SW Radio Africa (London)
Violet Gonda
16 August 2008
It's reported that thousands of people from the South African Trade Unions and the civil society groups protested outside the SADC summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The powerful trade union federation COSATU organised the mass demonstration that is calling for the total isolation of Robert Mugabe. The group said Mugabe is not the legitimate leader of Zimbabwe and should not be present at the regional summit.
Bongani Masuku, COSATU's International Secretary told SW Radio Africa more than 5 000 people attended the demonstration. He said COSATU organised a march that unites the civil society on the issue of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, "because the two leaders remain the only undemocratic regimes in Southern Africa."
The protesters marched to the summit venue waving red cards - the universally recognised football symbol for expulsion. The global campaigning organisation AVAAZ formed an internet 'Red Card Campaign,' to support the protest in South Africa. Thousands also joined the call to show their support for the people of Zimbabwe by sending a red card online.
Pressure is mounting on the regional leaders after talks between the Zimbabwean political parties broke down on Tuesday, resulting in the rivals being invited to the SADC summit. The weekend gathering is set to be dominated by the Zimbabwe crisis. But South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said the Zimbabwean political leaders were only scheduled to address the troika of the organ at the 'summit level.'
The Pretoria News said SADC will endorse Mugabe's claim to be the legitimate president of Zimbabwe by excluding opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara from its 28th summit. The paper said: "The endorsement will come despite the boycott by President Ian Khama of Botswana of the summit because of the invitation to Mugabe and in the face of several calls from organisations all across the region for the summit to declare Mugabe's presidency illegitimate."
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Come on mate, they're just sell out agents paid by the evil anglo neo colonial west who want to recolonise Zimbabwe and have already made plans to invade Zimbabwe after the great non genocidal maniac Mugabe won the election freely and fairly. How do they come up with this shit!?
awt...I logged back onto this post to see if the usual oafs would be able to put their usual spin on this story and refer to these protestors as puppets of the west etc etc..but they have stayed well away knowing their usual mud slinging wont stick as Cosatu has an established record of fighting injustice. so they waste our time on other forums pretending to care about zimbabweans whilst declaring undying love for a murderer!! what a shameful lot!!
It is a shame that human life is now regarded as something worthless by those who think they are more important than God's creation.When people in Zimbabwe fought for independence it was not that they wanted more oppression than what they had already endured at the hands of the colonialists.Can anyone tell the difference now,or,may be life is the more unbearable than before. Colonosation is not by the west only even the so called friends in the east are worst mental colonisers, and worst still more racists.How many africans are in Russia,China and Malaysia and again where do you still find black people still being made slaves? Let's not fool each other,the Zimbabwean majority are intelligent enough to refuse being taken for a ride while the evil men get richer and creat paradise for themselves and their families.No british people took the Zimbabwean soil away with them, the land is there and what do my fellow africans do with it? Instead they are busy having more and more wives hence corrupting the land worse.It is God speaking through his children in Zimbabwe that it is time that evil should be removed and He uses people.Mugabe has become so corrupt to hear the voice of GOD.It's time for once he takes heed and leave naturally.The world is the Lord's and its fulness
thank you everose for your touching post. It is indeed sad that those brave young men endured hardships beyond anything anyone can imagine..only to have it all tarnished by these champagne socialists who care more about personal enrichment and raping the country than creating wealth for the masses!! what a sad legacy!
It is too difficult for Mugabe to step down as there are too many dead Zimbabweans lying at his door steps that he murdered who would trip him over as he stepped down.
phiri, akafunny, dloser..please tell us if these 5000+ Cosatu members who marched in protest at Mugabe are an offshoot of the southern rhodesian movement you are always on about.