Four tanks were seen heading towards the Zimbabwe capital Harare on Tuesday, witnesses said, a day after the head of the armed forces said he was prepared to “step in” to end a purge of supporters of ousted vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
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A Reuters witness saw two other tanks parked beside the main road from Harare to Chinhoyi, about 20 km (14 miles) from the city. One, which was pointed in the direction of the capital, had come off its tracks. Soldiers at the scene refused to talk to Reuters.
Earlier on Tuesday the youth wing of Zimbabwe’s ruling party accused the military chief of subverting the constitution for threatening to intervene after President Robert Mugabe plunged the country into crisis by sacking Mnangagwa last week.
Mnangagwa, 75, a long-serving veteran of Zimbabwe’s 1970s liberation wars, had been viewed as a likely successor to Mugabe before the president fired him on Nov. 6.
His downfall appeared to pave the way for Mugabe’s wife Grace to succeed the 93-year-old president, the only leader Zimbabwe has known in 37 years of independence.
In an unprecedented step, the head of the armed forces, Constantino Chiwenga, openly threatened to intervene in politics on Monday if the purge of war veterans did not stop.
“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga said in a statement read to reporters at a news conference packed with top brass on Monday.
Grace Mugabe, 52, has developed a strong following in the powerful youth wing of the ruling ZANU-PF party. Her rise has brought her into conflict with the independence-era war veterans, who once enjoyed a privileged role in the ruling party under Mugabe, but who have increasingly been banished from senior government and party roles in recent years.
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Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Peter Graff
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Tanks seen heading towards Zimbabwe capital: witnesses

Zimbabwe’s top general warned on Monday that the military would not hesitate to step in to end purges against former liberation war fighters in President Robert Mugabe’s ruling party after Emmerson Mnangagwa was stripped of his vice president’s post.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
General Constantino Chiwenga, commander of Zimbabwe Defence Forces and a political ally of Mnangagwa who was also expelled from the ruling ZANU-PF, said instability in the party was causing anxiety in Zimbabwe.
Chiwenga’s statement, read out at a news conference packed with army top brass, comes at a time of a deepening rift within ZANU-PF over who will eventually lead the party after the 93-year-old Mugabe goes.
Mnangagwa’s removal provides a boost for Grace Mugabe, the wife of the president, who is supported by the largely youthful G40 faction of ZANU-PF to succeed her husband.
Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had been hijacked by people who did not fight in the 1970s liberation war, a clear shot at G40 wing and Grace Mugabe who is a vocal critic of Mnangagwa.
“We must remind those behind the current treacherous shenanigans that, when it comes to matters of protecting our revolution, the military will not hesitate to step in,” Chiwenga said in a statement read to reporters at the news conference.
“The current purging &#8230; targeting members of the party with a liberation background must stop forthwith,” he said.
Mugabe’s 37 years in power has been anchored by support from the military, which has always said it will not back anyone for president who did not fight in the liberation war. But the ageing leader has been accusing the generals of taking sides in the succession race.
<h3>RARE MOVE</h3>
It is rare for the defence forces to publicly take sides in the affairs of ZANU-PF. When Joice Mujuru, a war veteran and Mugabe’s deputy of 10 years, was sacked from the ruling party in 2014, the military remained quiet.
Political analysts however say the military stayed quiet then because the beneficiary of Mujuru’s downfall was the 75-year-old Mnangagwa, a war veteran.
Grace, now poised to become a vice president, did not fight in the liberation war.
The party appears split over the succession with the G40 faction supporting Grace and another faction, that includes war veterans, rooting for the ousted Mnangagwa.
Chiwenga said ZANU-PF had since 2015 been rocked by infighting, which had afflicted the economy, causing serious cash shortages and soaring prices of basic commodities &#8211; rare criticism of those in government by the military.
Analysts said if Mugabe responded to Chiwenga’s statement, he would be compelled to choose sides between war veterans and the young turks rallying behind his wife.
“He is in a corner. He has to declare his allegiance. If he condemns that statement, then he is saying therefore I am for the young turks against the war veterans,” said Eldred Masunugure, a political science lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe.
“What we are witnessing is the military saying: ‘We are willing to intervene if the red line is crossed’. It is a warning that the political class in ZANU-PF is about to cross that red line.”
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Editing by James Macharia and Richard Balmforth
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Zimbabwe’s top general ready “to step in” to end purge of ousted VP supporters

