Tshabangu’s endorsement of Mnangagwa fuels debate on opposition’s integrity

Political commentators have said the opposition leader Sengezo Tshabangu’s public endorsement of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s bid to extend his rule beyond the constitutional two-term limit, reflects deep-seated issues within Zimbabwe’s opposition who are ideologically bankrupt and only know Zanu PF’s political style of exploitation.
Tshabangu, who controversially claims to be the secretary general of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), endorsed President Mnangagwa on Sunday during a visit to his Precabe Farm in Sherwood, Kwekwe with other MPs.
Speaking to applause, Tshabangu’s remarks were:
“I am so proud to represent the opposition. His Excellency in the morning said the role of the opposition is to criticise constructively the ruling party so that the ruling party can stay in power, so that the opposition can remain in opposition. But, Your Excellency, we are here as a family to contest the status quo because we are Zimbabweans. If we improve your stay in power and the people in Zimbabwe are happy, let it be.”
Tshabangu’s remarks ignited public frustration, with many accusing him of betraying the opposition’s core mandate to challenge Zanu PF’s stranglehold on power while critics argued his actions undermine citizens’ trust.
Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda, a political commentator, described Tshabangu’s statements as a stark indication of the moral and ideological bankruptcy in Zimbabwe’s opposition leadership.
“Tshabangu is one of those people who is showing clearly, the kind and crop of leadership that we have in Zimbabwe, they have learnt nothing, they know nothing except exploitation,” he said in an interview with CITE.
“The fact that Tshabangu is endorsing Mnangagwa shows that the bulk of the people in the opposition are a project of either Zanu PF or are merely people who seek to be in power so they can continue doing what Zanu PF is doing. They are people who are rent seeking, their interests are furthering their own interests, fattening their own pockets, not worrying about the plight of people.
He claimed that politicians in the opposition are people “who would be in Zanu PF and want to be Zanu PF.”
“They are wannabe Zanu PF members who come up with these outfits so they register themselves and ultimately move on to join Zanu PF because they don’t have better ideas than Zanu PF,” he said.
“You won’t be surprised that the bulk of people in Zimbabwe and in the Diaspora that want to be in politics only know the politics of Zanu PF, not politics of transformation, or politics of servant leadership. What they want is to be on the dinner table, have their own slice of the pie and sit there.”
Dr Sibanda noted that the opposition’s complicity in such actions was not new.
“For years, we have witnessed opposition figures abandoning the people’s plight once elected, aligning themselves with Zanu PF for personal benefit. Many in the opposition seem to lack ideas beyond replicating Zanu PF’s corrupt practices,” he added.
He argued that the opposition’s failure stems from a broader societal issue.
“Leaders are made from the community, if the community is politically bankrupt expect the leader to be politically bankrupt. Do we have the right creed of leadership that can lead our country or do we have a community that lacks understanding of what politics is?” Sibanda said.
Another political observer, Bernard Magugu, called Tshabangu’s actions a betrayal of the people’s trust.
“This is a clear depiction that the opposition in Zimbabwe is heavily infiltrated with most of the leaders we are having being a scam. Who knew Tshabangu would go on and display some tentacles connecting to Zanu inorder to exchange some juicy and sweet nectar?” he said.
Magugu warned such betrayals could provoke public outrage.
“Tshabangu is playing with some people’s freedom. People need economic and political freedom but some selfish individuals come and vomit on their dreams of a better country, udlalile ngabantu. Sooner than later people’s anger will be vented on him physically and in spirit!” he said.
Amid the criticism, Tshabangu’s spokesperson, Advocate Nqobizitha Mlilo, downplayed the backlash, describing the meeting with President Mnangagwa as a step toward national dialogue.
“There were no specific resolutions, save to say that this is the most significant event in the current context of solution finding, national building and consensus,” Mlilo told CITE.
“It is important that we work together to nation-build. Zimbabwe is our country. We will find a way of solving our admittedly self evident national challenges. There is an answer, we will find a way. All we need is to be brave. We need to be civil to each other. Learn to understand each other. Let’s put the past behind us. The future is for us to build.”
Secretary general of Ibhetshu LikaZulu, Mbuso Fuzwayo, dismissed Tshabangu’s endorsement as irrelevant in the broader political context, stating that Zanu PF, with its parliamentary majority, will push its agenda regardless.
“It is unfortunate that Emmerson (Mnangagwa) is abusing legislators and the endorsement is immaterial because even if he had not said that, zanu will abuse its parliamentary majority. It has no effect in the opposition politics because the opposition of zanu is the suffering masses,” he said.
“Postponing elections will not make Zanu popular and every sane person is just waiting to vote them out, even another faction of Zanu does not support the selfish term extension.”
General Secretary of the Zimbabwe Communist Party (ZCP), Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena, expressed little surprise at Tshabangu’s remarks, saying they reflect the nature of bourgeois politics.
“The problem we make, is to think that mass bourgeois political parties are different from Zanu PF. They are not. We should not be surprised by what Sengezo Tshabangu said, because, in the main, Parliament is a career institution for politicians. The 2030 agenda is not to benefit only ED but all public representatives,” he said.
“There is no public representative who is ready to face the masses in an election in 2028 hence these crazy things we are getting from opposition members as well.
Mabhena highlighted the financial incentives driving political maneuvers, including the push to extend Mnangagwa’s term and delay elections until 2030.
“If elections are extended, that extension will be treated as a second term for MPs, allowing them to qualify for a parliamentary pension, “ he said, drawing parallels to 2008 when former President Robert Mugabe shortened Parliament’s term to secure his own political survival.
“When Mugabe was faced with defeat in 2008, he cut short the life of parliament by two years. MPs were elected in 2005, their term of office ended in 2008 instead of 2010. Those who were in Parliament then, want their two years back and the first time MPs are not confident that they will win in 2028, they want to extend their stay to 2030 to qualify for pension.”