South Africa
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has called on the Zimbabwean ruling Zanu-PF party to refrain President Robert Mugabe from making negative comments about Nelson Mandela.
This follows Mugabe’s recent comment during the celebration of Heroes Day in Harare where he accused Mandela of allowing the whites in South Africa to take all the lands.
“Mandela believed to be equal with the white and made the biggest mistake of ignoring the land issue. What sort of equality was that? These whites had long back given everything to themselves since 1652 when they arrived in Cape Town,” he said.
“Today, everything is in the whites’ hands … These blacks have failed to liberate themselves from white supremacy all because of what Mandela did. The whites claim that everyone is equal in South Africa so why would blacks want to grab the land now,” Mugabe added.
ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe said on Tuesday that the comments were baseless and he has telephoned his Zanu-PF counterpart to refrain Mugabe from making such statements.
“The reality of the matter is that you have destroyed the economy in your country, we continue to create black millionaires in this country including Zimbabwean millionaires. So refrain your presidents from making statements that are unresearched,” he warned.
Mugabe has criticised Mandela on several times over land redistribution in South Africa and his relationship with the white minority.
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