President Cyril Ramaphosa has called and congratulated Emmerson Mnangagwa on his election as President of Zimbabwe, the Presidency said on Friday.
President Ramaphosa, who is also the Chairperson of SADC, also congratulated the people of Zimbabwe for conducting a peaceful election as declared by the SADC Election Observation Mission and other election observer missions.
In the phone call, President Ramaphosa expressed his commitment to working closely with the President-elect Mnangagwa “to enhance the historical, political and fraternal relations which exist between South Africa and Zimbabwe, with particular emphasis on strengthening economic cooperation in priority areas as mutually identified by the two countries”.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) declared early on Friday that Mnangagwa won the nation's presidential election which was held on Monday.
According to the counting result, Mnangagwa received 2460 463 votes, which accounted for 50.8% of the total votes.
His biggest rival, Nelson Chamisa from the opposition MDC Alliance, got 2147 436 votes.
However, there have been incidents of violence in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare in which six protesters were killed on Wednesday as the nation was waiting for the final results of the elections.
Opposition leader Chamisa claimed victory and said on Thursday that Mnangagwa would have released the results if the president had won.
In this regard, President Ramaphosa appealed to all political leaders and the people of Zimbabwe to accept the outcome of the election.
“Should they have challenges, they must follow legal remedies provided for in the constitution and electoral law,” President Ramaphosa said, expressing his concern about the violence.
President Ramaphosa has conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Meanwhile, the International Election Observer Missions expressed appreciation for the generally peaceful and orderly pre-electoral environment and on voting day.
However, they also expressed grave concern about the regrettable outbreaks of post-election violence.
“While recognising the right to peaceful protest, we condemn vandalism and destruction of property and call on political party supporters to abide by the law. We denounce the excessive use of force to quell protests and urge the police and army to exercise restraint,” the missions said.
They called on the leadership of all political parties and their supporters, in particular, the two main parties, ZANU-PF and the MDC Alliance, civil society, faith-based organisations, and all other stakeholders to safeguard the integrity of the political and electoral process. – SAnews.gov.za-Xinhua
