Zimbabwe’s former deputy president, Joice Mujuru, has vowed to fight against government to allow citizens in the diaspora to be allowed to vote.
Mujuru was speaking during her party’s political rally in Mamelodi, east of Pretoria.
Mujuru was there to drum up support for her newly formed party, Zimbabwe People First, in the build up to the 2018 elections.
Mujuru arrived to a loud cheer by hundreds of Zimbabwean nationals who were attending the rally.
She urged all Zimbabweans in South Africa to go home to register to vote while a solution to ensure that they are able to vote in South Africa is being sought.
Despite her new political party being just a few months old, Mujuru is taking every vote serious.
She says Zimbabweans should use the ballot to change what she described as poor leadership shown by the current government.
“Somebody can steal an election when you beat them by two, what if you beat them nine out of ten? How can they steal an election when everybody’s eyes are watching what is going on, when everybody else is confident of what must happen and mind you, 65% are the youth who don’t even know their future, they are beginning to have their own families, there is no plan, so these are people who are even forcing us to move faster.”
However, Mujuru has however acknowledged possible challenges which could surface during the process.
These include high travelling costs, perceptions that the Zimbabwean government could possibly frustrate those who want to register as well as fears that those who do not have proper documents are likely to be deported.
Zimbabwe’s alleged political repression, as well as the country’s struggling economy, forced many citizens to seek a better living in neighbouring countries, especially South Africa.
Amongst them is Ngoni Natsa who has been living in South Africa since 2008.
Natsa says Zimbabwean officials at border gates have no sense of urgency in allowing people to register to vote.
“Another problem that we know that we are going to face is that when the day comes to go and vote, the Zimbabwean government always delay people at the border until the voting days are finished and then they release you. So for that, people don’t want to go to Zimbabwe. We are asking for the government to allow us to register while we are here in South Africa. We want to vote here in South Africa and the Zimbabwean constitution must allow us to do that.”
Mujuru has lauded the South African government for allowing Zimbabweans to live in the country.
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-sabc
