SW Radio Africa (London)
Lance Guma
23 April 2008
analysis
There is growing regional and international pressure for an arms embargo to be placed on Zimbabwe, until a legitimate government is in place. This is mainly because of the Chinese arms ship that was turned away from South Africa last week.
A High Court order sought by pressure groups in Durban barred its transit overland to Zimbabwe, while trade unions in the region urged their members to refuse to unload it. Campaigners are arguing that presidential election results have still not been announced 25 days after the elections and as such any arms shipments are likely to be used for internal repression.
On Wednesday the new Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, called on the United Nations Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe. He described the plight of Zimbabweans as 'heart-breaking' warning that 'already bruised, broken and crushed by oppression and economic hardship before the elections, they are now even more divided, despondent and, in many cases, hopeless than they were before.' He argued that a heavily armed Zimbabwe would threaten peace, security and stability in the region and that the South African government should support calls for a UN arms embargo.
In Britain Prime Minister Gordon Brown picked up the issue while responding to questions from parliamentary backbenchers. He pledged to promote proposals for an arms embargo saying 'a message should be sent from the whole of the UK that what is happening in Zimbabwe, failing to announce an election result, trying to rig an election result, is completely unacceptable.' South Africa's main opposition, the Democratic Alliance, also called on China to stop arms shipments to Zimbabwe until a legitimate government is in place. DA foreign affairs spokesman Tony Leon said he had written to the Chinese ambassador in South Africa to put forward the argument.
Pressure group Human Rights Watch wrote a letter to Chinese president Hu Jintao urging the country to cease all arms deliveries to Zimbabwe 'while the very high risk exists of such weapons being used against the civilian population.' Sophie Richardson the Asia advocacy officer for the group said; 'China prides itself on being a responsible power. This means it has no business shipping arms to an abusive government, in the middle of a brutal and violent crackdown.'
In an unprecedented snub of Mugabe's regime, Southern African states at government level appear to have rallied together in blocking the Chinese ship from offloading its deadly cargo. Reports indicate that Angola and Namibia have refused the ship access to their ports. An Angolan foreign ministry spokesman said; 'The government does not have any intention to allow that vessel into the country. Given the ongoing volatile political situation in Zimbabwe, we believe we need to approach this issue very carefully.' Namibia a long time ally of Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF echoed a similar stance.
SADC Chairman and Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa got the ball rolling this week by urging the entire region not to accept the arms ship. On Tuesday Associated Press reported that the ship might now be on its way to China after its owners recalled it. Conflicting reports emerged Tuesday over its location and destination, with some suggesting it was near Cape Point while others said it was now in Namibian waters. By Wednesday there was still no clarity on its location.
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JACOB Zuma, the leader of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has revealed that “countries in the world” have been urging South Africa to use force to oust President Robert Mugabe in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
Zuma, tipped to be South Africa’s next leader after President Thabo Mbeki, who has been the chief negotiator between Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to find solutions to a deepening crisis, said they had rejected the use of force.
“I don’t think Mbeki must apply force in Zimbabwe,” he told the New York Times on a visit to London Wednesday. “This is what countries in the world are urging South Africa to do and it is wrong. I don’t think if you are a stronger country you must then use force. Negotiations and persuasions is a necessary thing to do rather than use force.
“All that we should do from the outside is to help what the Zimbabweans do.”
Zuma said the United States and Britain had undermined their own ability to play a role in Zimbabwe’s political crisis because of the vehemence of their criticism of Mugabe’s government.
With almost a month since Zimbabweans voted in presidential elections, results have still not been announced. But Zuma, in another interview with the BBC, refused to blame the delay on President Mugabe.
He said: “The delay in announcing the results, it is, in actual fact, the electoral commission, it's not Mugabe's job to announce the results.”
Zuma, who has been reported as being at odds with President Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe, insisted that he was fully behind Mbeki. South Africa, he said, had decided “not to stand on rooftops and criticise Mugabe” in order to be able to talk to both sides in the dispute.
“Quiet diplomacy has not failed,” he insisted. “Zimbabwe is our neighbour. We need to engage Zimbabweans on both sides. It would not have been prudent for us to stand there and criticize them. How could we have engaged with both sides if we did so?”
He added: “We decided to engage Zimbabweans quietly and it was dubbed quiet diplomacy. We can produce a better report than anyone else on what happened.”
With a report in the state-run Herald newspaper on Wednesday floating the possibility of a unity government, with President Mugabe at the helm to end the stand-off, Zuma said it was “not premature” to be talking about such a plan.
He said: “I don’t think it is premature because you are dealing with a situation where we are almost three weeks after the election and there has been no announcement of the results.
“So we have to say what do we do? The natural thing is that there should be discussions. The call for a unity government is not premature, it is actually appropriate at this time.”
Zuma said the presidential election appeared to have produced a very narrow margin between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, meaning that both men commanded significant support among Zimbabweans.
But he was keen to point out he was not suggesting Zimbabwe would be suited by a unity government, an option exercised in Kenya to stop post-election violence.
“I’m not necessarily making a call,” he said. “This is what should be looked at as one option.”
Zuma reserved his criticism for Britain and the United States for taking “extreme positions” in their dealings with Zimbabwe.
“The unfortunate thing for Britain was the extreme position Britain took in relation to Zimbabwe. It then became difficult for Britain to play any role without people being suspicious,” said Zuma.
The British attitude, he said, “in a sense undermined the role it could play in Zimbabwe” and the United States authorities “also took the same position as Britain.”
“I’m not saying they are disqualified” from influencing events in Zimbabwe, Zuma continued, but “their action undermined the possibility of their playing a meaningful role in Zimbabwe.”