Gary van Staden | NKC African Economics
It is tempting to suggest we need shed no crocodile tears over the inevitable demise on Monday, November 6, of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who by all accounts and history was not one of the good guys. But his demise is just part of a political purge that will one way or another plunge the country into a crisis from which escape will be neither swift nor painless.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
The sacking of Mr Mnangagwa followed the same Grace Mugabe script as that which saw the dumping of Joice Mujuru – another vice president who was expected to succeed President Robert Mugabe – some three years ago.
But while Ms Mujuru received much sympathy, if not too much actual support, after her sacking, much of the reaction to Mr Mnangagwa’s demise pointed to his own complicity in alleged war crimes during the so-called Gukurahundi massacres of 1983/4 during which thousands of Ndebele-speaking civilians were murdered by Mr Mugabe’s North Korean-trained 5th Brigade on the pretext the victims were planning an insurrection.
The man nicknamed the Crocodile – a title he earned during the liberation war and not from the logo of his ‘Team Lacoste’ faction – may have his support base but apparently not much public sympathy.
An interesting view that was circulating in Harare on Monday night, according to some sources, was that having seen off two powerful challengers, Mr Mugabe himself was next on the Grace hit list. That is not as farfetched as it sounds, but this conspiratorial titbit need not detain us here.
Ms Mugabe has been ramping up the pressure on Mr Mnangagwa for several weeks now with local media reports suggesting the issue came to a head over the weekend when his supporters booed Ms Mugabe during one of her rambling diatribes in which she accused Mr Mnangagwa of several heinous crimes, including plotting a coup in 1980 which would have been very interesting given Mr Mnangagwa was not part of the military.
Mr Mugabe then chivalrously defended his wife’s ‘honour’ and attacked his long-time comrade – suggesting that he would have to sack him because his elevation to vice president had clearly been a mistake.
Ms Mugabe would have been 15 years old in 1980 when the alleged coup plot was afoot, so she clearly had some sources to help her with her fabrications, but the coup claims are palpable nonsense.
They have their source in a dispute that emerged in 1979 at Lancaster House in London where negotiations over the future of the then Rhodesia were being held. Mr Mnangagwa, then a close confident to Mr Mugabe, was among those who urged him to accept some compromises and make a deal that would end the liberation war. Others who also urged that Mr Mugabe accept a deal included Solomon Mujuru, also known as Rex Nhongo, liberation army commander Josiah Tongogara and Edgar Tekere.
The actions of the military men prompted some of the liberation movement delegates to use the word ‘coup’, but it was never going to come to that because there was one voice Mr Mugabe could not ignore – Samora Machel, then president of Mozambique. When Mr Mugabe and his team stormed out of Lancaster House and threatened to go back to the bush, the Mozambique president apparently told Mr Mugabe to return and make a deal because he no longer had bases in Mozambique to which he could return.
The saga indicates the lengths to which the Mugabe clan supporters will go to twist and distort history for their own ends and trash the roles of the real heroes in the liberation struggle – including those of Mujuru, Tongogara and Tekere.
Now Mr Mnangagwa’s demotion is likely to pave the way for Ms Mugabe to assume more political power up to the point of replacing Mr Mnangagwa as vice president after next month’s ruling party conference.
There are very few ways to see the latest developments in Zimbabwe through a positive or even neutral view; not because Mr Mnangagwa was a ray of hope for the country, but because the path the Mugabe faction has set ends any prospect of the country recovering from its terminal decline without much suffering.
Over the short-term, the sacking may generate a measure of instability with the potential to assume larger, more ominous proportions; not because Mr Mnangagwa was badly treated, but because he has support from people with weapons and because lies, deceit, manipulation and the fantasies of Ms Mugabe need to be curbed soon or the prognosis gets even worse.
There is no reason to dismiss the speculation that now that she has rid herself of the two most likely succession candidates, she can target her husband after next year’s elections – possibly from the position of vice president.
We also cannot underestimate the impact of ‘President Grace Mugabe’ or even a docile and disempowered President Robert Mugabe under the complete control of his wife. In these scenarios, Zimbabwe becomes a wasteland of disputed political factions squabbling over less and less and a humanitarian crisis is not off the table.
The future of the country is far darker today than it was yesterday and yesterday was already quite dark to begin with. The entire region can brace for more of the same – just multiplied – regarding the fallout.
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Zimbabwe – Mnangagwa burned in Mugabe clan’s political scorched earth policy

