NEWLY-FORMED opposition party, Alliance for National Salvation (Ansa), has lashed out at the MDC-T Bulawayo provincial spokesperson, Felix Mafa Sibanda’s characterisation of the new formation as “funny people”.
By KHANYILE MLOTSHWA
Ansa interim spokesperson, Nketha Mangoye Dlamini, said the MDC-T’s attacks on his party summarised “the tragedy of Zimbabwean politics”.
“When, we, the people of Matabeleland and Midlands, define our destiny, define what we need and want, we are derogatorily labelled tribalists and regionalists. Now, Mafa and his MDC-T have added a new vocabulary, as we are called a funny people,” he said.
“What is funny about being a resident or citizen of this region? What does the MDC-T, through Mafa, find funny about a citizenry attending to its most critical issues? This is typical apartheid language of a black man being labelled a funny monkey.”
Dlamini said it was patronising and unfortunate for Sibanda to appoint himself as the “know-it all on what is good for the region”.
“He [Sibanda] is busy crediting Zanu PF with creating political parties,” he raged.
“What a pity, but at the same time, what a revelation. If he and the MDC-T want to advance the theory of creation of parties by Zanu PF, then they should first acknowledge that Zanu PF’s biggest project is MDC-T itself and Mafa was conveniently appointed commissar-cum-spokesperson.”
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Dlamini said his party was championing what the MDC-T and other parties had failed to do.
“We seek an answer to the Matabeleland and Midlands question,” he said.
“Ansa is responding to serious issues and concerns of Matabeleland and Midlands. The people of Matabeleland need to ensure adequate social infrastructure, want to be in charge of business and investment decisions in our area, want equitable and fair land management principles and bring finality to the Gukurahundi issue.”
The Ansa spokesperson accused MDC-T of being a tribal outfit illustrated by the way it had treated its deputy president, Thokozani Khupe.
“Instead of his [Sibanda] lot gracefully rallying behind their deputy, Thokozani Khupe when their leader [Morgan Tsvangirai] was diagnosed with cancer, they hunt high and low for tribally and ethnically acceptable deputies and pull the rug from under Khupe’s feet,” he continued.
“If this is not the highest form of tribalism, then we need to redefine the term. By virtue of Khupe’s ethnicity, she cannot lead MDC-T, and Mafa’s selective analysis and definition misses this.”
Stricken by colon cancer, Tsvangirai last year appointed Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri as deputies to add to Khupe, in a move that left political commentators shocked and created schisms within the MDC-T.
