Source: ED must descend heavily on Mutodi | Daily News
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa must swiftly and firmly descend on Information deputy minister Energy Mutodi for his increasingly reckless utterances. Mutodi is proving daily that he is not fit for the purpose and has become an embarrassment to the Mnangagwa administration.
His flat-earth mental- ity cannot be fathomed anymore. It is a disgrace to a country that believes in globalisation to have a government official who remains stuck in Stone Age tribalism and bigotry.
In a video that went viral on Internet on the diabolical xenophobic attacks in South Africa, the junior minister unnecessarily triggered a storm by claiming the Ndebele are refugees in Zimbabwe and in retaliation can be deported back to South Africa, their country of origin.
“South Africans, Zimbabweans we are one people, including people from Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, we are all members of Sadc and we are all working towards the same goal of achiev- ing economic success in our countries. For South Africa, you will find out that in Zimbabwe here, if you didn’t know, just about 1836 we accommodat- ed thousands of South Africans who were fleeing from (the then Zulu king) Shaka. They were led by Mzilikazi (the Ndebele king) and they settled on the western part of Zimbabwe, as I am speaking now, at least three million Zimbabweans have South African origins,” said Mutodi in the video.
When later challenged to clarify his averments, Mutodi was unapologetic.
“They (Ndebeles) are descendants of South Af- rica, it is their country and they have a right to work there because it is the country of their ancestors. We must never allow violence because we are the same people, particularly the Ndebeles, they are part of South Africa and originated from there.”
In sum total, Mutodi claimed the Ndebele are Stateless refugees and South Africans who live in Zimbabwe at the mercy of the government. What crass nonsense! Such disgraceful talk is unaccep- table and should not be tolerated in the modern world, especially from a government official in the ministry of Information — the hub of State com- munication. It stinks to high heaven!
What is more worrying is that it has become a norm rather than an exception for Mutodi to utter such careless statements, which dent the country’s image and make a mockery of Mnangagwa’s re- engagement drive.
That Mutodi has since apologised is neither here nor there. It is an afterthought and must be treated as such! Mnangagwa must boot out retrogressive elements such as Mutodi if the new dispensation is to be taken seriously.
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