SW Radio Africa (London)
Tererai Karimakwenda
13 May 2008
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki last week appointed a delegation of six retired generals to investigate the violence in Zimbabwe. No details have been supplied as to who is in the group but it has been reported that Mbeki began receiving feedback from the generals on Friday, during his visit to Harare.
The generals have been in the country for over a week. They are expected to speak to victims of violence and give more feedback to Mbeki. According to one report, the delegation is part of a larger South African mediation effort in Zimbabwe.
Chris Maroleng, a political analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa (ISS), believes Mbeki chose a military delegation because Zimbabwe's military officials would relate well to them, since they speak the same language.
The generals will try to assess the extent of the army's role in Zimbabwe's politics.
Maroleng also said the generals' findings could filter into future SADC initiatives relating to the Zimbabwe, because Mbeki is still the regional mediator on the crisis. The generals could also be trying to find ways in which the security forces could eventually be reformed under a new government.
Reports allege that at least 200 senior military commanders were deployed in early April and were put in charge of groups of "war veterans". Their mission is to co-ordinate these violent attacks against the opposition and members of civil organisations. Dumiso Dabengwa, an ex commander of ZIPRA forces, recently told journalists that the army now run Zimbabwe.
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