JOHANNESBURG – Zimbabwe’s governing Zanu-PF says recent protests masquerading as a coup won’t be tolerated.
Kennedy Mandaza, the party’s spokesperson in South Africa, stopped short of condemning the excessive use of force by police against protesters in Harare last week.
He says security forces stepped in to restore order.
“There are a host of freedoms enshrined in the Constitution and Bill of Rights and Zanu PF believes in them. But what we must be clear of is that these rights are not absolute, only to those in the opposition and urban areas. When someone decides to express his constitutional right and this is what we have seen in the past,” said Mandaza.
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) planned rolling mass demonstrations in different cities starting last Friday. It accuses President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of mishandling the economy, which is facing its worst crisis in a decade, and repression.
A protest in Bulawayo was called off on Monday following a police ban supported by a court order.
Last week, officers fired teargas and brutally dispersed demonstrators in Harare.