REPORTS that top officials from South Africa’s governing African National Congress (ANC) party are exasperated and have had enough of the antics “characterised by threats and blackmail” by the Johnny-come-latelies in Zanu PF are a sad development. The reality though is that the ruling party upstarts tend to hold themselves above the Johnny-come-latelies and thus cause problems for the greater majority. It is unfortunate that things have turned this way, but given the myriad of challenges Zimbabwe is facing from economic malfunction to a political crisis, we do not believe that this will end well for Zanu PF. An abusive neighbour is always a challenge to deal with. They see shadows everywhere. How does Zanu PF, a sister liberation movement, allow its upstarts to trigger diplomatic tiffs with its well-meaning neighbour? It’s on record that there are millions of Zimbabwean economic refugees in South Africa as a result of our prolonged political crisis back home. Is it not time for Zanu PF to focus on rehabilitating the country’s economy to ensure our nationals working in neighbouring countries will one day come back to develop Zimbabwe? With an estimated three million Zimbabweans across the Limpopo River, surely Zanu PF should remain civil even in the face of extreme provocation — suppose there is. It is in this light that we applaud Zanu PF spokesman Simon Khaya Moyo’s chastisement of information director Tafadzwa Mugwadi over his misplaced utterances. Is it a good sign surely to have millions of your citizens seeking succour next door? If you are a father it means you have abdicated your role, you have failed! That is why we believe ANC chairperson Gwede Mantashe is right to question Zanu PF’s moral standing. Blackmailing your neighbour for whatever reason shows one’s unstable mind. Zanu PF cannot play macho when it is neck deep in economic trouble, political crisis and is having an exodus of its citizens to regional countries. Besides, democratic space is forever shrinking with those holding a different opinion being arrested daily. Should citizens blindly support government opinion? The country’s governance charter allows everyone to hold a different view, yet the Zanu PF government criminalises opposing views. The fact that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa last year dispatched three envoys to meet Zanu PF in an effort to resolve the country’s political and economic logjam amid fears that problems in Harare could destabilise the southern African region shows he meant well. That good gesture should never be politicised at the expense of the country’s citizens. Citizens, demand better leadership from Zanu PF and not for the party to act as some rag-tag militia out there. Ruling parties the world over are expected to show leadership — the citizens demand just that, period!