Zimbabwe’s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was sacked by President Robert Mugabe this week, has been expelled from the ruling Zanu-PF, a party spokesman said on Wednesday.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
Mnangagwa, a liberation war veteran and a long-time ally of Mugabe, was until this week seen as a favorite to succeed the 93-year-old leader.
But Mnangagwa’s relationship with Mugabe’s wife, Grace, has become increasingly strained as their two factions within Zanu-PF fight for dominance. Mnangagwa’s removal on Monday came two days after Grace publicly called him a “coup plotter”.
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Reporting by MacDonal Dzirutwe; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Robin Pomeroy
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Zimbabwe’s ruling party expels former vice president Mnangagwa

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Yesterday the 93 year old Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe fired Zimbabwe’s Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa raising fresh conspiracies that Mugabe is preparing to appoint his wife, the First Lady Grace Mugabe to the now vacant post.

Mugabe fires VP Mnangagwa: Will he go quietly?

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Tamuka Chirimambowa, PhD Fellow at the University of Johannesburg joins CNBC Africa for more.

Could SA become the next Zimbabwe?

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has fired Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice president after he showed “traits of disloyalty”, his information minister said on Monday, removing a favourite to succeed the 93-year-old leader.
<div id="attachment_289708" style="width: 604px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-289708" class="wp-image-289708 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Emmerson-Mnangagwa_Mugabe_Getty-Images.jpg" alt="" width="594" height="395" />Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (C) holds hands with Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa (L) and First Lady Grace Mugabe (R) during celebrations marking his birthday at the Great Zimbabwe monument in Masvingo on February 27, 2016. / AFP / JEKESAI NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
Mnangagwa’s removal provides a boost for Mugabe’s wife, Grace, who has been a vocal critic of the vice president and is also seen as a potential successor to her husband.
“The vice president has consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability,” minister Simon Khaya Moyo told reporters.
“It had become evident that his conduct in his discharge of his duties had become inconsistent with his official responsibilities.”
Neither Mnangagwa nor his aides could immediately be reached for comment.
Grace, 52, called Mnangagwa a coup plotter and a coward on Sunday in a speech that inflamed an already bad-tempered rift in the ruling Zanu-PF party.
It followed a speech by Mugabe at a rally on Saturday where he publicly rebuked his deputy for the first time.
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Reporting by Macdonald Dzirutwe; Writing by Joe Brock; editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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Zimbabwe’s Mugabe sacks VP seen as top succession candidate

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has been removed as a WHO goodwill ambassador, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday following an outrage among donors and rights groups at his appointment.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/10/21/critics-urge-reverse-mugabe-appointment/">Critics urge WHO to reverse Mugabe’s appointment</a>
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who made the appointment at a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uruguay on Wednesday, said in a statement that he had listened to those expressing concerns.
“Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E. President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for NCDs in Africa. As a result I have decided to rescind the appointment,” Tedros said in a statement posted on his Twitter account @DrTedros.
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Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Toby Chopra
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Zim’s President Mugabe removed as WHO goodwill ambassador

GENEVA/LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; The World Health Organisation (WHO) should overturn its decision to appoint Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, global health leaders said on Saturday, describing the move as unjustifiable and wrong.
Britain said Mugabe’s appointment was “surprising and disappointing” and added that it risked overshadowing the WHO’s global work. The United States, which has imposed sanctions on Mugabe for alleged human rights violations, said it was “disappointed.”
“This appointment clearly contradicts the United Nations’ ideals of respect for human rights and human dignity,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
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WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the appointment at a high-level meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Uruguay on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by Mugabe, 93. He is blamed in the West for destroying his country’s economy and numerous human rights abuses during his 37 years leading the country as either president or prime minister.
In a speech, Tedros praised Zimbabwe as “a country that places universal health coverage and health promotion at the centre of its policies to provide health care to all”.
The former Ethiopian health and foreign minister, who was elected last May as WHO’s first African director-general, added: “Today I am also honoured to announce that President Mugabe has agreed to serve as a goodwill ambassador on NCDs for Africa to influence his peers in his region to prioritize NCDs.”
But the NCD Alliance, which represents 28 international health groups seeking to combat chronic diseases, said it was “shocked and deeply concerned” to hear of the appointment, given Mugabe’s “long track record of human rights violations”.
Jeremy Farrar, a leading global health specialist and director of the Wellcome Trust charity also said the decision was “deeply disappointing and wrong” and called on Tedros to be brave and reverse it.
“Robert Mugabe fails in every way to represent the values WHO should stand for and those that Dr Tedros has stood for since becoming DG and has done over many years,” Farrar said. “Brave leaders are willing to listen, rethink and overturn bad decisions, this is one such case,” he said.
WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said the WHO chief had made the move seeking broad support for the agency’s work.
“Tedros has frequently talked of his determination to build a global movement to promote high-level political leadership for health,” he said by e-mail.
Human rights activists also criticised the move.
Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based group UN Watch described the choice by WHO, a United Nations agency as “sickening”.
“The government of Robert Mugabe has brutalized human rights activists, crushed democracy dissidents, and turned the breadbasket of Africa — and its health system — into a basket-case,” he said.
He noted that Mugabe himself had travelled to Singapore for medical treatment three times this year rather than in his homeland.
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Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in GENEVA, Kate Kelland in LONDON and David Brunnstrom in WASHINGTON; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt and Nick Zieminski
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Critics urge WHO to reverse Mugabe’s appointment

