Wilson Johwa
9 January 2009
Johannesburg — CIVIL society organisations in SA are to press the government and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to hasten resolution of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Helping to co-ordinate the campaign, expected to start in the next 10 days, is Kumi Naidoo, honorary president of the global alliance for citizen participation, Civicus.
Naidoo said Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu had committed himself to a weekly fast, together with Bishop Paul Verryn of the Central Methodist Church. Tutu is a member of the Elders, whose delegation was denied entry into Zimbabwe late last year.
"We need to up the ante a bit in terms of the types of activities that put pressure on the government," said Naidoo, who is also co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty.
Together with Pastor Raymond Motsi of the Bulawayo Baptist Church, Naidoo has committed himself to a hunger strike.
The planned campaign is expected to impress upon the continent, as well as South African society, including members of the African National Congress , the wider implications of the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Naidoo was part of a delegation that spent Christmas in Zimbabwe where he met scores of Zimbabweans and compiled some of the testimonies into a film, Time 2 Act . Copies of the film will be given to President Kgalema Motlanthe, to other SADC heads of state and to the African Union .
In the film are descriptions of the humanitarian crisis. For instance, a woman speaks of overcrowding in the mortuaries, which has pushed the cost to $300 a body. Someone appeals for bolder regional action, saying: "Please SADC take our problems seriously, don't neglect us."
Naidoo said many of those interviewed could not understand SA's position on Zimbabwe, especially its stance at the United Nations Security Council, where it voted against tougher action on the authorities in Zimbabwe.
"Overall we were struck by how much worse it (the Zimbabwe situation) actually was in terms of the humanitarian crisis and on the political repression again significantly worse."
The team found a breakdown in the school system. Garbage collection had also come to a standstill in the major centres, further contributing to the cholera outbreak.
Even respect for the dead had gone. "One of the mortuaries was closed while we were there and what it means is that families have to put some sand inside the house, put some water in that sand and put the (deceased) family member there," Naidoo said.
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