Zim embassy reopens as calm slowly returns
Mbongeni Mguni | Friday November 17, 2017 12:40
The embassy was closed for a day and staff requested to remain at their homes and withdraw their children from school.
Mmegi is informed that the embassy, having closed on Tuesday, was reopened on Wednesday after an assessment showed low threats of disturbances against embassy staff and their families.
Zimbabwe was this week thrown into turmoil after soldiers detained three ministers, took over national broadcasters and placed President Robert Mugabe under house arrest.
The military said it was weeding out “criminals” close to Mugabe and denied that it had staged a coup.
Botswana’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Retired Lieutenant General Matshwenyego Fisher told Mmegi that an assessment carried out yesterday showed general calm in the streets of the Zimbabwean capital.
He said he had noted that the usual police roadblocks in the country and the capital had been reduced and those still existing, were being manned by soldiers.
“The situation is very quiet, there are few soldiers visible in public,” he said by telephone from Harare.
“I went to the city centre and it is calm, with people going about their business. The trade union federation called on Zimbabweans to go back to work. “Everyone is looking at what’s next, what is the roadmap, what’s going to happen.”
Fisher was on a tour of border immigration facilities in Botswana when tanks first rolled into Harare on Tuesday.
He was visiting the facilities in order to gauge their level of preparedness for the traditional Christmas pick-up in cross-border travellers.
“I cut short my trip and returned back to Harare,” he told Mmegi.
“I came all the way and did not see even one police roadblock. It was just soldiers and all they wanted was to see what was in the boot.”
Fisher said the embassy was closely monitoring the situation and assured Batswana in Zimbabwe that the embassy was a safe haven for them.
He said any Motswana in trouble and reporting to the embassy, would automatically receive protection once they passed through the gates.
“In terms of possible evacuations, those are decisions made at the capitals that embassies report to,” he said.