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Zimbabwe’s ruling party Zanu-PF have sacked President Robert Mugabe as its leader, CNBC Africa is joined by Neville Mandimika, Africa Analyst in the Global Markets division at Rand Merchant Bank for an analysis on the economic impact of the situation in Zimbabwe.

Investors should maintain a steady hand ahead of watershed moments in Zimbabwe: Here’s why

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has until noon (12h00 CAT) on Monday to stand down or the ruling ZANU-PF will begin impeachment proceedings after the 93-year-old leader defied expectations he would resign.
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Mugabe stunned Zimbabweans in a rambling late night Sunday television address by avoiding any mention of resignation, pledging instead to preside over a congress next month of ZANU-PF, which had sacked him as its leader only hours earlier.
Parliament does not sit on Mondays so any impeachment would have to wait until Tuesday, although a vote may not necessarily take place the same day.
Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans, who have been among the most vocal in calling for Mugabe’s resignation, will hold a media briefing at 9.30 a.m.
Moments after Mugabe’s address, war veterans leader Chris Mutsvangwa told Reuters they would lead public protests in the streets of Harare, cranking up the pressure on Zimbabwe’s ruler of the last 37 years.
Having been sacked by his party, Mugabe has run out of options but appears to be steadfastly clinging to the very last vestiges of power.
There was even speculation that he read the wrong speech in his live television address, or skipped over passages about standing down.
Anxious Zimbabweans have been trying to decipher a barely audible aside comment he made to military chief Constantino Chiwenga at the end of the address. In the audio, which is not clear, Mugabe refers to a “long speech” or a “wrong speech”.
ZANU-PF’s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president &#8211; paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him &#8211; that triggered the army to seize control on Wednesday.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of the capital Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country.
<div id="attachment_291163" style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-291163" class="wp-image-291163 size-large" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/DSC2441-1110x740.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427" />Photo by: Ancillar Mangena</div>
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it was merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash.
But some of Mugabe’s opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat for another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.
Armored vehicles manned by soldiers were still stationed on some street corners in the capital on Monday.
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Reporting by Joe Brock; Editing by Nick Macfie
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Zimbabwe’s Mugabe has until noon to stand down or face impeachment

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On Saturday tens of thousands of Zimbabweans marched to State House in Harare in one of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the country. CNBC Africa&#8217;s Ancillar Mangena was among the marchers and sent these sights.

Thousands of Zimbabweans in solidarity rally against Mugabe

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75 year old Mnangagwa returns as Zanu PF&#8217;s first secretary and president two weeks after he was unceremoniously fired from both party and government, but the man who will lead the new Zimbabwe has the ugliest face of its past.

Mnanagagwa’s likely policy options

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Zanu-PF party announced a decision sack President Robert Mugabe as party leader. Despite being given a deadline to quit by his own party, Mugabe seems to show no intention of handing over power.

