SW Radio Africa (London)
Lance Guma
5 September 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki will travel to Harare next week on Monday to try and salvage the stalled power sharing talks between ZANU PF and the MDC.
According to Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga, "President Mbeki will be coming to Zimbabwe on Monday next week to meet all the three parties for further negotiations," and he told South Africa's Talk Radio 702, "We don't have all the details yet." Meanwhile, Mbeki's spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga told journalists, he was unaware of the visit.
This week, Mugabe issued an ultimatum to the MDC telling them to sign up to the deal by Thursday, or be left out of the new cabinet he would be announcing. MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa issued a statement saying the party which held a majority in parliament 'would not be bullied into a deal.' Mbeki had been expected to travel on Thursday but is said to have cancelled the trip after Tsvangirai advised him it would be a waste of time as they would not sign the agreement in its current form.
Tsvangirai insists the talks have stalled over Mugabe's desire to maintain control of the security forces while relegating him to a ceremonial Prime Minister with no executive powers. Despite Mugabe's threats to announce a new cabinet after Thursday the ZANU PF leader has still not done so. There are reports SADC has already told him they would not support such a decision. Meanwhile officials in the MDC are quietly lobbying the African Union and the United Nations to intervene in the talks given the slow pace of progress.
From Bulawayo our correspondent Lionel Saungweme reports that Tsvangirai is being 'slaughtered' in the state media who are desperately painting him as the main stumbling block to an agreement. He says every day the state media come up with degrading articles and news items on the MDC leader who is being depicted as 'unpatriotic' for refusing to sign.
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How damn right is Tsvangirai when he said in Gweru today that no deal was better than a bad deal!
He was referring to the deal where Mbeki supports Mugabe keeping executive power and Tsvangirai assuming the non-exec PM post.
Civil society in SA should force Mbeki to drop his blind support of murderer Mugabe and recognize that the majority voted for the MDC. As such, the MDC should take over the PM post with executive power.
Nothing less will do!
Mugabe's days are counted anyway.