Pretoria – South Africa on Monday congratulated Zimbabwe “for organising and holding the harmonised elections to elect the president, National Assembly, and local government representatives”.
“South Africa is conscious that these elections took place under a difficult economic environment due to the burdening sanctions which the people of Zimbabwe continue to unjustly endure,” the South African Presidency said.
“Furthermore, South Africa has taken note of the preliminary pronouncements by the invited International Observers Missions including the African Union (AU) and the South African Development Community (SEOM) Observer Missions.”
The SADC observer mission found that the elections, which took place on 23 and 24 August 2023, did not fully meet constitutional and democratic standards.
At the weekend Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission announced incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa as the winner of the Presidential elections ahead of his main rival Nelson Chamisa the leader of Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).
Zimbabwe’s main opposition has rejected the results insisting they were rigged.
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Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson to President Cyril Ramaphosa, said South Africa was calling on all the parties in Zimbabwe to work in unison in sustaining peace and work towards development and shared prosperity in the country.