Mugabe has three options; here they are

President Robert Mugabe stunned Zimbabwe on Sunday by making no mention of resignation in a television address, defying his own ZANU-PF party, which had sacked him hours earlier, and hundreds of thousands of protesters who had already hailed his downfall.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-40033 size-full aligncenter" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/robert_mugabe__12th_au_summit.jpeg" alt="OPINION: Zanu-PF factions push for emergency rule in Zimbabwe" width="730" height="425" />
Two sources &#8211; one a senior member of the government, the other familiar with talks with leaders of the military &#8211; had told Reuters Mugabe would announce his resignation to the nation after ZANU-PF dismissed him as its leader in a move precipitated by an army takeover four days earlier.
But in the speech from his State House office, sitting alongside a row of generals, Mugabe acknowledged criticisms from ZANU-PF, the military and the public but made no mention of his own position.
Instead, he said the events of the week were not “a challenge to my authority as head of state and government”, and pledged to preside over the congress scheduled for next month.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was dumbstruck.
“I am baffled. It’s not just me, it’s the whole nation. He’s playing a game,” he told Reuters. “He is trying to manipulate everyone. He has let the whole nation down.”
ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old, who has led his country since independence in 1980, less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto military coup.
Chris Mutsvangwa, the leader of the liberation war veterans who have been spearheading an 18-month campaign to oust Mugabe, said plans to impeach him in parliament, which next sits on Tuesday, would now go ahead, and that there would be mass protests on Wednesday.
He also implied that Mugabe, who spoke with a firm voice but occasionally lost his way in his script during the 20-minute address, was not aware of what had happened just hours earlier.
“BLIND OR DEAF”
“Either somebody within ZANU-PF didn’t tell him what had happened within his own party, so he went and addressed that meeting oblivious, or (he was) blind or deaf to what his party has told him,” Mutsvangwa said.
ZANU-PF’s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president &#8211; to pave the way for his wife Grace to succeed him &#8211; that triggered the army’s intervention.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands had taken to the streets of the capital Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country.
In jubilant scenes, men, women and children ran alongside armoured cars and the troops who stepped in to target what the army called “criminals” in Mugabe’s inner circle.
Many heralded a “second liberation” and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.
They, like the more than 3 million Zimbabweans who have emigrated to neighbouring South Africa in search of a better life, are likely to be bitterly disappointed by Mugabe’s defiance.
Speaking from a secret location in South Africa, his nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, had told Reuters that Mugabe and his wife were “ready to die for what is correct” rather than step down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup.
Zhuwao, who was also sanctioned by ZANU-PF, did not answer his phone on Sunday. However, Mugabe’s son Chatunga railed against those who had pushed out his father.
“You can’t fire a Revolutionary leader!” he wrote on this Facebook page. “ZANU-PF is nothing without President Mugabe.”
<h3>DANGER AHEAD</h3>
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash.
But some of Mugabe’s opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat for another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.
“The real danger of the current situation is that, having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him or her there, no matter what the electorate wills,” former education minister David Coltart said.
The United States, a longtime Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a new era in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once.
Besides changing its leadership, ZANU-PF said it wanted to change the constitution to reduce the power of the president, a possible sign of a desire to move towards a more pluralistic and inclusive political system.
However, Mnangagwa’s history as state security chief during the so-called Gukurahundi crackdown, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the early 1980s, suggested that quick, sweeping change was unlikely.
“The deep state that engineered this change of leadership will remain, thwarting any real democratic reform,” said Miles Tendi, a Zimbabwean academic at Oxford University.
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Writing by Ed Cropley and Ed Stoddard; Editing by Kevin Liffey
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President Mugabe stuns Zimbabwe by defying pressure to resign

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Sunday defied his own ZANU-PF party and hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding his resignation by pledging in a television address to preside over the party’s next congress in December.
<div id="attachment_42826" style="width: 610px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-42826" class="wp-image-42826 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/robert_mugabe_-_wikimedia.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="399" />Zimbabwe President, Robert Mugabe. Photo: Wikimedia.</div>
Two sources &#8211; one a senior member of the government, the other familiar with talks with leaders of the military &#8211; had told Reuters Mugabe would use the address to announce his resignation after ZANU-PF earlier sacked him as its leader in a step precipitated by an army takeover four days earlier.
But in the speech from his official residence, sitting alongside a row of generals, Mugabe acknowledged criticisms from ZANU-PF, the military and the public, but made no mention of his own position, instead pledging to preside over the ZANU-PF congress scheduled for next month.
ZANU-PF had given the 93-year-old, who led his country to indepndence in 1980, less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after a de facto military coup.
The leader of Zimbabwe’s liberation war veterans said plans to impeach Mugabe would now go ahead.
Chris Mutsvangwa, who has been leading a campaign to oust Mugabe, told Reuters in a text message moments after Mugabe finished his speech that people would take to the streets of Harare on Wednesday.
ZANU-PF’s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president, to pave the way for his wife Grace to succeed him, that triggered the army’s intervention.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of the capital Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s downfall and hail a new era for their country.
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Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Ed Cropley
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Mugabe defies demands to quit as Zimbabwe’s leader after party fires him

