Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland doubles down on agro-processing with new $25 million citrus plant near South Africa’s border

Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland has commissioned a $25 million citrus processing plant in Beitbridge, expanding his agro-processing investments and strengthening Zimbabwe’s push to add value to agricultural exports Source: Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland doubles down on agro-processing with new $25 million citrus plant near South Africa’s border | Business Insider Africa Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland […]

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Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland has commissioned a $25 million citrus processing plant in Beitbridge, expanding his agro-processing investments and strengthening Zimbabwe’s push to add value to agricultural exports

Source: Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland doubles down on agro-processing with new $25 million citrus plant near South Africa’s border | Business Insider Africa

Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland has expanded his industrial footprint with the commissioning of a $25 million citrus processing plant in Beitbridge, marking his second major agro-processing investment in recent months as he bets on adding more value to Zimbabwe’s agricultural commodities.

Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland has commissioned a $25 million citrus processing plant in Beitbridge.
  • Zimbabwean billionaire Simon Rudland has commissioned a $25 million citrus processing plant in Beitbridge, expanding his push into agricultural value addition.
  • The investment follows the launch of a $102 million tobacco processing plant, reinforcing his strategy of processing commodities locally rather than exporting raw produce.
  • The facility will produce citrus juice, essential oils and livestock feed while creating up to 1,500 jobs over the next five years.
  • The project supports Zimbabwe’s industrialisation drive by boosting exports, strengthening local manufacturing and capturing more value from its agricultural sector.

The facility, developed by Orangeville Investments, comes months after Rudland commissioned a $102 million tobacco processing plant in Harare, signalling a broader strategy to build processing capacity around some of Zimbabwe’s biggest agricultural exports rather than relying on raw commodity sales.

Situated in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe’s busiest border town with South Africa, the plant is expected to process citrus fruit into juice, essential oils and stock feed for domestic and regional markets, while strengthening supply chains for local manufacturers including Schweppes Zimbabwe.

Beyond the investment itself, the project reflects a growing trend among African industrialists to move further down the value chain by processing agricultural produce locally, creating higher-value exports and reducing dependence on raw commodity shipments.

Building more than a processing plant

Orangeville’s investment extends beyond the factory. The company is developing a 5,000-hectare citrus estate near Beitbridge to secure a reliable supply of fruit while expanding partnerships with contract farmers, creating an integrated production model that combines farming, processing and distribution.

The processing plant currently employs about 350 workers, with employment projected to rise to 1,500 over the next five years as investment in the project increases from $25 million to about $40 million.

Besides producing citrus juice, the facility will extract orange essential oils for the cosmetics and fragrance industries while converting citrus waste into livestock feed, allowing the company to diversify revenue streams and minimise production waste.

Why the investment matters

While Zimbabwe has long been recognised as a major producer of citrus and tobacco, much of the value generated from these industries has historically been captured outside the country through overseas processing.

By investing in downstream manufacturing, companies can earn higher margins from products such as fruit juice, concentrates and essential oils while creating more skilled jobs and strengthening domestic industrial capacity.

The strategy also helps reduce post-harvest losses, extends product shelf life and gives exporters greater flexibility to serve regional and international markets.

For Zimbabwe, which has prioritised industrialisation and export diversification in recent years, investments such as Orangeville’s support efforts to retain more value within the local economy rather than exporting fresh produce alone.

Strategic location

The choice of Beitbridge is no coincidence. The town sits along one of southern Africa’s busiest trade corridors, linking Zimbabwe with South Africa, its largest trading partner, and providing efficient road access to regional markets.

Its location offers logistics advantages for both sourcing citrus from surrounding farming areas and distributing processed products across the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The citrus investment is the latest addition to Rudland’s expanding business empire, which spans agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, mining, finance and tobacco across Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

His recent investments suggest a deliberate strategy of building industrial businesses around Zimbabwe’s strongest agricultural sectors.

Rather than simply increasing production, the focus has shifted to capturing more value from every tonne harvested by processing commodities locally before they reach export markets.

That approach mirrors a broader shift taking place across Africa, where governments and private investors are increasingly promoting value addition as a way to boost export earnings, create jobs and reduce reliance on raw commodity exports.

As competition for agricultural markets intensifies, the ability to process products closer to the source is becoming an increasingly important advantage, one Rudland appears determined to build into his growing industrial portfolio.

