BY MOSES MATENGA THE South African ruling party, African National Congress (ANC) has said Zimbabwe is in a crisis and millions of its citizens have lost their dignity hence the need for an immediate solution. Lindiwe Zulu (pictured), the South African ruling party’s international relations committee chairperson, said there was need to be “honest and frank” in dealing with the multifaceted crisis in Zimbabwe. “In the ANC’s view, yes, there is a political crisis in Zimbabwe, and we have to be frank and honest about it,” Zulu said. “If we are to help the situation, then we have to be frank and honest about it because we are asking the question, where is the dignity in all the Zimbabweans who are here?” Zulu said, adding that educated locals were being forced into menial jobs in the neighbouring country, losing their dignity in the process. “Let us be mindful that the situation in Zimbabwe is not that easy,” Zulu said. “It is complicated in a way, you have a governing party which is Zanu PF and an opposition party which is the MDC, which also has different MDCs. You also have civic society and other people in Zimbabwe who would want to see the situation improve in Zimbabwe. We will wait for them (special envoys) to come back and report.” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday dispatched three special envoys Baleka Mbete, Sydney Mufamadi and Advocate Ngoako Abel Ramatlhodi to probe reports of gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe. The three met President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House, but aborted proposed meetings with main opposition MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa and civic society organisations. After the State House meeting, Mufamadi said the envoys were reading the situation in Zimbabwe and would report to Ramaphosa, who would give feedback to the public. Added Zulu: “As for the ANC committee on international relations, we also have had our own meetings looking into the situation in Zimbabwe and what else we can do from an ANC point of view, engaging with Zanu PF as a sister political party.” Government officials in Zimbabwe have insisted there is no crisis in the country, with presidential spokesperson George Charamba last week claiming the circulating images and videos of tortured people and those of army officers beating up civilians, were doctored. Information permanent secretary Ndavaningi Mangwana also claimed there was no crisis in Zimbabwe despite evidence of arbitrary arrests, harassment of activists and journalists by the police, among other issues. He said the military and police were on the ground only to enforce COVID-19 lockdown regulations. But Zulu, the former international relations adviser to ex-President Jacob Zuma, insisted: “There are some of the things we have to be very frank about and discuss without necessarily breaking relations because we are neighbours. We have to be frank about each other and make sure Zimbabwe is what Zimbabweans and the African continent want it to be. “It is almost like a continuation of what South Africa has always done when there seems to be cha