HARARE (Reuters and CNBC Africa) &#8211; Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Robert Mugabe in a widely watched address at 9pm CAT on ZBC failed to announce plans to step down despite expectations. The 93 year old discussed the economy, the state of Zanu-PF and  agriculture season. At times he was  incoherent. He even seemed to have skipped a few pages in the process.
In response Zanu-PF had this to say:
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Actually all the old man needed to do was stick to the script. Now we must remove him.
&mdash; ZANU PF (@zanu_pf) <a href="https://twitter.com/zanu_pf/status/932330540954521600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Mugabe&#8217;s defiance left many dismayed:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mugabe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mugabe</a> is a very stubborn man.Right now, he basically said he doesn’t care what anyone says,he is staying as President
&mdash; Ancillar Mangena (@ancillarmangena) <a href="https://twitter.com/ancillarmangena/status/932332271562035200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Please forgive Robert Mugabe. He has no clue about what just happened. A great lesson to Africa . Never allow one man to think he is God. Mugabe thinks we can’t do without him. Terrible bubble <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zimbabwe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zimbabwe</a> <a href="https://t.co/nFS2UhtCI8">https://t.co/nFS2UhtCI8</a>
&mdash; Trevor Ncube (@TrevorNcube) <a href="https://twitter.com/TrevorNcube/status/932331254346866689?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Others unsurprised:
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Very much <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mugabe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mugabe</a> style. Die hard he won&#39;t go down without a fight! Again he has out witted the world
&mdash; Tinashe Joe Musere (@tinashemusere) <a href="https://twitter.com/tinashemusere/status/932336458031038465?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Mugabe became leader of ZANU PF and country president because he was the smartest in the room. Seems he still is some 37 years later&#8230;outsmarted everyone in that room, country and all of us&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/4kHR84Lb9B">https://t.co/4kHR84Lb9B</a>
&mdash; Ron Derby (@ronderby) <a href="https://twitter.com/ronderby/status/932336042539126785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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He called the military&#39;s bluff by not resigning. He&#39;s now forcing them to call the shots. Will they remove their liberator? Given Mugabe&#39;s legacy, there&#39;s likely to be division around whether this is the right way for him to exit. Astute move.
&mdash; Ronak Gopaldas (@RonakGopaldas) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonakGopaldas/status/932336547071918080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Earlier in the day <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/political/2017/11/19/mugabe-ousted-from-zanu-pf/">Mugabe was dismissed</a> as leader of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party  in a move to force a peaceful end to his 37 years in power following a de facto military coup.
He was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month, sources at a special ZANU-PF meeting to decide Mugabe’s fate told Reuters.
Mugabe later in the day met military chiefs for a second round of negotiations to encourage him to stand down after 37 years in power, according to The Herald state newspaper.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/political/2017/11/18/mugabe-wont-step-grace-wont-step-says-cabinet-minister-nephew/">Mugabe Won’t Step Down – Grace Won’t Step Up – Says Cabinet Minister And Nephew</a>

Zimbabwe President Mugabe addresses the nation, but does not announce any plan to step down