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Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe moved Patrick Chinamasa from the finance ministry on Monday to lead a new cyber security ministry that will focus on crimes on social media and other websites ahead of an election due next year.
Chinamasa will be replaced at the treasury by Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo in a cabinet reshuffle that also diminished the role of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, seen as a potential successor to Mugabe.
Chombo’s move, announced in a government statement, comes against the backdrop of a severe hard currency shortage that has dealt a fresh blow to confidence and investment in the southern African economy, which uses the U.S dollar.
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Chinamasa was appointed finance minister after Mugabe’s re-election in 2013 and his move to head the new Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation was unexpected.
Its creation comes after Chinamasa said last month the government would now treat social media as a security threat after accusing users of spreading rumours about shortages of basic goods, which caused panic buying and price increases.
The government has been uneasy with social media after activists such as pastor Evan Mawararire and his #ThisFlag movement last year used social media to organise a stay-at-home demonstration, the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.
Government critics took to Twitter deriding Chinamasa as new “minister of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp affairs”.
Chinamasa, a lawyer by training, will also be responsible for bringing to parliament a long awaited cyber crimes bill that criminalise false information posted on the internet, revenge porn, cyber-bullying and online activity against the government.
<h3>CASH CRUNCH</h3>
Meanwhile Chombo, who does not have a finance background and is a staunch Mugabe supporter who comes from the 93-year-old leader’s rural home district, was the surprise pick for minister of finance.
He will have to contend with a serious shortage of foreign currency that has seen U.S. dollar bank balances lose value against cash dollars, fanning a thriving black market.
The worthless Zimbabwe dollar was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 2009 but the economy has struggled over the past 18 months because of a massive domestic shortage of greenbacks.
As a result, cash, especially crisp, new, $100 bills, has enjoyed a steady 10 percent to 20 percent premium over dollars stored electronically in bank accounts &#8211; nicknamed “zollars” &#8211; meaning people have to transfer more than face value to the person selling the dollars on the black market.
When Mugabe said on Saturday he was going to review the performance of his ministers, speculation was rife that Mnangagwa, who said last week he had been poisoned in August, would be among the casualties.
Mnangagwa has come under attack from a ruling party faction that accuses him of seeking to force Mugabe to resign in his favour. The ZANU-PF is divided into two camps, one supporting Mnangagwa to succeed him and another rallying behind First Lady Grace Mugabe.
Mnangagwa, who denies the accusations, lost oversight of the Justice Ministry to the head of Zimbabwe’s spy agency Happyton Bonyongwe.
Bonyongwe, a retired army general who headed the national intelligence agency for 15 years, will be responsible for new legislation and will supervise the election due next year, including determining which foreign observers to invite.
Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, has said he plans to run for another 5-year term next year, his last under the constitution, when he will be 94.
In total, 10 cabinet ministers changed posts while two were dropped entirely.
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Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Alison Williams
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Zimbabwe’s Mugabe creates cyber ministry in cabinet reshuffle

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President Robert Mugabe confirmed weekend rumours of a cabinet reshuffle by replacing Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa with Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo. This follows news last week of tensions between himself and his deputy.

