INVITATION: The SARChI Chair hosts Policy Dialogue on 2018 Zimbabwe Elections

The fall of Robert Mugabe in November 2017 was celebrated within and outside Zimbabwe. It provided hope for ordinary citizens that Zimbabwe could be once again a shining beacon of democracy in Africa. The litmus test was to be the 30 July 2018 harmonised elections. However, election process and outcome are being disputed. ZANU-PF acquired two-thirds majority in Parliament but its presidential candidate, Emmerson Mnangagwa, narrowly won the president vote by 50.8% of the vote. Events which are unfolding in Zimbabwe raise critical questions about the state and future of democracy and the role of elections as the final accountability tool at the disposal of ordinary citizens on the African continent. Were these elections peaceful, free and fair? Could the electoral environment have produced an undisputable election outcome? What about the military intervention in quelling protests attributed to the electoral body’s delay in announcing results? Have the soldiers forgotten to go back to barracks after deposing Mugabe? What is the role of the region and the international community in the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe? These and other issues, to which there are no easy answers, are the subject of the seminar.

Speakers

Prof Brian Raftopoulos: Research Fellow, International Studies Group, University of the Free State and a leading Zimbabwean scholar and activist.

Dr Tyanai Masiya: School of Public Management and Administration, University of Pretoria and a parliamentary candidate in Zimbabwe’s Elections of July 30

Dr Godfrey Maringira:  Research fellow, Institute for Social Development (UWC)

Facilitated by

Dr Tinashe Chigwata: Senior Researcher at the Dullah Omar Institute (DOI)

Prof Nico Steytler:  SARChI Chair in Multilevel Government, Law and Policy (DOI)

DATE: Tuesday 14 August 2018

TIME: 12h30 for 12h45

VENUE: Room 1G School of Public Health, UWC

Please RSVP to Mandy Cupido at mccupido@uwc.ac.za (by 13 August 2018)