The government of President Emmerson Mnangagwa is said to be on edge as the country is engulfed by crisis after crisis.
Over the past month, doctors have been on strike across the whole country and the government has not been able to deal with the crisis.
With schools opening in two days’ times, teacher unions have already declared that their members will not be reporting for duty.
According to a Standard report, there is fear among the security sector that low-ranking security personnel, feeling the pinch of the economic meltdown might subtly support the protests and render the security situation in the country volatile. A Standard source had this to say:
The government is now panicking. There are threats from every corner — from its workers demanding salaries in US dollars to the industry where companies producing utility goods are demanding payment for goods in the greenback.
Mnangagwa has been projecting himself as a reformed person and it will be difficult for him to use brute force to deal with the protests. The ghost of the August 1 shooting is still haunting him and he is desperate for ways to resolve the crisis.
The ZANU PF Youth League president national commissar Godfrey Tsenengamu said that despite the workers feeling the pinch, they should never get involved in politics because ZANU PF will deal with them.
We admit there are economic challenges in the country, but if workers decide to take the political route and manipulate the system for regime change, it is our duty as Zanu PF youths, we have an obligation to defend our electoral victory.