Zimbabwe’s government is struggling to handle an ever-deepening economic crisis that has lately been exacerbated by the impact of coronavirus. But as criticism of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s leadership grows, security forces are cracking down on political opposition and civil society voices.
With security agencies showing little tolerance for public dissent, people across Zimbabwe have taken their protest against the government online. #ZimbabweanLivesMatter recently topped the ranks of Twitter’s trending topics, amplified by support from celebrities and political leaders around the world.
But while online activism has put Zimbabwe’s government under the spotlight, opponents from the Movement for Democratic Change say regulations ostensibly put in place to check the spread of novel coronavirus are now being weaponised by authorities to counter public dissent. More than 100,000 people have been arrested by police for violating public health rules.
Mnangagwa has rejected the criticism of Zimbabwe’s security forces and says “perennial detractors” both regionally and internationally are trying to undermine the government. But human rights groups say Mnangagwa’s government is repressive and bears parallels with that of former leader Robert Mugabe.
As Zimbabwe’s problems intensify, The Stream will hear from both sides of the divide. Join the conversation.
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@adijah munemo
I hope you didn’t lose any sleep over that? No 1 cares.
The commentators here are appalled that the gov spokesman used the f-word. I want to put a perspective on that as follows :
The conflict with UK/USA and associated sanctions on Zimbabwe originates from the Rhodesia civil war where ZANU through it’ s military wing fought a bloody civil war for independence against Ian Smith’s racistic regime as supported by the apartheid regime of South Africa.
ZANU’s leader Mugabe took economic and military support from communist countries like North Korea, Cuba and of course the Sovietunion and China. While Mugabe is described today as a “socialist” I believe it is more correct to state that he was a marxist that after 1990 OFFICIALLY reverted to “socialism” while not giving up his marxist ideals. The followers of ZANU, as I understand it, today comprises of tough, elderly inheritors of the rather marxist ideals that ZANU had during the civil war + a following of younger “socialists” more willing to compromise with the west to get a reasonable living standard in Rhodesia – oh, sorry, I mean in Zimbabwe.
The gov spokesman seems to me to be such a young man and I think he mentions the f-word because he knows that the leading older members of ZAPU are not ready to sell out their memories of the UK/Smith severe fascistic bloody suppression during the civil war in exchange for neoliberal economic reforms that would compromise their ideals during the civil war. Ideals that their comrades died for and thus secured the independence of their people.
This is also why he complains about the two neoliberals that take part in the debate. He sees them as betrayers of the ideals of the ZAPU revolution because that is how ZAPU’s leaders sees these people.
And in essence he is right as they are neoliberals , working indirectly through their respective organisations together with UK/USA that support sanctions against Zimbabwe due to ZAPU’s lack of neoliberal acceptance and qualities.
Sure there may be some corruption in Zimbabwe but when did You see UK/USA sanction their allied neoliberal regimes for corruption?
To understand the issue it may further help to know that president/true leader Nelson Chamisa of the opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change (Alliance) , is represented in the debate through itś spokesperson, Ms Mahere and that Chamisa support some of Trump’s policies in Israel. He has for example stated that if he become the leader of Zimbabwe he will put Zimbabwe’s embassy for Israel in Jerusalem, like Trump did with the US embassy! Implicitly that is a recognization of Israel’s apartheid policies IMO that says it all and I think it is correct to conclude that especially UK has never accepted the loss of Rhodesia and it’s white people’s property rights in Rhodesia, oh sorry, I mean Zimbabwe !
Hi advocate Maher e weloveyu smart fearless lawyer
One of the panelists looks and speaks like a bullfrog with constipation for days.
I love this Tafadzwa guy because he is working against his own party indirectly. He is exposing who exactly Zanu Pf is like. He is representing Zanu for real 😂😂😂😂😂 #Zanupfmustgo
The fact that he introduced himself as Comrade 😂😂😂 gotta love my fellow countrymen
Hasha dza Tafadzwa towards Advocate ndedzeyiko 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This Tafadzwa guy doesn’t represent the Zimbabwean way. Highly embarrassing!
