United Nations (UN) Deputy Secretary General Amina Mohammed has commended Zimbabweans for removing Robert Mugabe.
Emmerson Mnangagwa has been sworn in as the interim president on Friday. He was fired as vice-president recently, an incident which led to a military take-over which resulted in Mugabe announcing his resignation last week.
Mohammed is in South Africa to deliver the 15th Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. In an exclusive interview with SABC News she spoke about the current situation in Zimbabwe.
“I think that it is a new era for Zimbabwe I think they should congratulate themselves that there came a breaking point where they questioned their leadership, but I also think that leadership should step down. I think a number of things came together for Zimbabwe it could have been so much worse. So I think this is a new dawn for them. A new era that they can write the wrongs.I think it’s important for them to reflect and not to be in the rush.”
Mohammed also expressed concerns over reports of slave trade in Libya. “It’s an atrocity that should not be in 2017. I think that everyone was horrified. I saw the documentary and for a fellow Nigerian to be going through such horrors today it’s very unacceptable part of our humanity that has failed us. I think that we need to urgently take steps to stamp that out immediately.”
The Deputy Secretary General will be in Cape Town on Saturday to Deliver the annual Nelson Mandela Lecture. The theme for this year is “Centering Gender – Reducing Inequality through Inclusion”.
She says South Africa may be amongst the leading countries with the highest number of women and child abuse cases but that does not mean that other countries in the world should not talk about it because it’s everywhere.
“Over the years since Beijing a lot has been done and institutionalised. I think we are constantly closing the gap. Looking at root causes and trying to improve that space but it’s not enough and it’s not happening fast enough. ”
She has also urged women to take a stand against abuse. Nelson Mandela Foundation Chairperson Professor Njabulo Ndebele says the lecture will highlight what’s going on in South Africa and the world..
“You can say that each Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture is putting a finger on the pulse of what’s going in the country and in the world. And this particular one focuses on gender issue. Equality issues between men and women. Safety and security of women.”
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