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Zimbabwe overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s best-performing stock market 

Zimbabwe ended last month as Africa’s best-performing equity market, overtaking Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, after months of sustained gains driven by easing inflation, a more stable domestic currency, and renewed investor appetite for local equities. Data from African Markets, a real-time market intelligence platform, shows the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) returned 68.5 percent […]

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Zimbabwe ended last month as Africa’s best-performing equity market, overtaking Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, after months of sustained gains driven by easing inflation, a more stable domestic currency, and renewed investor appetite for local equities.

Data from African Markets, a real-time market intelligence platform, shows the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) returned 68.5 percent in US dollar terms year-to-date as of July 31, 2026, the highest among the 17 African exchanges tracked. Nigeria followed with 66.9 percent, Ghana with 57.6 percent, while Tunisia posted 46.3 percent and Tanzania had 40.5 percent.

Malawi, which topped Africa’s performance rankings last year, has slipped into negative territory with a 15.9 percent decline. In local currency terms, however, Ghana remains the strongest performer, followed closely by Zimbabwe.

The Southern African nation’s ascent caps a reversal in leadership. Nigeria had dominated the continent’s stock market performance rankings for much of 2026, buoyed by banking-sector gains, stable naira and improving macroeconomic sentiment, before Zimbabwe overtook it in the last week of July. With an all share index at two-year high of 480.8, the country is amongst the least in terms of index value.

African Stock Exchanges Live reported that trading activity on the Exchange surged on Friday, with 2.29 million shares traded in 92 deals worth ZWG9.38 million.

Compared with the previous trading session, volume rose 390 percent, turnover increased 446 percent, and the number of deals climbed 39 percent, according to the platform.

Zimbabwe’s rally is also part of a broader resurgence in African equities. According to Mansa Markets, 11 of the 17 African stock indices it tracks are outperforming the S&P 500’s 9.3 percent return in dollar terms this year, highlighting renewed investor appetite for frontier markets.

Within that broader rally, Zimbabwe has emerged as the continent’s standout performer, with the ZSE All Share Index gaining 72.3 percent year-to-date in local currency through July.

The turnaround is interesting.

Only a few years ago, the country’s equity market functioned largely as a hedge against hyperinflation and rapid currency depreciation, with investors buying shares primarily to preserve wealth. Today, improving macroeconomic fundamentals are increasingly driving valuations, signaling that the market is evolving beyond its traditional role as a store of value.

Zimbabwe’s ascent caps a reversal in leadership. Nigeria had dominated Africa’s stock market performance rankings for much of 2026, buoyed by banking-sector gains and improving macroeconomic sentiment, before Zimbabwe overtook it in the last week of July.

Source: Zimbabwe overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s best-performing stock market – Businessday NG

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Still No Accountability for Zimbabwe’s 2018 Abuses 

Source: Still No Accountability for Zimbabwe’s 2018 Abuses | Human Rights Watch Eight years on, justice is still elusive for the families of 6 people killed and the 35 injured by Zimbabwe state security forces during the August 1, 2018, protests. Witnesses at the time told Human Rights Watch that military officers and anti-riot police used excessive and lethal […]

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Source: Still No Accountability for Zimbabwe’s 2018 Abuses | Human Rights Watch

Eight years on, justice is still elusive for the families of 6 people killed and the 35 injured by Zimbabwe state security forces during the August 1, 2018, protests.

Witnesses at the time told Human Rights Watch that military officers and anti-riot police used excessive and lethal force against people who were protesting delayed election results on the streets of Harare, the capital. Security forces indiscriminately fired live ammunition at protesters and bystanders. Among the dead was Sylvia Maposa, a 53-year-old mother of two whom soldiers fatally shot in the back when she was heading home from work that afternoon.

The following day, President Emmerson Mnangagwa called for an independent investigation into the killings and said: “those responsible should be identified and brought to justice.”

Mnangagwa later appointed a commission, known as the Motlanthe Commission of Inquiry, to investigate the violence and make recommendations. Eight years later, Mnangagwa has not implemented the commission’s recommendations, including completing investigations to hold responsible members of the military and police to account.