Mugabe creates new cyber ministry in cabinet reshuffle

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After defying economic gravity for a year, Zimbabwe’s homemade U.S. dollars have fallen to earth with a bump.
Rumors the central bank was buying up black market U.S. dollars last month with one of its own versions of the currency created panic in a country scarred by the hyperinflationary spiral of 2008 that wiped out people’s savings.
The worthless Zimbabwe dollar was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 2009 but the economy has struggled over the last 18 months because of a massive domestic shortage of greenbacks.
As a result, cash, especially crisp, new, $100 bills, has enjoyed a steady 10 percent to 20 percent premium over dollars stored electronically in bank accounts &#8211; nicknamed “zollars”.
(For graphic on implied rate of Zimbabwe&#8217;s electronic dollars click: <a href="http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/ZIMBABWE-DOLLARS/0100409Q0MV/index.html">here</a> )
But two weeks ago, the rumors that even the central bank had run out of hard currency sent the premium soaring to nearly 50 percent, according to black market traders and unofficial measures of the zollar value.
“I am really scared that I will wake up one day and find my money in the bank is worthless,” said Jethro Nkosi, a computer technician at a hotel in the capital Harare.
The central bank has not published currency reserves since dollarisation and Zimbabweans worry it is creating zollars without the backing of sufficient reserves or gold, leaving the system vulnerable to a crisis of confidence.
Another currency implosion would also be a major headache for 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe as he seeks to extend his 37 years in power in an election in less than a year.
On Friday, buying $100 in cash via a bank transfer cost 145 electronic zollars, a marginal improvement on 160 last week. But on Sept. 23, when rumors of the central bank buying black market dollars swept Harare, the rate spiked to 185.
The price of everyday goods has also leapt as importers of food to fuel to medicine are forced to turn to an increasingly unfavorable and risky black market to pay for their wares.
In just one week, the cost of cooking oil, cereal and butter imported from South Africa leapt by as much as 30 percent.
<h3>DOLLARS BOLLARS ZOLLARS</h3>
One Harare banking source said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ) Fidelity Printers and Refiners division sparked the panic two weeks ago by offloading a large quantity of dollar “bond notes” to buy gold from small-scale mining firms.
When the newly minted notes, nicknamed “bollars”, hit the streets, currency dealers assumed the central bank was mopping up greenbacks from the black market, sending the of real dollars soaring.
Bond notes are the third form of dollars used in Zimbabwe, besides cash and zollars. Like their electronic counterparts, the quasi-currency notes are meant to be equivalent to dollars issued by the U.S. Federal Reserve but they are now worth less.
The notes, backed by an opaque $200 million loan facility from the Cairo-based Afreximbank, were first introduced in November. This week they were trading at 1.3 to the dollar after weakening to as much as 1.5 in late September.
The banking source said RBZ’s Fidelity, Zimbabwe’s sole gold trader, was paying mining firms for gold 60:40 in dollars and bond notes, compared with only dollars a month ago &#8211; and that had fueled suspicions the RBZ was running out of hard currency.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor John Mangudya denied Zimbabwe was locked in another currency crisis. He told Reuters the bank was spending $1 million in bond notes a week to buy gold but said that should not affect currency market values.
“In an economy with $180 million of bond notes, I am not very sure whether that amount could have been responsible for a few days’ change in economic fundamentals of premiums in the parallel markets,” he told Reuters.
<h3>CARS, HOUSES AND STOCKS</h3>
However, the situation is febrile and fluid.
To try to prevent a run on the domestic banking system, the government has tried to kill the black market with decrees giving the police more powers and stating that illegal currency traders face up to 10 years in prison.
Despite the warnings, illegal currency dealers continue to trade on Harare’s streets, albeit more discretely than usual because of plain-clothes police lurking in the shadows.
“This is the only way I can look after my family. But it will now be difficult to trade openly like we used to do,” said currency trader Theresa Chirwa, glancing over her shoulder as she shoved a wad of bond notes and dollars into her satchel.
Assessing the true value of zollars is difficult but economists have revived a gauge used during the hyperinflation era &#8211; the Old Mutual Implied Rate &#8211; which compares share prices of the Old Mutual insurance firm traded in Harare and London.
As the central bank rumors swirled last month, the premium for Harare shares over their London counterparts surged, meaning Zimbabweans need far more of their electronic dollars to buy the shares than someone in London using ordinary U.S. dollars.
Besides trying to get their hands on hard cash, Zimbabweans are also converting zollars into tangible assets such as cars or property, or piling into the stock market in the hope shares will hold value even if their bank balances are obliterated.
As a result, Zimbabwe&#8217;s main stock index, the ZSE Industrial <a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=zw%21indzi">.INDZI</a>, has surged 77 percent in the last month to a record high of 433 this week. The index has tripled so far this year.
“I‘m investing in equity funds &#8211; hopefully that should give me some value for my money,” said Nkosi, the computer technician. “We don’t know what tomorrow holds.”
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Writing by Ed Cropley; editing by David Clarke
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In Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, hard currency just got a whole lot harder

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President Robert Mugabe is back in South Africa and this time to attend the second session of the South Africa-Zimbabwe Bi-National Commission which kicked off today in Pretoria.

