Coltart rejects extension Bulawayo mayoral term without free CAB3 referendum - yet accepted without free elections!
Bulawayo mayor David Coltart has rejected any automatic extension of his tenure under the Constitutional Amendment (No. 3) Act of 2026 (CAA3), insisting that he will leave office in 2028 unless residents grant him a fresh mandate through a lawful, free and fair referendum.
Coltart, who has previously said he intends to step down at the end of his current term, said he would only consider remaining in office beyond 2028 if Bulawayo residents explicitly approved an extension through the ballot box.
"If there is a referendum, free and fair, a lawful referendum, and the majority of the people say we are happy to extend, in those circumstances, then I have a further mandate from the people," Coltart said in an interview.
"But without that mandate, it's two things – it's a breach of the constitution and it is also a breach of trust, because when I was elected, my contract with the people was five years.
"There was no talk about me having a seven-year term. In my view, it's a breach of trust.
"So I am not changing in that regard. If there's no lawful mandate from the people, my contract with the people has ended."
Coltart's position comes amid an ongoing national controversy over CAA3, which President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed into law in July.
The sheer hypocrisy of this stinks to the high heavens.
So Mayor Coltart insists he will “leave office in 2028 unless residents grant him a fresh mandate through a lawful, free and fair referendum (on CAB3).”
Ask him “Did you take up the mayoral office because residents granted you a mandate through lawful, free and fair 2023 elections?” Both SADC and AU election observers condemned the 2023 election process as flawed and illegal. And that did not stop Coltart taking up his seat.
He knew that participating in the flawed elections process would give Zanu PF legitimacy and perpetuate the Zanu PF dictatorship. What is more, he and his fellow MDC/CCC leaders have known this since the 2013 elections!
“The worst aspect for me about the failure to agree a coalition was that both MDCs couldn’t now do the obvious - withdraw from the (2013) elections. The electoral process was so flawed, so illegal, that the only logical step was to withdraw, which would compel SADC to hold Zanu PF to account. But such was the distrust between the MDC-T and MDC-N that neither could withdraw for fear that the other would remain in the elections, winning seats and giving the process credibility,” confessed David Coltart in his Book, The Struggle Continues 50 years of Tyranny in Zimbabwe.
Has David Coltart finally developed a conscience or is this him, joining the rats, abandoning the sinking MDC/CCC ship! Smart move!
He abandoned the white racist Rhodesia, at least, many blacks forgave him for his part in Ian Smith’s white supremacist Rhodesia and counted him as one of the “good” whites. No doubt he is expecting some people to consider him one of the “competent and incorruptible” MDC/CCC leaders!
There was a father who had four sons. He asked the first son to do something for him. The son rudely reply that he would not do it. He latter reconsidered and carried out the task.
The second son assured the father he would do the requested task. He did not do the work.
The third nodded to his father and carried out the task with no fuss.
The fourth made a big fuss assuring his father he would carry out the task only to perform the task without much care and attention. Con his father into believing the task was carried out with due diligence and care. "Masiya ndaita!" as one would say in Shona.
Which of the four sons would the father be least pleased with?
Which of the four sons would he be most pleased with?
Which of the remaining two sons would he be better pleased with?
David Coltart has been participating in flawed elections, "so flawed, so illegal, the only logical step is to withdraw," as he readily confessed. He did not withdraw out of greed as he readily confessed too. He knew participating will give Zanu PF legitimacy and it did.
Of course, it is insulting to those suffering the consequences of what the tyrannical Zanu PF is doing to be reminded of their suffering by the individuals who gave Zanu PF legitimacy out of greed.
Should the nation be impressed with CCC leaders who participated in the flawed elections, gave Zanu PF legitimacy and then made a big song and dance about how they objected to CAB3. Of course these leaders are cynical and manipulative, so why should the nation be impressed?
Is Coltart refusing the automatic term extension because he is only now seeing the evil of perpetuating the dictatorship or could it be that he can see the dictatorship is doomed and in ingratiating himself to the voters ready to con them again!
A rat that abandons a sinking ship is just a rat seeking to save its own life! For all we know it may well be the rat the directly or indirectly cause the events leading to the sinking of the ship!
The father will be least pleased with the son who should know better but acts out of cynicism, deceit and hypocrisy!
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