No security personnel have been arrested or prosecuted, nor has any compensation been provided. Since the August 2018 protest, the government has taken few concrete steps to demonstrate commitment to accountability, justice, and respect for the rule of law. This culture of impunity has bred an atmosphere of governmental abuse and violence. During three days of demonstrations throughout Zimbabwe in January 2019 to protest a fuel price increase, security forces fired live ammunition, killing 17 people, and raped at least 17 women.

Since assuming power in a military coup in 2017, the Mnangagwa administration has committed serious human rights violations and shown a failure or unwillingness to institute lasting human rights reforms. Violence, intimidation, harassment, and repression aimed principally at opposition party members, journalists, students, and civil society activists have severely restricted civic and political space.

Zimbabwe authorities should demonstrate respect for human rights and the rule of law by acting on the recommendations of Motlanthe commission without any further delay and start breaking the country’s cycle of impunity.

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Mnangagwa vs Chiwenga: The Existential Battle for Power in Zimbabwe 

The November 2017 military move in Zimbabwe that marked the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule opened a completely new phase in the southern African Source: Mnangagwa vs Chiwenga: The Existential Battle for Power in Zimbabwe – Foreign Policy Research Institute 2017: The Coup that Wasn’t  Charles A. Ray The November 2017 military move in […]

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The November 2017 military move in Zimbabwe that marked the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule opened a completely new phase in the southern African

Source: Mnangagwa vs Chiwenga: The Existential Battle for Power in Zimbabwe – Foreign Policy Research Institute

2017: The Coup that Wasn’t 

Charles A. Ray

The November 2017 military move in Zimbabwe that marked the end of Robert Mugabe’s 37-year rule opened a completely new phase in the southern African country’s troubled politics. Although the military leadership insisted that its intervention was not a coup, the events were clearly a military-led transfer of power. Soldiers moved into the capital city of Harare, seized the state’s broadcaster and other strategic points, and confined Mugabe to his residence while declaring that they were targeting “criminals” around him rather than the president himself. The operation, code-named Operation Restore Legacy, arose from a deep struggle within the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU–PF) party over who would succeed the aging Mugabe and over the future direction of the liberation movement. At its core, it reflected a collision between competing factions, longstanding economic failure, and the growing political power of the security establishment.

Structural and immediate tensions were the root causes of the coup. By 2017, Zimbabwe had endured decades of economic decline, factional conflict, and public frustration with corruption and repression. Within ZANU–PF, the succession battle had sharpened between Emmerson Mnangagwa—a veteran of the liberation struggle who was backed by many military officials—and war veterans, as well as the G40 faction of the party—who were aligned with First Lady Grace Mugabe—and younger party elites. Many senior military officers saw Lady Mugabe’s rising influence as a threat not only to Mnangagwa but also to their own political and economic interests. The incident that sparked the coup occurred on November 6, 2017, when Mugabe fired Mnangagwa as vice president, apparently clearing the way for his wife to advance her claim to succeed him. Mnangagwa fled the country, and on November 13, General Constantino Chiwenga, the chief of the military’s general staff, publicly warned that the military would not stand idly by while liberation veterans were purged from the party and state.

Chiwenga’s warning was followed within a day by troop movements into Harare and a televised statement by Major General Sibusiso Moyo announcing that the army had intervened. Mugabe initially refused to resign, but events quickly moved against him. On November 18, massive street demonstrations in the capital and other cities showed broad public support for his ouster. The next day, ZANU–PF removed Mugabe as party leader, expelled Grace Mugabe and her allies, and installed Mnangagwa as the party leader. When Mugabe continued to resist, Parliament began impeachment proceedings on November 21. Before the impeachment process concluded, Mugabe, who had once proclaimed that “only  God will remove me,” sent a resignation letter, bringing his 47-year reign to an end. In the immediate aftermath, Mnangagwa returned from exile and was sworn in as president on November 24, 2017. He promised economic revival, anti-corruption measures, and a “new democracy,” but the transition revealed the military’s central role in shaping political outcomes. Rather than a democratic rupture, the coup can best be understood, in hindsight, as an elite reconfiguration within ZANU–PF, in which military power decisively settled a succession struggle while preserving much of the existing political order.