Thank you Femi for highlighting the challenges people in Zimbabwe are facing on a daily basis.. #Zimbabweanslivesmatter
Thats Zanu-PF for you
that guy is so not handsome 😂
Tafadzwa and Sibanda. Same whatsapp group. The way they roll their heads😂😂… anyways uyaphapha vele
You should have just asked him the rate of USD to Bond rate
Shown him a picture of the Market Square bus terminal
This alone spells KIRAISISI
24:04
The moderator did a great job considering what she was dealing with.
Will pass on your kind words.
When a WHOLE party director can go on an international TV news show and swear at the presenter shows the poverty of thought and recklessness of speech of the ruling party. I’m glad the other two showed that Zimbabweans can also be honorable and respectable. Mugwadi is a party embarrassment and a national embarrassment. Apologies to the presenter for his callous language.
Wow….tafadzwa id*zvi maiweee. This guy is as braindead as his illegitimate president. And he actually exposes the mindest of this illegitimate regime. #ZimbabweLivesMatter #ZanupfMustFall
Mnangagwa is illegitimate
“You are talking me” killed me 😂🤣😂🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣
Kudos to Fadzai, Dhewa…we love you…we love you we love you. Thank you for standing for Zimbabwe and being pro-democracy. We love you we love you guys…i feel like i cant say this enough.
Tafadzwa just exposed Zanupf and mnangagwa….thats exactly what they are…thats zanupf for you SADC, AU, UN. Thts zanupf for you world…zanupf is bullish!!
Now the world sees why zanupf is unreasonable…these fools will not ever allow reforms and they will always gag Zimbabwe. With zanupf in charge…Zimbabwe is NEVER going anywhere…
Yes. Yes they are.
The dumbest of them all . He said nothing and he answered nothing , trying to bring his own topic on the discussion, wanted to change the agenda . Zanu blaming everything on the west , nobody is interested in that poor country. People feel pity for Zimbabweans . Surely empty vessels make the most noise . Before u even listen 👂 to the conversation by just looking at the faces , I came to my own judgement kkkk
I just want to thank the government representative for not holding back on portraying his party and or government’s behaviour and decorum, even on a talkshow. The apple doesnt fall far from the tree and you could see his intollerance with free speech to the point of saying fvxk you @24:07. I think its not hard to guess what would happen to the talkshow host if she was in Zimbabwe.
The reason why it seems as if you going around in this conversation is coz at the root of it all there is one thing standing in the government’s way and she wasn’t willing to listen anyways. imao if u tell me u ain’t going to listen or let me talk to you on this particular topic well I would say f u too and be done with that coz u where screaming democracy in that interview whilst u wasn’t allowing it or letting the poor man get to his point.
Lol murikungotendererawo futi imimi😂😂😂
@Kundayi Zengeni lol coz y’all not listening so we will keep at it ☺️☺️.
Having that Zanu guy was actually good at exposing to your audience the kind of people Zimbabweans have as leaders…he’s the typical “Zanu person in a position of authority”…now you see what we have to deal with…someone who denies the sky is blue
So the whole party came up with Tafadzwa to represent them…sad
This interview was a waste of data, a Tafadzwa who wasn’t answering questions and a Fadzayi who was being sensational and dramatic. No truth whatsoever in any of these guys’ rhetoric.
no respect from this zanu pf correspondent and he is immaturely emotional, he supposed to act professional because this is an international media where nations are watching.he is answering on a mood of dictatorship ,im not from their country but i smell injustice inthat country.
Zambia has never been under any lockdown. And the situation is manageable
The moment he introduced himself as “comrade” I knew he was going to say a lot of nothing😂😂😂
Remember when Rhodesia was one of the richest countries in Africa. Then Mugabe took over……..
