The Sunday Mail
Ambassador Christopher Mutsvangwa
The newly-minted President of South Africa, His Excellency Cyril Ramaphosa, yesterday came to visit Zimbabwe and his counterpart, His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
This is the first official engagement between the two leaders as Heads of State, though it is the third time they are meeting since President Mnangagwa assumed office last November.
They met the same day President Ramaphosa won the leadership of the ANC, South Africa’s ruling party.
It is time-worn practice of leaders of a close-knit Sadc to honour seniority once one assumes the apex of national power.
The two leaders got another chance to meet in Davos, Switzerland as they took advantage of the World Economic Forum to woo global business leaders and lure investment to the region.
This working visit is in that aspect a celebration of the maturity of Sadc political relations.
There is clear opportunity for champagne toasts.
The camaraderie honed in the years of exile as the Frontline States hosted various regional guerrilla freedom fighters is paying rich political and diplomatic dividends to the independent nations of Southern Africa.
It is common a cause that neighbourliness fosters shared development goals. Sadc, indeed goes beyond geography.
Years of bonding as the regional national liberation movement unshackled itself of colonialism, racism and apartheid gifted a shared political soul.
This special, if not unique, attribute has repeatedly come in handy in the form of the political dexterity that marginalises the machinations of those with a historical penchant to manipulate African differences into internecine conflicts.
With Sadc, the African continent can justly take pride that the revered quest for unity since 1963 is paying rich dividends.
President Ramaphosa was wearing another cap as Chairman of Sadc during his working visit to Harare. And he is soon to assume the role of Chairman of the Brics.
As China and India enter the global centre stage of economic eminence, Africa stands to benefit immensely.
After all, African civilisations flourished when both the Indian and Pacific oceans where bastions of free trade by the littoral states. This glorious epoch fell foul to European imperial mercantilism, starting with the maritime ascendancy of Portugal.
But the golden age is returning.
Our two leaders have the tantalising prospect of trilateral engagement with varied third party economic players in a globalising world. This will deepen the pool to harvest much needed capital, technology, expertise and market access.
The region desperately needs all these to develop and make competent use of its youthful population.
The bilateral file also offers a full plate.
The ANC has embraced land restitution to the colonially dispossessed black majority. Zimbabwe has travelled this road.
The lessons – good and bad – from this road travelled will be invaluable to our southern neighbour.
President Mnangagwa’s accommodationist thrust to bring order and tranquillity, and bury pernicious turbulence on land matters, is providing a haven to agricultural capital from South Africa.
The lodges in Zimbabwe are full of scouting South African investors seeking fortunes in partnership with those who benefited from our epochal land reform.
President Mnangagwa continues to win accolades for his pro-investment thrust. Zimbabwe is open for business is his ear-catching mantra.
President Ramaphosa has successfully converted his cadreship of the ANC into rewarding business acumen.
The exchange of notes in this domain edifies the Harare working visit.
Recently, a group of Zimbabwean Diasporans teamed up with South Africa’s Transnet rail operator to re-capitalise the National Railways of Zimbabwe.
Dwarfing the size of the investment fund outlay is the future which is heralded by the deal. It is a refreshing departure to a bold new world of robust infrastructure development.
There is also the issue of work permits for Zimbabweans in South Africa, which will now be handled with new sensitivity and urgency.
Related to it is the crying call for expeditious border clearance arrangements at Beitbridge-Musina for public convenience.