A marriage of convenience begins to fall apart 

Even though Mnangagwa and Chiwenga appeared to be allies in the ousting of Mugabe, there were immediate signs of tension in their relationship. Chiwenga took control of key state institutions, including the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, and positioned himself as the dominant figure in government, while Mnangagwa was sidelined. While publicly they presented a united front, it was thought from the outset that Chiwenga intended for Mnangagwa to serve only one term, with him taking over in 2023. But astute political moves by Mnangagwa, a serious illness that sidelined Chiwenga for several months, and the removal of several of his allies from key positions thwarted that goal.

Like Mugabe before him, the root of Mnangagwa’s possible downfall is his lust for power. Fissures in the Mnangagwa-Chiwenga relationship began to appear in the 2018 election campaign. On June 23, 2018, a grenade explosion in Bulawayo, at the end of a Mnangagwa campaign rally, was officially blamed on remnants of the G40 movement.  But later, ZANU–PF officials publicly claimed that the attack came from “inside” the military, interpreted as a jab at Chiwenga and his supporters. No action was taken against them, though. In August of 2018, soldiers opened fire on civilian demonstrators, killing six, which embarrassed Mnangagwa and created the perception that Chiwenga and the military were acting without regard to political fallout.

It was in January 2019 that the relationship between these two political rivals became clear to all. Mnangagwa, just before leaving on a foreign trip, announced steep fuel price hikes, leading to countrywide protests. The chaos, with Chiwenga as acting president, fed rumors of an attempted coup against Mnangagwa and of Chiwenga doing nothing to quell it, in hopes of making Mnangagwa look weak and incompetent. If the regime were to be toppled, the rumors said, the military could once again step in and “restore order,” positioning Chiwenga as the natural choice to lead the country.

Upon his return to Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa reacted forcefully. He called the behavior of the security forces “unacceptable,” a direct rebuke of Chiwenga, and days later the army issued an internal order banning soldiers from wearing their uniforms in public for fear of civilian reprisals. On February 18, 2019, while Chiwenga was out of the country being treated for a serious and mysterious illness, Mnangagwa retired and reassigned four senior generals, including the commander of the Presidential Guard. These four, not coincidentally, were the core architects of the 2017 coup. When Chiwenga returned to Zimbabwe in late 2019, he found that the political landscape had shifted dramatically in Mnangagwa’s favor.

In 2020, Chiwenga was appointed minister of health, a move many saw as an attempt to politically sideline him. While the two men publicly projected unity during the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clear to those in the know that this was merely political theater and that their détente was as fragile as tissue paper. In 2021, Mnangagwa engineered constitutional amendments regarding the presidential running mate, meaning that Chiwenga would not be his automatic successor in 2023. In 2023, Mnangagwa was reelected with Chiwenga campaigning alongside him. When Mnangagwa supporters began chanting “2030!” at victory parties, signaling a push to extend his rule beyond the constitutional two-term limit, the uneasy détente turned into open hostility.

In October 2025, a leaked memo—allegedly written by Chiwenga—went public online. The memo accused Mnangagwa of repeating Mugabe’s mistakes and protecting corrupt businessmen. The government dismissed the memo as “treasonous nonsense,” but the rift between the two men was now public and, despite the government’s efforts to deny it, undeniable.

Whatever trust might have existed between the two men in 2017, when they allied to bring an end to Mugabe’s long rule, has now evaporated. All that is left is suspicion, purges, and leaked accusations. Mnangagwa controls the party and the intelligence networks, but Chiwenga still has significant support within the military and war veteran groups. According to sources within the Zimbabwean diaspora, who wish to remain anonymous to avoid possible retribution, Chiwenga also has the support of many traditional leaders in rural areas. Because Zimbabwe’s constitution gives the president the authority to appoint or remove traditional chiefs, this sets up another potential point of contention between Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.

Where things stand now, and where might they be headed? 

According to the current constitution, Mnangagwa is due to step down in 2028 after serving two five-year terms, but the cabinet has drafted legislation to change the constitution. The change would extend presidential terms from five to seven years, allowing Mnangagwa to remain in office until 2030. The proposed changes would also have the president elected by parliament rather than through a direct popular vote.