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; President Robert Mugabe was dismissed as leader of Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party on Sunday in a move to force a peaceful end to his 37 years in power following a de facto military coup.
He was replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy he sacked this month, sources at a special ZANU-PF meeting to decide Mugabe’s fate told Reuters.
“He has been expelled,” one of the delegates said. “Mnangagwa is our new leader.”
Mugabe’s wife Grace, who had harboured ambitions of succeeding Mugabe, was also expelled from the party.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/political/2017/11/18/mugabe-wont-step-grace-wont-step-says-cabinet-minister-nephew/">Mugabe Won’t Step Down – Grace Won’t Step Up – Says Cabinet Minister And Nephew</a>
Speaking before the meeting, war veterans’ leader Chris Mutsvangwa said the 93-year-old Mugabe was running out of time to negotiate his departure and should leave the country while he could.
“He’s trying to bargain for a dignified exit,” he said.
Mutsvangwa followed up with threat to call for street protests if Mugabe refused to go, telling reporters: “We will bring back the crowds and they will do their business.”
Mnangagwa, a former state security chief known as “The Crocodile,” is now in line to head an interim post-Mugabe unity government that will focus on rebuilding ties with the outside world and stabilising an economy in freefall.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zimbabwe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zimbabwe</a>’s President <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mugabe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Mugabe</a> now has the following options, which do you think is most likely?
— CNBC Africa (@cnbcafrica) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnbcafrica/status/932231621734010880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Harare, singing, dancing and hugging soldiers in an outpouring of elation at Mugabe’s expected overthrow.
VIEW: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/trending/forbes-africa/2017/11/18/history-making-scenes-zimbabwes-anti-mugabe-protest/">History In The Making: Scenes From #Zimbabwe’s Anti-Mugabe Protest</a>
His stunning downfall in just four days is likely to send shockwaves across Africa, where a number of entrenched strongmen, from Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni to Democratic Republic of Congo’s Joseph Kabila, are facing mounting pressure to quit.
SUPPORT EVAPORATING
Men, women and children ran alongside the armoured cars and troops who stepped in this week to oust the man who has ruled since independence from Britain in 1980.
Under house arrest in his lavish ‘Blue Roof’ compound, Mugabe has refused to stand down even as he has watched his support from party, security services and people evaporate in less than three days.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Mugabe to resign by noon tomorrow else impeachment proceedings begin <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ZanuPF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ZanuPF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Zimbabwe?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Zimbabwe</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/cnbcafrica?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cnbcafrica</a> <a href="https://t.co/pgvCc8qE7V">https://t.co/pgvCc8qE7V</a>
— Ancillar Mangena (@ancillarmangena) <a href="https://twitter.com/ancillarmangena/status/932248111396859904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2017</a></blockquote>
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His nephew, Patrick Zhuwao, told Reuters Mugabe and his wife were “ready to die for what is correct” rather than step down in order to legitimise what he described as a coup.
But on Harare’s streets, few seemed to care about the legal niceties as they heralded a “second liberation” for the former British colony and spoke of their dreams for political and economic change after two decades of deepening repression and hardship.
“These are tears of joy,” said Frank Mutsindikwa, 34, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag. “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it is merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than a plain coup, which would entail a diplomatic backlash.
Despite the euphoria, some Mugabe opponents are uneasy about the prominent role played by the military, and fear Zimbabwe might be swapping one army-backed autocrat with another, rather than allowing the people to choose their next leader.
“The real danger of the current situation is that having got their new preferred candidate into State House, the military will want to keep him or her there, no matter what the electorate wills,” former education minister David Coltart said.
The United States, a long-time Mugabe critic, said it was looking forward to a new era in Zimbabwe, while President Ian Khama of neighbouring Botswana said Mugabe had no diplomatic support in the region and should resign at once.
Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Angus MacSwan
http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/11/15/fact-box-key-figures-zimbabwe-first-lady-grace-mugabes-g40/

Zimbabwe’s ‘second liberation’ looms as President Mugabe expelled from Zanu-PF, given ultimatum

Written by Chris Bishop
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe’s nephew and cabinet minister, who is hiding in fear of his life in South Africa, has said the 93-year-old head of state will not step down because of the letter of the Constitution despite a military takeover and massed marches against him in Harare. He also claims Grace Mugabe has no interest in becoming president.
Patrick Zhuwawo, who has been Minister of Public Services and Social Welfare for the last two years, is the son of Mugabe’s sister Sabina, who died in 2010. He is said to be one of the supporters of his aunt’s bid to succeed Mugabe, although he denies this.
Zhuwawo had been in Buenos Aires, Argentina, attending a conference on child labour, when the military went in.  As he checked in for a flight home at OR Tambo International Airport, in Johannesburg, he took a call from his family in Harare begging him to stay put.
“They told me that my house had been vandalised and I was on a wanted list. The also informed me that a number of people had died in this illegal coup and more than 200 were in detention,” says Zhuwawo.
When will President Mugabe step down? I said, asking the question on everyone’s lips on the day as thousands marched in Harare calling from him to go.
<blockquote>“Because he has a mandate given to him by an electoral process. More importantly stepping down because of a coup is dangerous, it is evil we can never allow military weapons to determine democratic processes….he is not going to step down,” says Zhuwawo.</blockquote>
“This coup is now being window dressed to look like a popular uprising.”
WATCH: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/11/15/zimbabwe-military-takeover-in-line-with-constitution-temba-mliswa/">Zimbabwe Military Takeover In Line With Constitution – Temba Mliswa</a>
Zhuwawo claims that military chiefs are using protesters to cover what he alleges is looting from multi-million dollar agricultural funds.
Zhuwawo also claimed he was not a member of the so called G40 group of young MPs backing his aunt Grace to succeed his uncle.
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/southern-africa/2017/11/15/fact-box-key-figures-zimbabwe-first-lady-grace-mugabes-g40/">FACT BOX: Key Figures In Zimbabwe First Lady Grace Mugabe’s ‘G40’ Faction</a>
“No, that is not the issue and she has no intention of being the next president. The people of Zimbabwe must choose the next president,” he says.
What about President Mugabe’s age and infirmity. When I saw him at the World Economic Forum in Durban in May he moved painfully – isn’t it time, I asked?
“One of the things in our constitution is that there must be no discrimination on race or sex or age..If you were Zimbabwean you are breaking the Constitution …What we do not want to go back to is the day of Nazi Germany when they were euthanizing old people,” he says
After 37 years in power, the last 20  presiding over a crumbling economy, surely Mugabe and his comrades had failed and should go anyway to make way for new ideas?
“You will not divert me here, I am talking about a coup,” he says.
If only Mugabe, Zhuwawo and company had diverted the economy towards growth and prosperity 20 years ago there may not be tanks and protesters on the streets now.
VIEW: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/trending/forbes-africa/2017/11/18/history-making-scenes-zimbabwes-anti-mugabe-protest/">History In The Making: Scenes From #Zimbabwe’s Anti-Mugabe Protest</a>
WATCH: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/11/15/this-is-the-destruction-mugabes-rule-caused-zimbabwes-economy/">This Is The Destruction Mugabe’s Rule Caused Zimbabwe’s Economy</a>
WATCH: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/videos/2017/11/17/there-is-more-fuss-over-one-mans-job-than-hundreds-of-zimbabweans-dead-wilf-mbanga/">There Is More Fuss Over One Man’s Job Than Hundreds Of Zimbabweans Dead – Wilf Mbanga</a>

