ZANU PF spokesperson Christopher Mutsvangwa has rebuked controversial businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei over his recent remarks calling for foreign nationals to be excluded from investing in certain sectors of the economy, describing the comments as xenophobic.
Tagwirei recently told a ZANU PF meeting that foreigners should be removed from sectors such as transport, retail, and energy.
In response, Mutsvangwa warned Tagwirei against pushing sentiments that could evolve into a movement resembling South Africa's anti-immigrant vigilante group, Operation Dudula.
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"Zimbabwe was founded on the support of Africa, the Africa liberation committee and one of the beneficiaries, as a young guerrilla was the current president. Africa matters to us as a country. So you do not go about saying we do not want foreigners in Zimbabwe.
"We do not want Dudula here. We are an African country. Africans are not foreigners in Zimbabwe. If there are certain things that were being done by certain Africans, let them be handled by legal processes," said Mutsvangwa.
The Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act reserves sectors such as retail, employment agencies, and advertising for Zimbabwean citizens. The law is aimed at correcting longstanding economic imbalances, however, foreign nationals have increasingly encroached on these sectors.
Mutsvangwa said Zimbabweans should not mistreat foreigners, noting that many citizens themselves live abroad.
"We are a mature brown stick country which has got a lot of respect for our African brethren and when they are here we treat them exactly as Zimbabweans. We are not xenophobic like South Africa. When you live in glass house do not throw stones. The third biggest foreign currency earner in this country is the diaspora. They are strangers in other lands," he said.
Mutsvangwa's remarks also signalled a shift in tone towards Tagwirei, whom he recently supported for co-option into the ZANU PF Central Committee despite having previously criticised him for allegedly buying influence.
In a pointed remark, Mutsvangwa suggested that Tagwirei should consider enrolling at the party's Herbert Chitepo School of Ideology.
"Certain things are only said by the President. They are not said by everybody otherwise everyone who thinks can be a president can be seen giving polices from his platform.
"It may not be too late particularly for people who want to be presidents to go back to Chitepo school of ideology. I have mentioned it before," he said.
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Tagwirei has been reported to harbour presidential ambitions after President Emmerson Mnangagwa's term ends in 2028.
