Photo credit: the Zimbabwean
A South Africa-based non-profit organization led by a Zimbabwean citizen has launched a legal challenge in a Pretoria court seeking to hold both the Zimbabwean and South African governments accountable for alleged constitutional violations, human rights abuses and the migration crisis affecting the region.
The main applicant, the African Diaspora Global Network, an organization that advocates for the rights of migrants, is chaired by Dr Vusumuzi Sibanda, a Zimbabwean citizen and permanent resident of South Africa.
He filed a Notice of Motion and Founding Affidavit at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria.
The application names nine respondents, and the first six are the Government of Zimbabwe, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Speaker of Parliament of Zimbabwe, the President of the Senate of Zimbabwe, the Chief Justice of Zimbabwe and the Embassy of Zimbabwe in South Africa.
The seventh to ninth respondents are the Government of South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Speaker of the South African Parliament.
In the application, described as sui generis (unique in nature), the applicants argue the matter should be heard in South Africa “in the interest of justice,” contending the country has become home to hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans allegedly fleeing governance failures and rights abuses in their home country.
The affidavit states Zimbabwe’s sovereignty “cannot be seen to be jeopardised” because “such sovereignty has become shared through the actions of Zimbabwe, which has shared its problems with South Africa without a formal invitation.”
Central to the application is a challenge to Zimbabwe’s proposed Constitutional Amendment Bill No 3, which the applicants argue continues “a subversion of the will of the people” and violates Sections 328(7), (8) and (9) of Zimbabwe.
The applicants want the South African court to declare that the |South African government has become “complicit” by allegedly failing to hold Zimbabwe accountable for what they describe as “undemocratic” actions aimed at undermining constitutional order and weakening the separation of powers.
