ZANU PF national spokesperson Simon Khaya Moyo has distanced the party from a statement attributed to a party official suggesting that the ANC delegation that visited Zimbabwe last year had a sinister agenda.
The party’s director for Information, Tafadzwa Mugwadi, who is a former MDC activist, had been involved in a social media spat with South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) journalist, Sophie Mokoena.
Mugwadi accused Mokoena of hostile reportage against ZANU PF, being a concubine of an exiled ZANU PF official, and of undermining President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Mugwadi further threatened to reveal the “real” reason why an African National Congress delegation which was led by the party’s secretary-general Ace Magashule visited Zimbabwe in 2020.
But in a statement on Sunday, Moyo said Mugwadi spoke without authorisation and his utterances should be dismissed. He said:
The ANC of South Africa and Zanu-PF enjoy excellent and fraternal relations dating back to the days of our liberation struggle and continue blossoming up to this day. To suggest that the ANC delegation came to Zimbabwe with a hidden agenda is compound mischief, uninformed, unacceptable and unpatriotic.
A communiqué was issued on the constructive two-day meeting by the two fraternal parties and indeed these meetings will continue in the future. Nothing was amiss and necessary measures will be taken by Zanu PF concerning those involved in this matter.
The President and First Secretary of Zanu-PF Cde ED Mnangagwa, the President of the ANC Cde CM Ramaphosa called each other in high esteem and no one should attempt to soil this fraternal relationship. We are one people sharing a common liberation history, culture and destiny.
Moyo’s statement on Sunday came a day after South African President Cyril Ramaphosa dared Mugwadi to come out with his “bombshell” and reveal the real reason behind his party’s visit to Zimbabwe last year.
Ramaphosa was speaking during an interview with the SABC on Saturday.
