Nelspruit — President Thabo Mbeki remains hopeful that the political leaders in Zimbabwe can still work together to find solutions to the country's challenges.
This is despite tensions and mixed reactions following the announcement by Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the opposition party (Movement for Democratic Change), that it will no longer participate in the Presidential election run-off which is scheduled for 27 June.
"I would hope that the leadership would still be open for a process which would result in them coming to some agreement about what happens to their country," commented the Southern African Development Community (SADC) appointed mediator on Sunday.
To address the challenges facing the country, President Mbeki said he would try to encourage that process.
The President was speaking in Nelspruit during a two-day Presidential Imbizo, which started on Saturday.
With just four days to the presidential election run-off in Zimbabwe, the MDC has announced that it would not participate in the election contest.
Mr Tsvangirai, however, needs to inform the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission in writing of the party's withdrawal, according to the Robert Mugabe administration.
Mediators and observers from both the SADC and the UN are on the ground trying to find solutions to the political violence that has erupted in different parts of the country.
The beatings and intimidation that has been reported has led to tensions while hundreds of lives have been lost.
Recent media reports indicate that scores of families are being evicted from homes for allegedly backing the MDC.
Addressing the media on Friday after the 6th Session of the South Africa-Cuba Consultative Forum held in Pretoria, Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad said there were now over 400 SADC observers to oversee the elections.
"We have increased the number of AU observers, we have observers from other countries that were invited.
"All of this is an attempt to ensure that we can assist the Zimbabwean people to have a climate in which they will feel that they can get their vote without fear and in a democratic way," he said.
Responding to a question on whether it is advisable for the Zimbabweans to continue to hold the elections in the light of ongoing discussions on the government of national unity, Minister Pahad said: "[It] is a decision the Zimbabwean people must take as there is no country that has the right or authority to impose that decision.
"It is not in our power to say anything to the Zimbabweans about the processes or what form of government they must have at what stage."
The deputy minister said South Africa and Africa as a whole will support any decision that the Zimbabweans may take.
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Mbeki is a joke....
Imbeki looks like a drug addict.
How can Mbeki say all that?
President Mbeki has done everything, short of invading Zimbabwe. It is a pity that Mugabe never took him seriously, but he has the best intentions for Zimbabwe.
It is unfortunately that with the collapse of the election rerun in Zimbabwe, President Mbeki takes all the blame! It is very disappointing the way Mbeki was treated by President Mugabe. What a way to send a man of his calibre into retirement in disagrace! This must be one of the most humiliating experience for President Mbeki! Give Mbeki a break, it is not all his faulty, he tried. The Challenge is for Zimbabweans to face their own problems head on! Please, stop the blame game on Mbeki.
President Mbeki has been at the forefront for creating a forward looking and active SADC community. He has emphasized on economics and empowerment for Blacks in SA, than Mandela or anybody else.
Phiri - with the greatest respect, I cannot agree with you that President Mbeki 'has done everything, short of invading Zimbabwe.'
Just have a look at this latest statement; when asked for his opinion as to whether or not the run-off election should be postponed, he does not even have the intestinal fortitude to express an opinion, one way or another. Instead he gets out of the question by blandly stating that this is a question for the Zimbabwean people. How embarrassing it must be for the South African government that the Secretary General of The United Nations has a very clear opinion on that matter. How embarrassing it must be that the Security Council, with the involvement and support of China and Russia, have overnight passed a resolution clearly laying the blame for the aborted run-off at the feet of Robert Mugabe. That is far, far more than Mbeki has been prepared to say.
In Zimbabwe, Thabo Mbeki has had ample opportunity and good cause to show the world at large that his vision of a New Africa is real. He has conspicuously failed to do so. Instead, it has been left to the relatively 'minor' Heads of State to show their displeasure and concern with the regime in Harare. They will not forget this lack of leadership,and they especially will not forget that Mbeki declined to return the phone calls from the reigning SADC Chairman.
The end result is that both Mugabe and Mbeki have been diminished in the eyes of millions of Africans.
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