Mugabe in SA for Bi-National Commission

HARARE, Aug 25 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe, on Friday made her first public appearance since leaving South Africa where she was charged with assault.
The wife of 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, a potential successor to the president, was granted diplomatic immunity and left South Africa on Sunday.
But South Africa’s opposition is challenging the international relations minister’s decision to give her immunity &#8211; a move that could in theory affect any future plans to travel to the country.
The Mugabes attended a farming fair in Harare, where Grace was seen smiling and talking with exhibitors. She made no public comment.
Harare has made no official comment on the assault case and requests for comment from Zimbabwean government officials have gone unanswered.
Twenty-year-old model Gabriella Engels accused Grace Mugabe of whipping her with an electric extension cable as she waited with two friends in a luxury hotel suite to meet one of the Mugabes’ adult sons.
South Africa’s main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party has asked the Constitutional Court for permission to argue its case that Grace Mugabe’s diplomatic immunity be declared unconstitutional.
“Grace Mugabe is not a member of the Zimbabwean government and she was in South Africa on personal business,” the party’s federal executive chairman, James Selfe, said.
“There is nothing in either South African or international law which renders her deserving of diplomatic immunity.”
Selfe said the party hoped that if the immunity is lifted Mugabe would have to surrender herself to South African state prosecutors or be extradited to face the charges. If not she could be declared persona non grata, prohibited from visiting South Africa.
Advocacy group Afriforum has given legal backing to the alleged victim, Engels, and is working on the case with Gerrie Nel &#8211; the prosecutor who secured a murder conviction against Olympic and Paralympic runner Oscar Pistorius. (Reporting by Kuda Chideme; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

Zimbabwe’s first lady, Grace Mugabe makes first public appearance since SA debacle

Gerhard Kemp | Stellenbosch University
Grace Mugabe, the wife of President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, is accused of assaulting a young woman while on a visit to South Africa. A week after the incident in a hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg’s upmarket central business district, a South African government minister announced that she had been granted diplomatic immunity. She has subsequently returned to Zimbabwe without any attempt by the South African Police Service to arrest her.
The incident has sparked a furious debate about whether she should have been granted immunity, and what this means for the victim of the alleged assault.
At the time of the alleged assault Grace Mugabe was on a private, not official, visit to South Africa. She wasn’t granted immunity before her visit and it’s not clear on what basis she’s now been granted it. Normally diplomatic immunity is granted to an individual envoy by prior agreement, or by the Minister of International Relations if it is in the interests of a country.
Since it is conceivable that Grace Mugabe might visit South Africa again in future it’s worth reviewing the rules, considerations and implications of diplomatic immunity.
<h2>Rules governing diplomatic immunity</h2>
Grace Mugabe was neither a visiting head of state or government, nor a diplomat representing her country – both of which would have qualified her for diplomatic immunity.
There is no basis in customary, conventional international law or domestic law for the spouse of a head of state to claim – as a right or entitlement – some form of immunity when visiting a foreign state.
A foreign state – in this case South Africa – can, of course, grant immunity. But there’s a legal framework that governs this. In her case, as the spouse of a foreign head of state, she could be granted immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the courts in South Africa if, for instance, she was on a visit as an envoy of her country to attend an international conference, or if she was accompanying her husband on an official visit. The fact that she happens to be an important person isn’t a good enough criterium.
In other words, it’s not status that serves as a basis for granting immunity. Rather, it’s the nature of the person’s visit.
South Africa’s Diplomatic Immunities and Privileges Act gives the minister of International Relations and Cooperation the power to grant immunity to foreign visitors who represent their countries on official business. The act sets out how this must be done. If there’s no prior agreement that already covers the visit, a notice must be published in the Government Gazette.
What’s clear is that the spouses of foreign heads of states, members of foreign royal families, international celebrities and the like, can’t be granted immunity on a whim. There are laws, protocols, and procedures to be followed.
Formalities aside, it’s also important to keep in mind the underlying rationale of diplomatic immunity in international law and international relations. Diplomatic immunity is a principle with ancient roots and forms an integral part of international relations. At the heart of it is the idea that diplomats – or others representing their countries or international organisations – must be able to pursue their official duties free from interference by the host state.
Foreign envoys who are granted immunity therefore enjoy immunity from the criminal and civil jurisdiction of the courts of the host country.
<h2>What about justice for the victim?</h2>
Diplomatic immunity can indeed be seen as a shield against accountability for criminal conduct or civil obligations. The abuse of diplomatic immunity can therefore lead to impunity.
If a person who enjoys diplomatic immunity is accused of a crime, and their immunity isn’t waived, it’s normal practice for the host country to declare the person to be persona non grata. They are then expected to leave the country. But that also means there is no justice for the victim of the crime.
Nevertheless it’s important to remember that the immunity initially granted to the diplomat or envoy does not attach to that person in his or her personal capacity. It would have to have been granted in one or other other official capacity.
The right to institute a prosecution for most crimes (including assault) lapses only after 20 years. There are exceptions. This right never lapses in the case of serious offences such as murder, rape, robbery with aggravated circumstances, and the atrocity crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It’s conceivable that a person who once enjoyed diplomatic immunity, but who no longer benefits from it, will face justice at some future date. This assumes that they find themselves back in the country in which the alleged crime took place.
It would be hard to justify continued immunity for someone accused of a crime given that criminal conduct, including assault, is not normally associated with official business between two sovereign states.
That’s not to say that the victim can easily get justice. Diplomatic immunity conferred on visiting envoys and representatives means immunity from prosecution and civil action. This means that a victim will be frustrated in their quest for justice in the courts.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Taking into account the rules around the prescription of the right to institute prosecution of crime, and the underlying rationale of diplomatic immunity as a tool to facilitate official political and commercial relations between sovereign states, it can be argued that diplomatic immunity isn’t the impenetrable shield of impunity imagined by some.
This article was published in The Conversation.

