THE casting of nearly 20 000 postal votes by South Africans living outside the country’s borders will not only test the efficacy of democracy in the continent’s most diversified economy but will also expose neighbouring Zimbabwe’s intransigence and long-held tradition in disenfranchising its citizenry in the diaspora, a local electoral watchdog has said.
BRENNA MATENDERE
South Africa goes to elections later this month in polls widely described as both complex and intriguing for the governing African National Congress.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) board chairperson Andrew Makoni says the fact that South African citizens living in 101 countries will vote from their foreign destinations later this month exposes Zimbabwe’s election management system which has been steadfast in rejecting diaspora votes of millions of people scattered across the world for years.
About 18 469 South African citizens living in 101 countries around the world registered to vote using an online registration portal system operationalised in December 2023 ahead of the country’s general elections slatted for later this month.
The countries with the most people who registered online include the United Kingdom (5 938), the Netherlands (1 844), Germany (746), the United States (821), Ireland (675), United Arab Emirates (1 068), China (515), Australia (588), New Zealand (314), Cuba (293), Portugal (284) and Belgium (280).
On the African continent, South Africans in 28 countries, including Mauritius (316), Lesotho (224) Namibia (148), Botswana (170), Zambia (96), Zimbabwe (77), Kenya (73), Ghana (45) and Tanzania (40), will be allowed to vote at their respective embassies.
Speaking at the Zesn annual general meeting in Harare this week, Makoni said a similar arrangement should be made for Zimbabweans living in the diaspora to vote.
“South Africa is a young democracy, yet it has achieved the feat for its diaspora citizens to vote from 101 countries. This must be a push, we must put until all Zimbabweans living in the diaspora are allowed to vote,” he said.
The number of foreign-based Zimbabweans varies significantly from four million to seven million, although five million is widely cited.
Ahead of the August 2023 general elections, Justice minister Ziyambi Ziyambi put his foot down in rejecting repeated calls for Zimbabwean citizens in the diaspora to cast their votes, despite the fact that the country continues to rake in billions of US dollars in diaspora remittances.
Millions of citizens in the diaspora have been denied a chance to vote since Independence in 1980, yet Zimbabweans who are posted to diplomatic missions do cast their ballots through a postal voting system.
Electoral bodies and opposition parties in Zimbabwe have thus been emphatic in calling for the diaspora vote.
However, Ziyambi told the National Assembly that the government will never allow the diaspora vote.
His remarks were in response to written questions from the then Chitungwiza North MP Godfrey Sithole enquiring about the government’s plan to ensure citizens in the diaspora vote in national elections.
In his prepared response to Parliament, Ziyambi said the country’s constitution only allows voting in the 210 constituencies that are inside Zimbabwe and nowhere else.
He insisted the constitution does not mandate the setting up of constituencies outside the borders.
Makoni however said if South Africa can allow the diaspora vote, Zimbabwe can do so too.
“What does South Africa have which we do not? All Zimbabweans must be allowed to vote… We must continue to speak strongly about the need to make our elections credible,” he said.
The diaspora vote has been a contentious matter since the formation of the opposition MDC which has morphed into the Citizens’ Coalition for Change.
Among electoral reforms that civil society in Zimbabwe insists on is the diaspora vote.
Mutare Central former MP and lawyer Innocent Gonese, told The NewsHawks that the government’s position on the diaspora vote has no legal basis.
“The pronouncement by the minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs as well as the stance taken by Zanu PF on the diaspora vote is not consistent with provisions of the constitution. The constitution, in terms of section 67 on political rights, is very clear that every adult Zimbabwean citizen has a right to participate in peaceful political activities and also to vote. There is no restriction whatsoever.”
“This is buttressed by the provisions which are in the schedule of the constitution. They [Zanu PF] are hiding behind a finger in raising the issue of constituencies and so on. It is neither here nor there for the simple reason that the Electoral Act must be in conformity with the provisions of the constitution,” said Gonese.
He said the fact that people on government business abroad and workers at embassies voted meant that everyone else outside the country can also do so easily.
“I therefore submit that the stance taken by Zanu PF is simply a way of depriving citizens with full entitlement to vote their rights. If it is the issue of constituencies that a person must vote in the constituency they were born only, then let’s therefore have a provision that diasporans can vote for the President on the basis they were born in Zimbabwe,” argued Gonese.
Political analyst Rashweat Mukundu told The NewsHawks that the ban on foreign-based Zimbabweans from voting amounts to disenfranchisement.
“The fact that we have postal voting means anyone can vote without being physically in Zimbabwe. The statement that people need to vote only in their constituencies is more of a political statement than a legal one,” he said.
In the Southern African Development Community, besides South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Namibia allow the diaspora vote.
Dual citizenship, as provided for in section 42 of the Zimbabwe constitution, has also increased the impetus for diaspora voting.
Although unsuccessful, several court petitions have been filed with the Constitutional Court demanding the right to vote to be extended to the diasporans. Of note is the example of Gabriel Shumba and others versus the ministry of Justice and others recorded as case number CCZ 4/18.