Mugabe won’t step down – Grace won’t step up – says cabinet minister and nephew

Not many would have imagined that what happened in Zimbabwe this week would ever happen. President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday was placed under house arrest after 37 years in power. For the first time in years people inside Zanu-PF have openly expressed their views on the crisis in the country. Today the masses took to the streets to protest against Mugabe, the scenes below were shared by award winning Forbes Africa and Forbes Woman Africa Journalist Ancillar Mangena

History in the making: Scenes from #Zimbabwe’s anti-Mugabe protest

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At a time when many across the world are concerned about whether Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s regime will regime come to an end, labourers in Zimbabwe are worried about what will happen to their daily bread if that happens.

Anxious Zimbabweans await Mugabe fate

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Is the situation in Zimbabwe about democracy and does it involve opposition parties at all? As the internal politics of ZANU-PF and its relationship with the army plays itself out on international media, we discuss the irony of the stand-off between the military and the man they still call the ‘Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, President Robert Mugabe? Wilf Mbanga, Editor of The Zimbabwean joins CNBC Africa for more.

There is more fuss over one man’s job than hundreds of Zimbabweans dead – Wilf Mbanga

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Democracy has come a long way in Africa, but the continent is still trying to find the best form that entrenches its realities. Recent developments in Zimbabwe has made many wonder if the country will be better or worse off.

