Mnangagwa welcomes Afrikaner business delegation in Harare, South African angry

A delegation from the Afrikaner business community received a warm welcome from Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa last week in Harare's State House, according to a Zanu-PF official contacted by Moneyweb.

"Afrikaners are African," reported TimesLive after the meeting, which was intended to rebuild regional integration and overcome past hostilities.

"They are African. They live here. They built their lives and businesses here, and they must be part of Africa's future," Zanu-PF spokesman Christopher Mutsvangwa is reported as saying.

"Afrikaners, like all Africans, have a duty to reinvest in the continent and contribute to its growth."

Mnangagwa said it is time to focus on rebuilding Zimbabwe, and that required acknowledging past challenges while working together for a united future.

"Capital knows no race, and we are calling on all who identify with this continent to invest in it."

Shifting political winds

The meeting comes the same week that Zimbabwe started compensating dispossessed white farmers with an initial payment of $3.1 million (R58 million) out of a total of $3.5 billion (R66 billion) agreed under the government's 2020 Global Compensation Deed (GCD) pledge.

This is an agreement to compensate nearly 4 000 former farm owners for the seizure of their farms under the Fast Track Land Reform Programme initiated under former president Robert Mugabe nearly 20 years ago. Payments will be made for improvements to the land, not the land itself.

In another sign of the shifting political winds in the region, Zimbabwe became the first African country to suspend all tariffs on goods originating in the US, just three days after the US imposed 18% tariffs on exports from Zimbabwe.

"In the spirit of constructing a mutually beneficial and positive relationship with the United States of America, under the leadership of President Trump, I will direct the Zimbabwean government to implement a suspension of all tariffs levied on goods originating from the United States," wrote Mnangagwa on X.

"This measure is intended to facilitate the expansion of American imports within the Zimbabwean market, while simultaneously promoting the growth of Zimbabwean exports destined for the United States."

"This action underscores our commitment to a framework of equitable trade and enhanced bilateral cooperation."

The dropping of tariffs on US goods and paying out dispossessed white farmers is part of a charm offensive by Harare to unlock international financing and re-engage with international financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Mixed reactions in Zimbabwe

The outreach to the Afrikaner business community, with representatives from sectors such as agriculture and energy, has drawn mixed reactions in Zimbabwe.

Some, such as political analyst Alex Rungunda, see this as a rhetorical departure for Zanu-PF, which historically adopted a confrontational stance on land and race. However, it may also be a sign of desperation, he says, as the country urgently needs capital and goodwill.

War veterans and land reform activists were less accommodating of the softening stance on historical injustices.

On Zimbabwe's dropping of tariffs on US goods, journalist Hopewell Chin'ono says the move is more political than economic. "Perhaps the president believes this could serve as a sweetener for his removal from the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act sanctions. A long shot though!" he wrote on X.

Zimbabwe did not coordinate the move with its regional partners, whereas the EU will put forward its response to tariffs as a bloc.

"Economically, it does not make much sense for Mnangagwa to prioritise appeasing the United States in this way – especially through unilateral concessions or alignments, given Zimbabwe's trade realities and regional context," says Chin'ono.

ANC ‘uncomfortable' with all this

Advocate Simba Chitando, chair of the Zanu-PF Sandton branch, speaking in his private capacity, says many members of the ANC are uncomfortable with the bridges Zanu-PF is building with the West and with white farmers, which will lead to rapid economic growth.

"They don't want Harare to reach its potential, because they believe Pretoria would be weaker, and black South Africans poorer than black Zimbabweans," he said.

"A fear that is at the root of xenophobia, and tensions between the two people.

"However, the world can no longer ignore the fact that Zimbabwe is on the rise while South Africa is on the decline."