Op-Ed: Grace Mugabe – why diplomatic immunity isn’t always an ‘out of jail’ ticket

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe on Thursday challenged her president husband Robert to name his preferred successor to end deepening divisions over the future leadership of the ruling ZANU-PF party, state television said in an online report.
Africa&#8217;s oldest leader, Mugabe, 93, has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980 but has insisted that ZANU-PF, and not him, will choose his eventual successor when the time comes.
But at a meeting of ZANU-PF&#8217;s women&#8217;s wing in the capital Harare, Grace Mugabe contradicted the veteran leader, who also attended the meeting, saying he should name a successor.
&#8220;The First Lady and Zanu PF Secretary for Women&#8217;s Affairs has challenged the President to name his successor saying this has been the trend in other countries,&#8221; ZBC said online.
&#8220;The First Lady said there is nothing wrong with Mugabe naming his successor, saying the move will enable all members to rally behind one candidate.&#8221;
Mugabe did not speak at the meeting.
Fighting over leadership of a post-Mugabe ZANU-PF has intensified in the last three years, with two distinct camps emerging, one supporting Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and the other rooting for Grace Mugabe.
Mugabe is ZANU-PF&#8217;s presidential candidate for the 2018 election, his last under the constitution. He will be 99 years if he wins and completes the five-year term.
Elections are due after July 21 next year, according to the constitution, but political analysts say Mugabe could call for an early vote, citing his frail health, and that he may want to take advantage of divisions within opposition ranks.
http://cnbc.africa/news/2017/05/26/frequent-flier-mugabe-racks-air-miles-dollars/
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6 in-article-tag">An early election would require parliament to vote to dissolve itself, which is highly possible given ZANU-PF&#8217;s commanding majority in parliament.</div>
Zimbabwe has since independence always held elections in March, with the exception of 2000 and 2013, both years when elections were delayed by a constitutional referendum.
<div class="Attribution_attribution_o4ojT" data-reactid="49">
Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Robin Pomeroy
</div>

Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe urges husband to name successor

