Allister Sparks
27 October 2009
opinion
Johannesburg — As the Zimbabwe crisis nosedives once again, it should be noted that the Zuma Administration bears a particular responsibility for what has gone wrong with the power-sharing agreement the Zimbabwean political parties entered into eight months ago. It is therefore under a special obligation to take action to resolved the crisis.
This responsibility stems from the fact that it was interim President Kgalema Motlanthe who pressurised the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Morgan Tsvangirai, into entering the power-sharing government with Robert Mugabe even though Mugabe had still not honoured a range of critical issues in the political agreement he had signed four months earlier.
Former President Thabo Mbeki brokered the agreement on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in September 2007. But then the victorious Zuma faction of the ANC forced Mbeki to step down after Polokwane and Motlanthe took over as interim President to keep the seat warm for Zuma. So it fell to him as head of the country then holding the chairmanship of SADC to play the lead role in ensuring that the agreement was implemented.
Tsvangirai was reluctant to enter into the power-sharing government because Mugabe was playing games. First it was discovered that the printed document presented to Tsvangirai for signing at the ceremony had been surreptitiously altered in several critical respects from the version to which he, Mugabe and the leader of a small breakaway faction of the MDC, Arthur Mutambara, had accepted in the negotiations.
Mugabe had also blatantly violated a range of vital aspects of the agreement by unilaterally reappointing Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, both diehard Mugabe loyalists and kingpin figures in continuing efforts to manipulate the Treasury in ZANU-PF's favour and, together with the partisan security forces, harass the MDC and its supporters. Mugabe had also failed to disband the notorious Joint Operational Command (JOC) of military, police and intelligence chiefs and place them under civilian control, as the agreement required.
Tsvangirai, realising that the devil was in these details that kept coercive power in Mugabe's hands, wanted SADC to ensure full compliance before committing himself to the power-sharing government. But Motlanthe, growing impatient at the long delay, put pressure on him to quit stalling and join the power-sharing government -- telling him in effect that he could sort out the details later when he was in power as Prime Minister and able to build a working relationship with President Mugabe.
In any case, he reminded Tsvangirai, SADC was the guarantor of the agreement and there was a joint monitoring committee called JOMIC to oversee the process.
This was the height of naivety. Anyone who had watched the workings of Tricky Bob over the years, during which he had rigged at least three national elections, violated property rights, ignored the rule of law and committed many human rights atrocities, should have realised he could not be trusted to honour the letter, never mind the spirit, of a deal such as this.
But Tsvangirai thought the Zuma crowd, represented by Motlanthe at this point, would be a tougher and more reliable guarantor of the agreement than the limp-wristed Mbeki had been. After all Zuma's big ally, Cosatu, had been grievously abused by the Mugabe government when a delegation paying a fraternal visit to the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions was arrested, insulted and unceremoniously thrown out of the country in 2004.
Zuma's other ally, the South African Communist Party (SACP), issued a furious statement at the time. "This act," it said, "is ultimate proof that the Mugabe regime is essentially a dictatorial and undemocratic regime which is not willing to engage honestly with opposition forces and other role-players in SADC."
That must have given Tsvangirai reason to believe he could expect more from the Motlanthe-Zuma-Cosatu-SACP axis than his dismal experiences with Mbeki.
So he reluctantly agreed and went into the power-sharing government -- the terms of which Mugabe has continued to violate ever since.
That is why I contend the Zuma administration has a special obligation to back Tsvangirai in the present dispute and force Mugabe to implement all the outstanding requirements of the agreement he signed and to stop undermining it. It is they who pushed Tsvangirai into this deal prematurely and as the government of the lead member of the guarantors they must honour that obligation now.
Tsvangirai has put up with ZANU-PF's continuous harassment for eight months. He has tried to put the best face on an intolerable situation because the MDC's participation in the government was bringing at least some relief to the long suffering people of Zimbabwe. But precisely because of that ZANU-PF has been stepping up its harassment lately, fearing that the MDC was gaining increasing popular support.
Things reached breaking point last week when the police, acting on Attorney-General Tamana's orders, rearrested the MDC's designated Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Roy Bennett -- whom Mugabe has consistently refused to swear in as a Cabinet member -- on trumped-up charges of terrorism, threw him in jail and put him in leg-irons. Outraged, Tsvangirai suspended his party's participation in the unity government and called on the SADC countries to intervene.
Even as Tsvangirai calls on the guarantors to intervene Mugage is treating them with contempt, saying he will not yield to any pressure nor give away any aspects of ZANU-PF's authority. "They (the MDC) can go to any summit, any part of the world to appeal," he said last Friday. "That will not happen."
To emphasise his disdain for SADC and the unity deal, 50 armed police raided a house in Harare used by the MDC's out-of-town leaders last on Friday night, ransacked the premises, seized documents and dug up the garden ostensibly in a search for weapons of which there were none. There were also reports of troops carrying out violent raids against MDC supporters in the rural areas across the country over the weekend.
It seems clear Mugabe doesn't believe the SADC leaders have the political will to deal firmly with him. He has faced them down before and he reckons he can again.