This is a difficult one : Both the Zanu PF and MDC A never gave the peaceful dialogue a chance. We are re-living the 80’s, the only difference is that the MDC A and Zanu PF are 2 sides of the same coin in all their behaviour. Both are intoxicated and obsessed with ruling the country and not to serve the citizens. Instead of addressing urgent deficiencies in the delivery of social services, they prefer the boxing ring. Zanuism in all its forms runs in the blood of the ruling party and the opposition, sadly their supporters, no tolerance, no wisdom to overlook offenses, no grace in their words, no love for the country and its citizens. The behaviour is combative at all times. Just look at what is happening in both parties, intra-fighting is rife. Should we expect any good from these 2? a big NO. l hope one day the citizens will abandon these parties and vote for genuine and peace-loving independent people into government (not power) to serve the nation with dignity. Under Ian Smith, we cried and fought for independence, after independence we cried for peace and equity and later, for Mugabe removal, now Mugabe is gone we are crying for freedoms, After the current govt is gone, am sure we will be crying for Ian Smith, then Mugabe and so and so. What we need urgently sanity and wisdom as a nation, and a healthy patriotism to know that we have no other country to call home besides Zimbabwe. There is corruption and thieving everywhere in Zim: private sector steals from the people, the civil servants steal from the social institutions (stealing of drugs, educational materials, etc). People do pay taxes from income earned from unregistered private businesses or assignments but expect the social services to be up to standard. We just need to reset the button to Ubuntu. There are, however, some good people in both Zanu PF and MDC A who genuinely want to serve the citizens and the country- these should find a way to lead by example.
These are the kind of journalists who are rare to find. I like the way he was calling that rascal to order
Even before corona virus,Zimbabwe was already suffering.This guy was not prepared and shows how Zanu PF thinks
Simply questions he is not answering..What and how are you handle the protesters
Thank you for hosting this discussion, and for your professionalism, even in the face of such shocking rudeness and disrespect. This is not typical of our country and our people, the majority of us do not behave like this.
Busy talking about nonsense
This tafadzwa guy is painful to listen to………
Did I hear what I think I heard from Tafadzwa after he laughed and said “this is rubbish”. Correct me did I hear him say ‘F you’? Am not sure and I hope that’s not it coz this would be terrible coming from someone speaking on behalf of our government. What did you hear
Watch from 24
Look at how fat he is from corruption oppression and ignorance! Tafadzwa is a representation of what ZANU is all about! Divorced from the truth of the suffering of us Zimbabweans!
Whenever you get angry in a conversation, you have lost it
Imagine a grown man… with this level of ignorance… throwing an immature tantrum on international TV
Hi I’m Mohammed Shafi
Yes the 800% inflation rate is just in people’s minds along with every other problem per this ‘official’.
He said F word on international TV 📺. You have seen it yourself Tafadzwa’s body language and swearing in the end of the interview says a lot. This is what we deal with in the streets of Zimbabwe 🇿🇼 citizens of Zimbabwe have no voice
Thank you for the stream. Mazimbo please leave a like for the video as thanks to stream also More people will be able to see this video too.
Thank you vana vevhu.
BRUTAL regime from day one = You speak out = You die
There is a crisis in Zimbabwe, this attitude starts at the airport of Zimbabwe, they search your bags as if they are looking for weapons of mass destruction. A corrupt gvt with clueless old man & woman, boys & girls
No true figures regards to Covid
I have never seen such
The guy from ZPF is a total idiot he’s not answering the questions , his body language . He’s given plenty of opportunity to answer but doesn’t answer .
Zanu is cornered…this is just the 1st wave.Guns are going to b useless in the next phase.The world is changing fast bt they too blind to see.They think guns and raping will silence Zimbabweans.
No basic pain killers not a one in Mpilo in Bulawayo
We aren’t rogues , bad apples , we are telling the truth we need help .
Government representative is angry and aggressive. Its obvious that the government isn’t functioning democracticly. Police brutality is rife the army is feared, this Government doesn’t want any opposition.,NO DIALOGUE still no forward step..Time a FEMALE lead an AFRICAN COUNTRY,,
my comment keep gets eaten
Surely he’s not sane
Thank you for covering the zim crisis , Tafadzwa clearly showed the world what his party is made of. Please keep zimbabwe crisis out there intervention is needed soon
He said fuck you on national television. The level of respect is just 😭. That’s what we are living with every day in Zimbabwe. #Zimbabwelivesmatter.
He says Zimbabwe in crisis it certainly is since the communist terrorists took over.
23:56 😂😂😂
This guy shows that their government is evil. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guests mysteriously disappear.
Forces are trying to destroy Zimbabwe because they dared to repel colonial pressure. This will also fail. Simply because good always overcome evil. The darkest time of the night is just before the day.