This move has sparked protests within ZANU–PF, from opposition politicians, and from citizens’ groups. In 2023, over 25,000 Zimbabweans, including some in the diaspora, signed a petition that was submitted to the Southern African Development Community calling for the establishment of an inclusive transitional government. According to some activists, whose names are being withheld to protect against any reprisals, the situation in Zimbabwe is “tense and dangerous.” “Mnangagwa’s actions are fueling the crisis,” one said. “He doesn’t trust the army, and in his efforts to stay in power, he is treating the generals badly.” Furthermore, according to some in the diaspora, many in the army support a transitional government, creating conditions for an explosive confrontation between Mnangagwa and the intelligence establishment and the military. One activist said, “The situation is becoming increasingly deadly while we are busy preparing our interventionist National Transition Authority to avoid a repeat of 2017.”

Some think the crisis could reach its boiling point in a matter of days, while others are worried, but less sure. Predicting Zimbabwe’s future is difficult, but this is not just a quarrel over policy. It is an existential struggle over who will rule the country. There are a number of possible outcomes:

  1. Mnangagwa might move to expel, suspend, or sideline Chiwenga by stripping him of key party and/or state roles, charging him with breach of party discipline or constitutional violations, or even indicting him for treason.
  2. Chiwenga supporters could leave ZANU–PF and align with the opposition, or establish “reform” factions to resist Mnangagwa’s dominance.
  3. Mnangagwa might replace military, intelligence, police, and security officials loyal to Chiwenga. This could provoke backlash or “silent” resistance within the security ranks, leading to greater chaos.
  4. Prosecutions or other legal actions against Chiwenga or those close to him. This could include charges of incitement, treason, or other serious offenses.
  5. Because Chiwenga still has significant patronage networks within government, ministries or agencies sympathetic to him could slow or withhold services and cooperation, increasing distrust in the government writ large.

Public perceptions of government instability could heighten political tensions and lead to greater social unrest. Furthermore, the elimination of Chiwenga as a contender for succession could lead others to enter the fray, further increasing the potential for chaos. Regardless of which scenario, or combination of scenarios, unfolds, it spells trouble for Zimbabwe in the short and medium term. We’re looking at either an entrenched one-man rule, returning Zimbabwe to Mugabe-era authoritarian governance, or a fragmented, weakened country that threatens the stability of the region.

Like the citizens of Zimbabwe, the world can only wait and see at this point. The coming weeks will tell.

Charles A. Ray, a member of the Board of Trustees and Chair of the Africa Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, served as US Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia and the Republic of Zimbabwe.

Featured image: Members of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces wait for the arrival of Botswana’s President Duma Boko at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in the capital Harare, Zimbabwe April 21, 2026. (REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo)

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Why did he do it?

Source: Why did he do it? In the mid-sixties of the last century, a teenager left his home and joined a gang of insurgents who were to launch a war against the white settlers in Rhodesia. He was just a kid, and the group used him as a runner. They intercepted a white farmer and […]

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Source: Why did he do it?

In the mid-sixties of the last century, a teenager left his home and joined a gang of insurgents who were to launch a war against the white settlers in Rhodesia. He was just a kid, and the group used him as a runner.

They intercepted a white farmer and his family on a mountain road and watched as they were murdered. He then went on to derail a train and was betrayed and arrested. In the subsequent trial he was sentenced to death, he was saved by the intervention of a Catholic Priest and spent the next 10 years in Prison in Harare.

Released under an amnesty, he was deported to Zambia where he became a lawyer and promptly left to join Zanla in Mozambique where he spent the rest of the war of liberation. On returning to Zimbabwe, he became the youngest Minister in the new Government and then served the new leadership faithfully for 37 years. I wrote his biography and when we discussed what to call it, we agreed on “A Life of Sacrifice”. I still agree with that title, but it was also true of thousands who gave everything to win majority rule and dignity for the indigenous people.

When he was sworn in as President in front of 60 000 people and hundreds of dignitaries from the whole world in 2018, I sat in the Stadium and heard a brilliant speech of acceptance of this great privilege in which he pledged to uphold the Constitution and the rule of law and to put right all that was wrong in the country he helped bring to freedom. I knew that was genuine because he had called me in November 2017, in the midst of his takeover of the Presidency, to ask me if I would help him put things right. I agreed, after all, I am above all a nationalist.

