with over a 151 people reported dead. Chapo is from the incumbent Mozambiquan Liberation Front (FRELIMO) party which has been in power since the country’s independence from Portugal in 1975 and ensuing civil war. The country’s leader of the main opposition Optimist Party for the Development of Mozambique (Podemos) Venancio Mondlane has accused the Frelimo regime of vote rigging. The ensuing violence in South Africa’s north eastern neighbour has placed Ramaphosa in a set of complications concerning his attendance of Chapo’s swearing-in ceremony.
Attendance by the president of southern Africa’s pre-eminent economic power could lend legitimacy to a sclerotic (rigid and unresponsive) government whose democracy has fallen into question.
According to the Presidency, an advance team from the Presidential Protection Services is looking into the safety prospects in Mozambique. Speaking at the Progressive Business Forum Presidential Golf Day in Cape Town, Ramaphosa called for peaceful dialogue between Chapo and opposition leader Venancio Mondlane. “We always attend each other’s’ inauguration. As the day advances, we’ll look at our programme. We are watching very closely what is happening in Mozambique. “As SADC members we are prepared and able to give them as much support to be able to navigate their way out of the challenges they face.” Thousands of people turned out to meet Mondlane, who returned home from more than two months in exile Thursday, to promote his claim that he won the October presidential election.
It should be clear that the current government in Mozambique is an authoritarian regime. This should have been apparent from Mondlane who was exiled for two months during which the election was held. It is possible to suggest that the Frelimo regime did it out of fear of his popularity as can be seen in the above text. Accusations of rigging elections are a delicate matter and should be handled with care by Mozambique’s regional economic community the Southern African Development Community (SADC). South Africa too is a member of SADC and the most influential power at the table. Ramaphosa is right to argue for dialogue between the opposition and governing parties. An escalation of violence could lead to the collapse of the fragile Mozambiquan state.
The South African presidency needs to urge for calm. On the domestic front President Ramaphosa also visited crime ridden Delft in the Western Cape. This week. The President assured residents that more police will be deployed to the area to curb gang violence.
Ramaphosa made this commitment during his visit to the area on Thursday where the African National Congress (ANC) held a candlelight ceremony highlighting the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). The President’s visit to the area forms part of the events leading up to the ANC’s birthday celebrations this Saturday. He says “Gangs and gang leaders are causing a lot of problems here. The police station commander tells me that they have declared war against gangs. They are arresting the gang leaders and I am happy to hear that.” Meanwhile, Ramaphosa says the ANC has seen more willingness among business people to fund it despite its electoral decline. In the May 2024 elections, the ANC dropped below 50% in the national elections for the first time in 30 years.
President Ramaphosa is shoring up support for the ANC and his “Government of National Unity”. At the same time, he is promising better protection from the police to tackle crime. The formation of the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit is a unit of the police that specialises in protection against crime. The ruling ANC Party for its part still has its work cut out for it when it comes to observing the anniversary of its formation amid declining support. However, when it comes to moving against gang violence the police are finally flexing their muscles. The arrest of the gang leaders is a major turning point in the fight against crime. The leadership of organized crime are the major culprits in the ruination of the lives of communities.
Disarmament of gangs and the arrest of their leadership is appropriate to cutting of the head of the snake. It remains to be seen how the president utilizes these successes to restore his party’s prestige. He has a long path ahead of him this year.
Article written by:
Yacoob Cassim
Journalist at Radio Al Ansaar