By Rejoice Ngwenya
Thanks to much-celebrated African nationalists, I am politically independent but in desperate need of freedom. Some would argue that, despite glaring income and standard of living disparities, those living in South Africa, with its world class infrastructure and liberal constitution, are better off than other Africans.
If freedom was that simple, I would be one hell of a happy Zimbabwean. As it stands, I am at a loss as to what extent South Africans are ‘free to choose’, given the vice-grip that the ANC ruling party has on the country’s political system and stuck with a populist president burdened with all manner of accusations. But I have my own country to worry about.
Robert Mugabe and his coterie of grateful cronies have good reason to deliberately confuse independence with freedom. To them, it is a pastime fraught with gainful patronage. They may fool themselves, but they cannot fool me, or even other progressive Africans.
Ironically, we often concur that independence has strong strains of self-determination, devolution, self-rule, and self-governance. The point of departure depends on where we position ourselves on the ideological spectrum because, with even a limited knowledge of liberalism, anyone will know that communism, socialism, authoritarian dictatorship, popular leftist zealotry and ‘executive’ monarchy would not offer, by any stretch of the imagination, a morsel of true freedom.
<h4>Post-colonial nationalist dictatorship</h4>
Zimbabwe labours under the yoke of post-colonial nationalist dictatorship which pretends to allow citizens to play, worship, learn and move at will. Yet looks can be deceiving. True freedom has nothing to do with anarchy or constitutionalised multi-party democracy. Freedom is when the state keeps clear of my life; allowing constitutional institutions meant to safeguard my personal liberties to do their work, unimpeded.
Mugabe, like his counterparts in Zambia, Mozambique, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Lesotho, Swaziland, and, to a lesser extent, South Africa, epitomises this poisonous conflation of independence and freedom. It is impossible to be an executive president for 37 uninterrupted years in a free country.
When institutions and processes that govern electoral independence have been perverted with patronage and cronyism, citizens like me cannot approach the polling station with an open mind. When state media, the police, the army and traditional leaders are contaminated with patronage, designed and paid only to sing praises to an incumbent president and the ruling party, that is not freedom.
<h4>Depriving citizens of true freedom</h4>
When those like me with opposing political views cannot access public media institutions; cannot gather in public spaces to preach the alternative view without attracting the wrath of the police, that is not freedom. Even in the case of South Africa, State Capture deprives citizens of true freedom.
Is it freedom when close to three million Zimbabweans have been hounded out of a country that cannot sustain their professional and economic interests? Is it freedom when 80% of employable adults are etching subsistence livelihoods from vending stalls and underdeveloped crop fields? What about thousands of teachers who struggle on pittance salaries; thousands of civil servants who cannot afford decent shelter and food; or thousands of sick people marooned in public hospitals with no drugs – would that be our version of African freedom?
I could tell you about Mugabe’s cronies who siphon millions of dollars from diamond mines; continue to haemorrhage state companies and benefit from state tenders to line their own pockets. Would I assign that to my freedom?
<h4>How free am I?</h4>
Tell me about a justice system that confines innocent political activists to uninhabitable prisons; allows ruling party politicians to buy votes as thousands of their supporters access food relief – is that freedom? How free am I when I drive on roads that are filled with pot holes and inundated with police check points, while Mugabe squanders millions of dollars on numerous international flights? What about a defunct railway system and electricity supplies that are routinely interrupted – is that freedom?
Besides, these so-called nationalist governments have perpetrated the most heinous crimes on their fellowmen, in the name of sovereignty. Imagine if Ian Douglas Smith had murdered 20,000 white Rhodesians, would he not have been classified as a modern-day Adolph Hitler?
In the fight for independence, Mugabe’s ZANLA forces inflicted the most callous acts on thousands of villagers they labelled sell outs. These acts of unwarranted violence were never documented. The momentum of murderous retribution on political opponents was carried over to Entumbane, Gukurahundi, commercial farm invasions, Murambatsvina and the 2008 elections in the so-called ‘era of freedom’.
<h4>Human rights activists continue to be harassed</h4>
Even as you read this, hundreds of human rights activists continue to be harassed while private citizens are denied independent radio and television broadcast licences.
There is no true freedom that impoverishes its citizens, decimates industry and sends millions of young citizens into exile. There is no true freedom that rigs elections and compels villagers to vote for a party they do not support. There is no freedom that allows party deployees to monopolise state institutions to frustrate local governance.
There is no freedom that deprives a country of its own local currency and allows millions of citizens to spend cold nights outside banks queuing for $50 in coin withdrawals.
That is why I insist: thank you Mugabe and your fellow nationalists for independence but, for crying out loud, show me my freedom.
Author: Rejoice Ngwenya is a writer and head of COMALISO (Coalition for Market and Liberal Solutions) in Zimbabwe.

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