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President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler and balking at mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup, sources said on Thursday.
<div id="attachment_290963" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290963" class="wp-image-290963 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GettyImages-Mugabe_RZ.png" alt="" width="850" height="566" />Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Robert Mugabe addresses party members and supporters gathered at his party headquarters to show support to Grace Mugabe becoming the party&#8217;s next Vice President after the dismissal of Emerson Mnangagwa November 8 2017. Zimbabwe&#8217;s sacked vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said on November 8, 2017, he had fled the country, as he issued a direct challenge to long-ruling President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
A political source who spoke to senior allies holed up with Mugabe and his family in his lavish “Blue Roof” Harare compound said Mugabe had no plans to resign voluntarily ahead of elections scheduled next year.
“It’s a sort of stand-off, a stalemate,” the source said. “They are insisting the president must finish his term.”
The army’s takeover signaled the collapse in less than 36 hours of the security, intelligence and patronage networks that sustained him through 37 years in power and built him into the “Grand Old Man” of African politics.
The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, who has been mediating between Mugabe and the generals who seized power on Wednesday in a targeted operation against “criminals” in his entourage, had also made little headway, a senior political source told Reuters.
The army appears to want Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980, to go quietly and allow a smooth and bloodless transition to former vice-president Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Still seen by many Africans as a liberation hero, Mugabe is reviled in the West as a despot whose disastrous handling of the economy and willingness to resort to violence to maintain power pauperised one of Africa’s most promising states.
A fighter, both literally and figuratively during a political career that included several assassination attempts, Mugabe now appears to have reached the end of the road.
With the army against him and the police &#8211; once seen as a bastion of support &#8211; showing no signs of resistance, force is not an option. Similarly, his support inside the ruling party is crumbling and on the streets of the capital he is loathed.
Zimbabwean intelligence reports seen by Reuters suggest his exit has been in the planning for more than a year.
Mnangagwa, a former security chief and life-long Mugabe confidant known as “The Crocodile” who was axed as vice-president earlier this month, is the key player.
According to the files and political sources in Zimbabwe and South Africa, once Mugabe’s resignation is secured Mnangagwa would take over as president of an interim unity government that will seek to stabilise the imploding economy.
Fuelling speculation that that plan might be rolling into action, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who has been receiving cancer treatment in Britain and South Africa, returned to Harare late on Wednesday, his spokesman said.
“SOLID HANDS”
Former finance minister Tendai Biti added to that speculation, telling Reuters he would be happy to work in a post-coup administration as long as Tsvangirai was also on board.
“If Morgan says he’s in, I‘m in,” said Biti, who earned international respect during his time as finance minister in a 2009-2013 unity government. “The country needs a solid pair of hands so one might not have a choice.”
South Africa said Mugabe had told President Jacob Zuma by telephone on Wednesday that he was confined to his home but was otherwise fine and the military said it was keeping him and his family, including wife Grace, safe.
Despite lingering admiration for Mugabe among older African leaders, there is little public affection for 52-year-old Grace, a former government typist who started having an affair with Mugabe in the early 1990s as his first wife, Sally, was dying of kidney failure.
Dubbed “DisGrace” or “Gucci Grace” on account of her reputed love of shopping, she enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party in the last two years, culminating in Mnangagwa’s removal a week ago.
Zimbabweans, including the Mnangagwa camp and the military, interpreted this as a move to clear the way for her to succeed her husband.
In contrast to the high political drama unfolding behind closed doors, the streets of the capital remained calm, with people going about their daily business, albeit under the watch of soldiers on armoured vehicles at strategic locations.
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Additional reporting by Ed Cropley in Johannesburg; editing by Mark Heinrich
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Zimbabwe’s Mugabe resisting army pressure to quit, sources say