There is no doubt that he has fulfilled much of that promise in 2018 over the past 8 years. We are a very different country to that which Robert Mugabe left behind in 2017. Still much to do and many problems to tackle but no one can argue that progress has not been made.

So why has he broken the 2013 national Constitution? Those of us who are citizens of this country need and deserve an explanation. I was part of the team that crafted the 2013 Constitution. It was in many ways our first real grass roots Constitution. The Constitution before 1980 was crafted and designed by my ancestors who were white settlers of mainly European decent. They produced a document that followed established global norms in so far as the separation of powers, the rule of law, freedom of religion and of course a franchise which limited control to the 3 per cent white vote.

Then after a 15 year liberation struggle in which tens of thousands died and with the help of the global community and the rest of Africa, we secured freedom under majority rule, the former colonial power, Britain, crafted a new Constitution which came into force in April 1980. Subsequent changes to this document by the new Government sought to concentrate power in one Party and in central authority. Opposition was eliminated, partly by a genocidal campaign against Zapu.

By 2008, Zimbabwe was a failed State, nearly totally isolated from the world, life expectancy collapsed, millions on food aid. Faced with a flood of economic refugees from Zimbabwe, South Africa intervened and the 2009 Unity Government was the result. After 3 years of rapid recovery, we sat down as a Nation, to craft our first truly indigenous Constitution. We held thousands of meetings across the country, we debated and argued over every sentence, almost every word. Eventually it was done and we published the result and asked the people to endorse what we had done.

In the subsequent referendum, millions voted and nearly 94 per cent of the vote was in favour of this new dispensation.

How important is a constitution? I think this question is easily answered by the experience of the United States of America. In 1876, after defeating the attempts of Britain to maintain its colonial grip on the continent, the 13 States on the Eastern seaboard came together in Philadelphia and drafted a constitution on three pages. This has stood the test of time over the past 250 years and created a country of 350 million people and given them the highest income per capita in history. In the process, creating a super power who has dominated much of the past two centuries.

Another example of the importance of these national documents is perhaps the history of China after Mao Zedong is another example. Like Mugabe, Mao had led China through the Civil war and unified the country under centralized Communist leadership. But under his leadership China remained isolated and poor. Tens of millions died of poverty and hunger. The wild attempts at industrialization and radicalization led to massive suffering and the collapse of leadership.

Then came the new leadership and with it new principles for management of this vast country. Like the US Constitution, not long winded but a few critical principles. China shook off the shackles of history and in a short period of 50 years has become the second largest economy in the world, lifted a billion people out of poverty into middle, even upper income class. China today bears no resemblance to the China of Mao.

Those of us who have held power in Zimbabwe since 1980 have to answer for how we have done. It’s not pretty, no local currency, we import the great majority of what we buy every day. Our infrastructure is in a terrible state – railways barely operating, Air Zimbabwe a joke, ZESA a bankrupt shadow of its past and unable to meet our needs. Our farm sector remains shattered from a failed reform process; our state schools are turning out kids who cannot count or read. Our state hospitals cannot meet the basic needs of their patients. 90 per cent of adults must make their living from the informal sector and remittances or gold mining.

Despite our Government, Zimbabwe is now doing quite well but is unable to meet the basic needs of our people. Our educated young people look to other countries for any real sort of a career. At Independence we projected our 2025 population at over 32 million. It was half that, the rest in foreign countries trying to make a living and enough to allow them to send money home.

So why did Emmerson Mnangagwa break his promises in 2018, why did he violate to basic principles we adopted in 2013? I find it impossible to understand, because it was not necessary. Our Constitution was meeting our needs as a country, we had started trying to run proper democratic elections, our few international friends were helping us restructure our national debt, unserviced for nearly 30 years. After nearly 100 years under some form of sanctions for violations of law and human rights, we were throwing off those shackles, now we threaten all that progress, why?

It was not to protect his legacy – he has in fact put that in jeopardy. It was to not to correct any fundamentals in our economy, Mthuli is doing what he can but there are things he cannot touch. It was not to bring corruption under control, the worst of the individuals responsible for corruption that makes the Gupters in South Africa look like amateurs, flaunt their wealth in public. Was it to control the transition to the next generation of national leadership? Perhaps, but why, our generation has failed the task given to us by the people who died to win our freedom in 1980, if anything the transition is overdue.

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