MARYLAND - Firebrand South African opposition politician, Julius Sello Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), has set social media on fire after he attacked President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government for jailing Transform Zimbabwe party leader Jacob Ngarivhume for four years for inciting violence.
In a tweet, Malema expressed dismay over the jailing of Ngarivhume, noting that the opposition leader was “demanding accountability through picket lines on how Covid-19 funds were used in 2020 by kleptocratic politicians.”
In his tweet, Malema added that “sending an activist to 4 years imprisonment for simply holding different political views is pathetic.”
He said, “Zimbabweans must learn to protect their own, particularly those who are the voice of the voiceless against the corrupt few. The truth will never be incarcerated; Africa we are one.”
Responding to the tweet, Zanu PF’s information and communications director Tafadzwa Mugwadi said Malema was daydreaming.
Mugwadi said, “No one knows what @Julius_S_Malema smokes & how high or low it takes him but what is clear is that what he smokes is not good for him. Jacob Ngarivhume was convicted for inciting violence. Mwonzora, Chamisa, Madhuku etc do not hold similar views with ZANU PF but they are not in jail.”
Not to be outdone, one of the people who responded to Malema’s tweet, Dereck Goto, was not amused about the South African politician’s critical thoughts on Ngarivhume’s incarceration.
Goto said, “In Zimbabwe, if anyone breaks the law they'll be arrested. We don't care who you think you are. Here the law is followed to the dot. If you think I'm lying, come here and experiment with criminality and you'll see for yourself. Zimbabwe is not South Africa.”
But another twitter follower, Kuda Mangwende, was not pleased with Goto’s response.
He said, without elaborating, “Chii chinonzi Goto!!!! Who is this Goto!!!”
A Matigari, who is well-known in the social media sphere as a Zimbabwean government sympathizer, took Malema head-on.
He said, “No, you (Malema) are pathetic. The GVT didn’t sent him to jail, the courts did. It’s called rule of law. He was jailed for breaking the law, not for holding different political views. He has had his own political party for the last 15 years but was never jailed till he broke the law.”
Malema had large numbers of admirers for his tweet. Joanna Mamombe, a Zimbabwean opposition legislator, is one of them. In her short response to the Malema tweet, she said, “Your solidarity is important in our fight for freedom. Thank you …”
In the same tweeter thread, Brighton Mutebuka had some advice for Malema.
He said, “My brother Julius, it stretches credulity for you to be shocked if you have been following Zim politics for the past 4 decades. It's a country buffeted by entrenched authorianism. It's why Mugabe was replaced via a coup. We haven't got democratic norms.”
A Harare magistrate sentenced Ngarivhume to four years in prison for inciting locals to protest against corruption and the mishandling of the economy by Mnangagwa’s government.
Feresi Chakanyuka suspended 12 months of the sentence on condition that he may not commit a similar offence. Ngarivhume will serve an effective 36 months in prison.
His attorney, Professor Lovemore Madhuku told journalists that they will appeal against the prison term and also take the matter to the Constitutional Court as the piece of law, which was used to convict him, is unconstitutional.
Ngarivhume, who pleaded not guilty to the charges of inciting violence, said the conviction and sentence were too severe and induced a sense of shock and therefore he will appeal against it.
The court said the state proved beyond reasonable doubt that in July 2020, Ngarivhume used his Twitter account to urge Zimbabweans to protest against corruption and economic decay.
But Ngarivhume denied any wrongdoing saying the account in question did not belong to him.
He was in remand prison for at least two months before the High Court granted him bail in 2020. The case has been dragging in the courts for nearly three years.
VOA Zimbabwe Service's Mlondolozi Ndlovu contributed to this article