'Zimbabweans must learn to protect their own' — Malema on Jacob Ngarivhume's arrest

EFF leader Julius Malema has slammed the Zimbabwean government for jailing opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume.

AFP reported Ngarivhume was sentenced last week to four years in prison for inciting public violence over a 2020 protest call he posted on Twitter. Ngarivhume, the leader of opposition Transform Zimbabwe party, tweeted a call for nationwide antigovernment protests over corruption and the country's catastrophic economic state.

Malema responded to the arrest, calling it “pathetic”.

“I was shocked to hear [the] Zimbabwean government has jailed Jacob Ngarivhume for demanding accountability through picket lines on how Covid-19 funds were used in 2020 by kleptocratic politicians.

“[Sentencing] an activist to four years imprisonment for holding different political views is pathetic.

“Zimbabweans must learn to protect their own, particularly those who are the voice of the voiceless against the corrupt few. The truth will never be incarcerated; Africa, we are one.”

AFP reported Ngarivhume will stay behind bars for three years after the court set aside one year on condition of good behaviour.

“A fine or suspended sentence would not deter further offenders, a sentence must be meaningful,” ruled magistrate Florence Chakanyuka.

The news service reported the sentence is seen as setting a precedent for other suspects facing similar charges.

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the ANC is “well-educated” about ensuring there is no looting of funds as happened when the government used disaster management legislation to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are now well-educated about ensuring there is no looting as a result of a state of disaster. Equally, we must emphasise that in the declaration of a state of disaster during Covid-19, looting was dealt with, fusion centres were established and crooks were arrested.”

Mbalula said “big cases” resulting from the looting of Covid-19 funds were before the courts and Special Investigating Unit.

“When people speak about [the] state of disaster used for looting, the interventions and reversal of the looting are not mentioned. The cases are there.

“All we are saying is copy the model we have implemented to reverse the looting, quicker and faster than state capture and implement it.”

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