The  November  Coup     Soon  after  this  statement  it  was  clear  that  Mnangagwa’s  exit  statement  was  no  idle  threat.  On   November  13,  the  Commander  of  the  Zimbabwe  Defence  Forces  Constantine  Chiwenga  sent  out  an   ultimatum  at  a  press  conference  surrounded  by  ninety  senior  officers.  The  armed  forces,  he  stated,   are  the  major  ‘stock  holders’  of  the  liberation  struggle  and  would  take  corrective  measures  against   counter  revolutionaries  threatening  to  destroy  Zanu  PF  from  within.  This  was  a  clear  reference  to   Grace  Mugabe  and  the  G40  grouping  around  her.  Chiwenga  carefully  cast  his  intervention  in  the   language  of  Constitutionalism  stating:     Let  us  begin  by  quoting  the  Constitution  of  this  country  particularly  the  preamble  which   speaks  of  ‘Exhaulting  and  extolling  the  brave  men  and  women  who  sacrificed  their  lives   during  the  Chimurenga/Umvukela  and  compatriots  who  toiled  for  the  progress  of  our   country’.4         Continuing  in  the  language  of  constitutionalism  Chiwenga  quoted  Section  212  of  the  Constitution,   which  he  argued  ‘mandated ��the  Zimbabwe  Defence  Forces  to  protect  ‘its  people,  its  national   security  and  interest  and  its  territorial  integrity  and  to  uphold  the  Constitution’.  Finally,  Chiwenga   warned  that  even  though  Mugabe  remained  the  Commander  in  Chief  and  Head  of  State  of   Zimbabwe,  the  armed  forces  would  protect  ‘our  legacy’  and  that  ‘those  bent  on  high-­‐jacking  the   revolution  will  not  be  allowed  to  do  so.’5  In  response,  Zanu  PF’S  National  Secretary  for  Information   and  Publicity  labelled  Chiwenga’s  statement  ‘an  outrageous  vitiation  of  professional  soldiership’   that  suggested  ‘treasonable  conduct’.  Moreover,  he  reaffirmed  the  official  position  of  the  ruling   party,  which  placed  the  ‘primacy  of  politics  over  the  gun.’6    This  position  was  in  turn  affirmed  by  the   Zanu  PF  Youth  League.             On  the  15th  November,  Chiwenga’s  statement  of  intent  was  followed  by  the  military  takeover  of  the   country’s  broadcasting  service.  An  announcement  by  Major  General  Sibusiso  Moyo  stated  that  the   military  was  stepping  into  the  Zimbabwean  political  fray,  in  order  to  ‘pacify  a  degenerating  political,   social  and  economic  situation’.         While  the  Zanu  PF  spokesperson  and  Secretary  for  the  Youth  League  immediately  denounced   Chiwenga‘s  statement  as  an  attempt  to  subvert  the  Constitution,  the  military  were  careful  not  to   cast  their  intervention  as  a  coup.  Major  General  Moyo  stated  that  this  intervention  ‘was  not  a   military  takeover  of  government’,  but  an  effort  to  stop  a  degenerating  political,  social  and   economic  situation  in  the  country.  Repeating  the  positions  of  both  Mnangagwa  and  Chiwenga,   Moyo  described  the  army’s  actions  as  targeting  criminals  around  Mugabe  who  were  causing   suffering  in  the  country.  Moreover  he  assured  the  country  that  Mugabe  and  his  family  were  safe   and  that  as  soon  as  their  mission  was  accomplished  the  country  would  return  to  ‘normality’.7                                                                                                                   4  Press  Statement:  Commander  of  the  Zimbabwe  Defence  Forces  General  Constantino  Chiwenga,  13   November  2017.     5  Ibid.   6  Press  Statement  by  the  Zanu  PF  National  Secretary  for  Information  and  Publicity  SK  Moyo,  14  November   2017.       7  ‘No  Military  Takeover  in  Zim:  Defence  Forces’.  Herald,  16/11/17.     3