That comrade Tafadzwa guy is an embarassment to the human race😂
That jerk !! instead of addressing the problem his country is facing he came out attacking!!! Now we know he’s the problem
Mnangagwa and his cabinet needs to be arrested as what has happened in Mali.today. let him know that one day is one day and it shall happen when he is not ready for it. We are warning him and if he doesn’t give up what he is doing to Zimbabweans sure he shall regret including his subordinates. We are warning him that we can’t keep on suffering whilst this gvt harassing it’s own people. We will show him just some time to come he will regret doing this to his own people. Suffering in our mother country like we are enemies yet he is the enemy of Zimbabweans. He is stealing from every corner of Zimbabwe and he doesn’t want people to talk about it . When people speaks out of this corruption done by mnangagwa and Zanupf they put them leg irons. Yet people who are stealing on broad day light are left out of custody free man . We are very angry about about this . Zimbabwe is for all people who stay in it and they take Zimbabwe as Zanupf country.
Zimbabwe is not a peaceful country coz of mnangagwa and his Zanupf
WOW!!! That really exposed the incompetence of ZANU PF – was that the best spokesman that they had?!!! Absolutely useless!!!
Sanctions are not stealing money from the gvt, but mnangagwa and company are stealing daily and are not arrested yet just saying words of corruption you are arrested and put in goal. Nurses and doctors are not paid yet money is being stolen on daily basis
It’s quite obvious who’s uneducated here….
Tafadzva you are a fool
24:03 did he just say the f-word
Tafadzwa he knows the truth that zanu pf must go please
knowing is half the battle and implementation is the other
politicians never answer questions properly
This ZANU dude is sooo dumb!!! How does a whole party let such a person speak on its behalf…
#ZimbabweanLivesMatter
Oh my I couldn’t stand the fat ugly one; he was so irritating I wish I could help Femi and insult the obnoxious lunatic
Mugwadi is a thug … #zanupfmustgo
TAFDZWA is commenting illiteratelly, misinformedlly and ignorantly, he should be a gentle man… at least pretend to be so.
He wouldn’t hold any office if he were in Kenya.
There is increasing repression in Zimbabwe. So sad and the government’s spokesman this Tafadzwa denies it with a straight face, no this is unacceptable
Going off topic Tafadzwa, not even answering the questions just ranting about things that are false to divert attention from what has been asked
What sanctions seriously who bewitched you Tafadzwa, believe your lies so sad
Tafadzwa this is no laughing matter, people are dying unnecessarily in Zimbabwe. From hunger and no care from the health system
Tafadzwa what an embarrassment, did your mother not teach you manners. Tichakubatai mese takangomirira Nguva.
Fadzari I like your calmness you are a star ⭐ keep it up you will be a great politician to down well in history
Until when you Guys talking about Zimbabwe but even a one a old can say something once not everyday are tired of Zimbabwe Really God Lied Amen
Zim is a dictatorship now
Zanu pf is very corrupt and evil
He is so rude!!!🤭🤭…like a baby throwing temper tantrums !!!!
STOP wasting time. REPENT. No human government can solve any problems. It will only get worse. Salvation is through Yeshua, the son of the only true God, Yahuah.
How about you do video on how americans are being silenced by social media and by the news organisation’s.
Was that the F word!!!!?
Femi u did such a great job keeping calm with a guest that is so rude !!! Al Jazeera, recognise that!
The host deserves a raise for being calm in the face of such stupidity
Tafadzwa Mugwadi is such a sore loser just like the party he represents ZANU
What did I just hear, did he he say F… U..
Well my self I understand this Tafadwa guy, and this is what I can say about the interview…
A lie can not stand the presence of truth…
They is no amount of preparation that can equip you to defend a lie in the presence of the truth.
It is typical to those who when they cant get the ball, they resort to playing the man.
please zimbabwe, zanu pf, don’t embarrass us
Yes, yes we are being silenced!!!
Zanu pf is foolish I think wy send such a stupid person
Tafadzwa doesn’t seem to understand the question he was asked . This is not a debate , it’s a report
If Mnangagwa and Zanu pf committed a genocide and mass oppression on our people inside Zimbabwe in the 1980s what then makes him a president material and what makes Africans think that he will have mercy now, Africa lacks visionary and foresighted leaders like the ones you find in Asia and Europe and other parts of the world. What are things like SADC and AU good for if they can let fellow Africans suffer under their watch.
This Tafadzwa guy is a snake in the grass, very dangerous.