The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa and International Relations Minister Ronald Lamola to speak out after the arrest of Zimbabwean opposition figure Tendai Biti, arguing that the episode points to a deeper democratic slide in a neighbouring country whose instability already spills across the region.

In a statement released yesterday, DA spokesperson Ryan Smith said Biti, a former finance minister and founder of a civic rights group, the Constitution Defenders Forum (CDF), was arrested in Mutare, in the east of Zimbabwe, over the weekend alongside other CDF members and a local journalist. Smith said no details of any charges had yet been made public.

Amnesty International Zimbabwe has also called for the release of Biti and his colleagues.

The arrest comes as Zimbabwe’s Parliament is working on a constitutional amendment, a measure that has become the focal point of opposition resistance. The DA says the amendment “would introduce far-reaching proposals to usher in limitless presidential terms for the ZANU-PF [the Zimbabwean ruling party] under the guise of technical reforms to electoral cycles and governance structures”. The DA said the effect of this would be the “crushing” of democracy in Zimbabwe.

The DA also said Biti’s arrest is a reflection of a worrying trend of democratic backsliding in the region, after similar arrests of opposition figures in Tanzania and Uganda in recent months.

Smith said that the statement of intent of the Government of National Unity (GNU) “commits South Africa to a foreign policy based on human rights and constitutionalism. South Africa cannot continue to speak out against every other injustice in other parts of the world while ignoring the most egregious violations next door.”

Smith continued by saying that Ramaphosa and Lamola had a duty to promote these values (human rights and constitutionalism) in the region.

The African National Congress (ANC) has been a longtime ally of ZANU-PF and has defended the party’s most egregious behaviour, ranging from stolen elections to serious human rights abuses. The ANC is unlikely to change its stance on ZANU-PF now, but its support of Harare and other dictatorial regimes around the world has become increasingly difficult since the formation of the GNU in 2024.