Andrew Amoils | New World Wealth
As part of our recent ‘South Africa 2017 Wealth Report’, we looked at the timeline of Zimbabwean wealth creation over the past 37 years.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-42754 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/zimbabwe_wikipedia.jpg" alt="Zimbabwe pledges to cut spending during IMF visit" width="600" height="370" />
Timeline: Mugabe’s 37 years in power:
<ul>
<li>Mugabe and his Zanu PF party took power following the 1980 general elections. At the time, average wealth in the country stood at around US$800 per person.</li>
<li>Mugabe was accused of ordering the mass killings of Ndebele people in western Zimbabwe in 1983. The Ndebele people were loyal to opposition leader Joshua Nkomo.</li>
<li>Following a few years of solid growth, average wealth in the country reached its peak in 1990 at just over US$1,600 per person.</li>
<li>Following droughts in the country in the late 90s and slowing economic growth, Mugabe was coming under increasing pressure to step aside.</li>
<li>Average wealth dropped during this period as most of the very wealthy Zimbabweans left the country during the period between 1996 and 2000. This is notable as wealthy people tend to leave a country before the big trouble starts as explained in our ‘2017 Global Wealth Migration Review’. Wealthy people leaving a country is therefore normally seen as a ‘big warning sign’.</li>
<li>Mugabe then held a referendum in 2000 in order to extend his powers. This referendum was unexpectedly defeated, which was seen as a major victory by the MDC (a new opposition party formed from a labor union movement and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai).</li>
<li>Zanu PF responded by immediately banning the free media in Zimbabwe and calling for invasions of white-owned farms and businesses.</li>
<li>The Zimbabwean economy and currency then went into decline, with average wealth there falling by over 400% in the space of 3 months (in US$ terms). Property and businesses lost a lot of value during this short period. By the end of 2001, average wealth in the country amounted to less than US$300 per person.</li>
<li>Mugabe claimed victory in the 2002 general elections. Several international bodies including the Commonwealth said the results were rigged. However, without the free media it was impossible to prove any 
rigging.</li>
<li>In 2007, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was severely beaten by Zanu PF government officials and his bodyguard, Nhamo Musekiwa, was killed.</li>
<li>The MDC claimed victory in the 2008 general elections. However, they were unable to take power.</li>
<li>In a deal brokered by SADC following the 2008 general elections, Mugabe remained president and Morgan Tsvangirai was made prime minister. The deal allowed Mugabe to keep control over the army and the country as a whole.</li>
<li>Susan Tsvangirai was killed in a car crash in 2009, which is believed by many to be the work of Zanu PF officials who were attempting to assassinate her husband Morgan Tsvangirai, who was in the same car at 
the time. He survived.</li>
<li>Mugabe claimed victory in the 2013 general elections. Again, several international bodies said the results were rigged. However, without the free media it was impossible to prove any rigging.</li>
<li>As of the end of 2016, the average wealth of a person in Zimbabwe stood at around US$200, one of the lowest levels in the world. At its peak this figure stood at over US$1,600 per person (back in 1990).</li>
<li></li>
</ul>
Note: “average wealth” or “wealth per capita” refers to the private wealth held by the average individual living in a country. It includes all their assets (property, cash, equities, business interests) less any liabilities. We exclude government funds from our figures, so wealth held by government officials is excluded.
Zimbabwe’s wealth scorecard:
Based on our research, the top factors that encourage wealth growth in a country 
include:
<ul>
<li>Strong safety &amp; security &#8211; woman and child safety is particularly important.</li>
<li>Strong ownership rights &#8211; Zimbabwe offers a case in point as to what happens when ownership rights are stripped – once assets are taken away they tend to lose value as no one is willing to buy anything.</li>
<li>Strong economic growth &#8211; economic growth is usually linked to wealth 
growth.</li>
<li>A well-developed banking system and stock market &#8211; insures that people 
invest and grow their wealth locally. Also insures that GDP growth leads 
to wealth growth.</li>
<li>Free and independent media &#8211; allows for the dissemination of accurate 
information to investors.</li>
<li>Low level of government intervention – government tampering in the business sector creates large inefficiencies within an economy. Government owned enterprises and parastatals are also a problem.</li>
<li>Low income tax and company tax rates &#8211; Dubai and Singapore are examples of the power that tax rates can have in encouraging business formation – both have very low tax rates.</li>
<li>Ease of investment &#8211; barriers such as exchange controls inhibit wealth 
growth.</li>
<li>Low level of trade union involvement &#8211; large trade unions deter businesses from hiring workers.</li>
<li>Wealth migration &#8211; the migration of wealthy people (HNWIs) to the country. 
Zimbabwe scored poorly on all the points above, which also helps to explain its poor recent wealth growth.</li>
</ul>

