SADC not concerned with Mnangagwa’s decision to award self third term

REGIONAL body SADC believes all legal processes were followed in passing the controversial Constitutional Amendment Act 3 (CAA3), which gave President Emmerson Mnangagwa a third term, and is not concerned about the issue.

The region’s position was shared by South African presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya on the sidelines of the recently ended SADC summit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban.

CAA3, which was signed into law in July this year, heavily divided opinions in Zimbabwe with analysts and political activists arguing amendments that extend presidential terms should not have benefited Mnangagwa.

The process which preceded its passing was also highlighted as having been partisan and illegal.

According to Zimbabwe’s constitution, CAA3 was supposed to have gone through a referendum, a position that was successfully challenged by Zanu PF.

“You have to look at how the processes unfolded; it is a process that has kind of followed various domestic legal steps. Obviously, a process of that nature will draw some criticism; there will be others that express grievance against it,” said Magwenya.

“It is not really for SADC to comment on those domestic processes for as long as those processes are being carried out within domestic legal frameworks, which is what has happened in Zimbabwe.”

South Africa took over leadership of the bloc from Zimbabwe at the summit, which ended on 17 August.

CAA3 ensures that Mnangagwa stays in power, which was supposed to end in 2028, extends to 2030.

It also gave him authority to appoint 10 more Senators, powers he used on Tuesday to recommend close allies that include his most likely successor, Kudakwashe Tagwirei.

Added Magwenya: “It is not something that SADC will express a view on because it has not constituted a crisis that the region needs to grapple with.”

Other than Mnangagwa’s term extension, one other amendment carried by CAA3 was the removal of Presidential elections.

Parliamentarians and Senators now have that authority in a replica of the South African system.

Voter registration was moved from the tarnished Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to an equally murky Registrar General.