The SADC "troika" responsible for monitoring the situation in Zimbabwe, currently consisting of President Armando Guebuza of Mozambique, President Rupia Banda of Zambia and King Mswati 111 of Swaziland, are due in Harare tomorrow for three days of negotiations on the crisis. But ultimately it is South Africa that has the clout in this region. It is up to Zuma to prove Mugabe wrong and show that he is prepare to honour his obligations as guarantor and deal firmly with the errant president.
Doing that is not as difficult as Mbeki's apologists used to imply. No need for threats of force or sanctions or other such unrealistic posturing. Just a simple warning that if Mugabe doesn't implement the GPA fully and tries to rule alone, South Africa will not recognise his government. It will regard him as the head of an illegitimate regime.
Botswana's President Ian Khama has already done that. If the newest leader of one of the smallest populations in the region can do it, surely we the regional superpower can be as brave.
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I agree with the article but I don't think Zuma/SA will act cause when it comes to the point they never do. Look at SA's role in the UN securitycouncil. I think the only question is how much SA leaders get paid from Mugabe in blooddiamonds or something like that. Last week there was a conference on refugees in Kampala. SA hosts most refugees in Africa, most of them from Zimbabwe, but did Zuma go to this conference while the main causer of his refugeeproblem, Mugabe, was there? NO !!
rmkooistra, Zimbabweans do not have the biggest refuggee problem in Africa or South Africa. Many Zimbabweans have blood relatives in South Africa. NGO's have tried repeatedly to abuse this issue. There is just no facts, but more anglo white propaganda against Zimbabwean.
Zimbabwean Doctors, Lectureres, Teachers, Nurses, Engineers are now directly recruited from Zimbabwe to work in South Africa.
Zimbabweans, Malawians and Mozambiquenes have been coming to South Africa since the Gold mines were discovered. This was done legally and under white rule. So, shut up, do not exaggerate this issue. My own late uncle lived in South Africa and mined there and had a family there.
There is a concerted propaganda directed at Zimbabwean people. Migration in the "old" South Africa was welcomed and appreciated. Mines required cheap labor. So many comments lack historica facts.
Maybe we should start saying white people were really black, until they were bleached for bad behaviour!!! Get your facts straight...
Anybody who is in doubt about the number of Zimbabwean refugees in SA and their horrendous life conditions simply goes to google and will find almost 2 million websites with evidence.
Zuma's only comment on the current crisis is that he is "very concerned". Concerned about what? That Mugabe isn't living up to his obligations or that Tsvangarai refuses to be a powerless figurehead? A true statesman would make his position clear and not hide behind ambigious words. I expect nothing further from Zuma because he is a nothing.
Hej Alistir - Maybe he sholud start by standing up to people who grabbed and are holding all the land in his own country. Charity begins at home
Phiri learn to read man. Your response of, "Zimbabweans do not have the biggest refugee problem in Africa or South Africa" was just pulled from mid-air. Who said Zimbabweans had refugees? Also, how can Zimbabweans have refugees in South Africa? However, Rmkooistra is 100% correct that South Africa hosts the most refugees in the whole of Southern Africa and for your further information Phiri, Robert Mugabe has single handed created the MOST refugees in Southern Africa. Kenya, Tanzania, Chad and Sudan host the highest number of refugees in Eastern and Central Africa each hosting at least 250,000 people, with Chad and Sudan being also creators of refugees. Just this year alone about a million people have been forced from their homes in the DRC. By the end of September 2009 the combined displaced and refugee population in Eastern and Central Africa stood at 12 million people. Who is creating this? Your own black people, the dictators you support. Who suffers mostly? The women, children and elderly. What struck me most was seeing a sea of mostly women with collar bones sticking out a mile and children with teary eyes and mucous running down their noses covering their mouths and cheeks showing just untold strife, hunger and suffering in the DRC. For your information Phiri, those who went to work in the gold mines of South Africa from various African countries were NEVER refugees. They went willingly carrying their stupas ( thumb prints) to earn money for their families and were able to return home without persecution. Isn't that right Phiri? And so was your uncle so don't make up stuff.
Krjs120, you are not the only person who can read, it is what you read into an article that separates you from me.
A lot is made about “Zimbabwe Refugees” in South Africa. But the fact is Zimbabweans also have a large number of relatives who happen to be South African. It is not uncommon for people to move else during crisis. Most so-called Refugees from Zimbabwe are merely in transit. But to make a bold comment that they are a major refugee in Southern Africa is incorrect.
Today, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Angola regularly come to Zimbabwe to recruit for teachers, Doctors, mining labor, Engineers, Lawyers, civil servants etc Are all these people refugees? I think not! By the way I have myself an on-going consultancy position in South Africa and I travel there monthly! Stop the Anglo white lies!! How about the abuse of refugee issues by NGO’s controlled by white anglos? We must get ride of Mugabe, but we cannot lie about every situation in Zimbabwe!!!
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Very good and important point of view. Hope that Zuma, Cosatu and everyone else says the correct things. At this stage it's true - just make the right statements and that will save a whole population held hostage by the political process in Zimbabwe. Sad story of moving from one oppressive regime to another, and all signs of ultimate freedom turning out to be a mirage.