Zimbabwe’s wealth timeline

David B. Moore | University of Johannesburg
Nobody is safe from the rages of Zimbabwe’s First Lady, “Dr. Amai” Grace Mugabe. There was the young South African model Grace lashed with extension cords. 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe’s longtime and usually trusted ally Emmerson Mnangagwa, was next in the firing line: he was sacked because his supporters allegedly booed her at a rally.
<div id="attachment_290916" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290916" class="wp-image-290916 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GettyImages-Robert_Grace-Mugabe_RZ.png" alt="" width="850" height="566" />Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe (L) with his wife Grace Mugabe (R), climbs the steps to a vehicle before meeting delegates during a Zimbabwe ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union Ð Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) youth rally at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera on June 2, 2017. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on June 2, 2017 launched a nationwide 10-venue speaking tour aimed at drumming up support ahead of elections next year when he plans to seek office again. The 93-year-old leader, who appeared in better health than at some recent public appearances, spoke for an hour and a half at a rally outside Harare attended by several thousand ZANU-PF supporters. / AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANA (Photo credit should read JEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images)</div>
The consequences of her vengeance may have led to a coup headed by Zimbabwe’s army chief General Constantino Chiwenga, who is commonly perceived to be Mnangagwa’s protégé. But ex-freedom fighter Mnangagwa has his own presidential aspirations.
Mnangagwa has been exiled from the party in which he has served since he was a teenager. But he is not just skulking in the political wilderness. On arrival in South Africa he issued a statement calling those who wanted him out “minnows”. He promised to control his party “very soon” and urged his supporters to register to vote in the national elections next July.
As if to back Mnangagwa, on November 13 General Chiwenga announced that he and his officers could not allow the “counter-revolutionary infiltrators”, implied to be behind Grace Mugabe, to continue their purges.
<h2>Factions and purges</h2>
Chiwenga declared that the armed forces must ensure all party members attend the extraordinary Zanu-PF congress next month with “equal opportunity to exercise their democratic rights”. He flashed back through Zanu-PF’s history of factionalism, reminding his listeners that although the military “will not hesitate to step in” it has never “usurped power”. Chiwenga promised to defuse all the differences “amicably and in the ruling party’s closet”.
Although this airbrushed more than it revealed about the party’s rough patches when leadership vacuums appeared, the statement appeared more as a cautionary note than a clarion call to arms. It’s not often a coup is announced before it starts; but once in motion direction – and history – can change. Grace Mugabe may have unleashed a perfect storm and her own undoing.
<div id="attachment_290884" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290884" class="wp-image-290884 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/104844149-GettyImages-874355048-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />HARARE, ZIMBABWE &#8211; NOVEMBER 15 : A military tank seals off a main road to the presidential office within the military activities taking place in Harare, Zimbabwe on November 15, 2017. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)</div>
This suggests some people were in a hurry to settle the succession issues for the president, who is now showing every one of his 93 years. Maybe Robert Mugabe won’t rule until he is 100-years-old. If not, and members of his family or party wanted to keep their dynasties alive, they had to work quickly lest some similarly inclined contenders are in their way.All the “shenanigans” that have inspired the generals to consider a coup have set the stage for an extraordinary Zanu-PF congress this December instead of in the expected 2019: that is, before rather than after the July 2018 national elections.
These contenders include Mnangagwa and a slew of his “Lacoste” faction consisting of war veterans and the odd financial liberal. The best-known of these is Patrick Chinamasa. This former finance minister tried to convince the world’s bankers he could pull Zimbabwe out of the fire. He was demoted to control cyberspace and then fired. Perhaps he may make a comeback in the wake of the semi-coup.
The pro-Grace faction includes the members of Generation 40, or “G-40”. Many are well over 40. But in Robert Mugabe’s shadow they appear young, as does the 52-year-old First Lady. Without a base in the liberation-war cohort, they resorted to working with the Mugabe couple: sometimes their ideology appears radical, espousing indigenous economics and more land to the tillers.
If the history of their best-known member – the current Minister of Higher Education Jonathan Moyo – is indicative, however, they are pragmatic; or less politely put, opportunist.
But with Grace Mugabe sans Robert, they would have to muster inordinate amounts of patience and manipulation to steer the sinking ship to the shores of stable statehood and incorporate yet younger generations who cut their political teeth as Robert Mugabe’s rule faltered.
<h2>Perfidious ‘saviours’</h2>
Yet the possible plan for the upcoming congress – to create a third vice-president – appears not to move far beyond the cold hands of the old. Phelekezela Mphoko would be pushed to third vice-president status. Grace would be the second vice-president.
The current defence minister, Sydney Sekeramayi would be first vice-president and so, next in line for the presidential palace. He is a quiet but no less tarnished member of the Zanu-PF old guard; especially when one remembers the massacre of thousands of Ndebele people during the Gukurahundi.
When performing the calculus necessary to rectify Zimbabwe’s graceless imbalances, remember that Mnangagwa was perhaps the key architect of the nearly genocidal Gukurahundi, now chronicled in archival detail in historian Stuart Doran’s Kingdom, Power, Glory: Mugabe, Zanu, and the Quest for Supremacy. Among the scores implicated therein are the British, condemned by Hazel Cameron, another meticulous archivist, as exercising “wilful blindness” during what Robert Mugabe has dismissed as a “moment of madness”.
Perhaps it’s no surprise, then, that many are suspicious of Mnangagwa’s relationship with the UK. Many suspect he has been swimming with perfidious Albion for a very, very long time.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87528/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Those waters, in the shadow of Mugabe’s heritage, will take a few more generations of hard political work to clear. It hardly seems propitious that a coup, and the same generation that has ruled since 1980, starts it off.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

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