Politicians’ egos and ideological hang-ups no longer win votes in SA

Detailed summary

The elections showed that voters are increasingly willing to abandon their old loyalties, forcing all political parties to rethink their approach to an electorate that is…

The elections showed that voters are increasingly willing to abandon their old loyalties, forcing all political parties to rethink their approach to an electorate that is demanding better governance.

If you want to simultaneously entertain and traumatise Zimbabweans, you just have to pull out a file of Muzendaisms, the doings and sayings of the late vice-­president Simon Muzenda. Once a highly respected veteran of the liberation struggle, he spent the post-independence years as Robert Mugabe’s consigliere and vicious political enforcer.

His oratorial wit and skills endeared him to Zanu-PF supporters, but his reckless utterances and mangling of English also made him an easy target for ridicule.

Among the most famous Muzendaisms occurred during the 2000 parliamentary elections, when he went to Chivi in Masvingo province to instil discipline in the ranks. Zanu-PF parliamentarians in various constituencies were rebelling against the leadership after being overlooked as candidates. Some of them had decided to stand as independents, sparking fear in the leadership that they could actually win against party-­endorsed candidates.

Muzenda descended on Chivi with an intention to whip this rural community into line, planning a large rally. The candidates instructed their supporters to boycott the rally, which was eventually attended by fewer than 1,000 people.

Even those who attended were forced by their traditional leaders to do so and the audience was therefore less than enthusiastic. But that did not deter Muzenda from delivering the message that their votes belonged to Zanu-PF, regardless of what their own preferences might be.

“Even if we put a baboon [as a candidate] in Chivi, if you are Zanu-PF you vote for that baboon,” he thundered.

In the 2026 local government elections in Zimbabwe’s neighbour to the south, the Muzenda role has been played by none other than ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, whose series of gaffes on the election trail betrayed the ANC’s attitude to…

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Maverick. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.