Former ANC Youth League President Julius Malema believes President Jacob Zuma is not the right person to be the SADC mediator in Zimbabwe because 'he hates Robert Mugabe.'
Malema told the state controlled weekly Sunday Mail that Zuma hated Mugabe and his ZANU PF party because of their support for former South African president Thabo Mbeki.
'He has very strong views about President Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF. All you see is very pretentious and it's not helpful at all,' Malema said in the interview, which saw the Sunday Mail travel to Johannesburg to cover the story.
His comments have been described by analysts as an attempt to put a wedge between Zuma and Mugabe but they have been dismissed as a non- event by the South African President's foreign policy advisor.
Lindiwe Zulu told SW Radio Africa that any attempt to force Zuma to step down as mediator, by vilifying or concocting stories to try to force issues, will not work.
'To be honest we don't comment on such issues (Malema' statement) but what I want to tell you is that our road is straightforward as far as the mediation process in Zimbabwe is concerned.
'Right now, our facilitation team is waiting for a go-ahead to fly to Harare and meet the negotiators who are busy working now to try and resolve issues in Zimbabwe,' Zulu said.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga confirmed that the negotiators from all parties in the GPA were meeting in Harare to finish revising the final draft of the constitution.
'We're starting from where we left off last week and hope to finish this document soon,' Matinenga said. The group met incommunicado in Nyanga last week and dealt with first six of the 18 chapters in the draft charter. It is expected they might work on all the remaining chapters this week.
When this happens, they will give Zuma the green light to assess the country's readiness for an election, which could take place next year. The GPA negotiators, together with Zuma's facilitation team, will meanwhile have to prepare an exhaustive agenda as the anticipated trip could turn-out to be a make-or-break indaba.
Two years ago ZANU PF invited Malema to Harare where he was treated to a lavish lifestyle. He held a series of meetings with ZANU PF and capped off his trip by meeting Mugabe.
South African based political analyst Luke Zunga said utterances by Malema through the state media could have been a plot by ZANU PF to use it against Zuma in order to collapse the constitution making process.
'The plan, which by all standards looks amateurish, was to present SADC with the information suggesting Zuma hates Mugabe and therefore cannot be impartial in his mediation process.
'We all know ZANU PF has been against Zuma and will do everything to pull him down, including using the discredited Malema to further their agenda,' Zunga said.
He continued: 'The problem with that is Malema is of less relevance in South Africa now. He is out of the ANC and so if he is speaking he's probably doing so on behalf of ZANU PF. That rant was a stunt to get people talking about his continued existence on this planet. It won't cause any diplomatic rift between South Africa and Zimbabwe but it will obviously raise a few eyebrows between the ANC and ZANU PF.'
Others believe Malema' statement reflected the 'mistake of one man, and not of the South African state.' Obert Gutu, the MDC-T deputy Minister of Justice, took to the social networking site, Facebook to take a dig at Malema.
'I have stated it before and I will repeat it here and now...one Julius Malema should go back to school. This boy is content free, an empty vessel making a lot of noise. President Jacob Zuma will be re-elected as ANC leader in Mangaung in Dec 2012 whether or not Malema likes it,' Gutu said.
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I think the government press expose themselves by giving creedance to the veiws of the likes of Malema. It seems that anyone willing to support Mugabe and Zanu-PF is trotted out regardless of their irrelevance(Malema), illegality (army generals), absurdity (Grace Mugabe), spite (Jonathan Moyo) and childishness (Sata).
What is exposed is their desperation. What they loose is their credibility.
Tichaona Sibanda;
I am addressing or directing this to you so that you tell your so-called "political analyst", one Luke Zunga, that his idiocy knows no bounds. He is an ignoramus fool.
How can someone considered by you, Ticha, state, as if it was fact, that; "Malema is of less relevance in South Africa now. He is out of the ANC and so if he is speaking he's probably doing so on behalf of ZANU PF."
This statement implies that one is only relevant if they are in the ANC. However, that is TOTAL rubbish because the facts on the ground show that one needs not be in the ANC to be relevant. Many people in South Africa are not in the ANC but what they say is very relevant, to South Africa in particular and to the region in general.
If the truth be told Cde Malema is now a force to reckon with; he is much more relevant to the youths and the ordinary povo in South Africa now because he is outside the ANC. When he was still in the ANC, his utterances were guarded because he did not want to break protocol but now he can say what he wants and it IMMEDIATELY RESONATES with the ordinary people of South Africa.
Take for example the issue of repossessing land from Boers and distributing it to its rightful owners - the majority black Azanians. The ANC and President Jacob Zuma are now talking about it at every opportunity because of MALEMA. If they don't walk the talk, they are sure to be swept away by the GIANT EMPOWERMENT WAVE coming from up North.
Mubarak considered the Muslim Brotherhood "less relevant" because they were not in his military dictatorial structures but now he is on his death bed and they are in power. What an exchange or reversal of roles? The same thing is likely to happen in South Africa if the likes of Luke Zunga are allowed to shape public opinion by lying to the authorities that EVERYTHING IS FINE and yet things are not good – South Africa is sitting on a time bomb.
The worst I do not wish to see in Azania is for it to go the route we went when it (South Africa) does not have MANY courageous people like MALEMA. In Zimbabwe the whole population was prepared to die for THEIR LAND whereas in South Africa only Malema and a few youths are prepared to sacrifice their lives for South African land.
In South Africa, war veterans or ex-combatants are NONE EXISTENT ANY LONGER - they have TOTALLY forgotten why they went to war and why so many of their compatriots died in Mozambique (there are mass graves in a Maputo’s dormitory town of Matola); in Zambia, Zimbabwe and in Tanzania. They are now too comfortable with the new positions they were offered in an apartheid system that is still in full operation in South Africa.
Therefore, it is up to the authorities in ruling ANC party to take Malema seriously, not in as far as Zimbabwe issues are concerned but what is going on in Azania and what the people of Azania want their government to do for them.
As for Zimbabwe, we are fully aware (which means we do not need Malema to say it on our behalf) of what President Zuma thinks of us and why he has suddenly developed that opinion about President Mugabe and ZANU-PF. We are fully aware that President Zuma is under TREMENDOUS PRESSURE from his masters to dump ZANU-PF and embrace the sellout MDC-T and yet he (Zuma) is or was a revolutionary cadre of the Chimurenga war in South Africa.
We were in the same trenches with Zuma and other leaders in the ANC but because of what has happened ever since South Africa gained political independence, they have SOMERSAULTED. The complete about turn is what we knew a long time ago and is only being confirmed by Cde Malema today.
To us, Zimbabweans, therefore, it is stale news that Zuma does not like President Mugabe and ZANU-PF, thus, all that he is doing is just "pretentious" and as Cde Malema put it, "it's not helpful at all"!!!
madame foryoh, do you even know what you are saying? confused? Read your sentence once more.
Malema should be very careful with his comments. He is destroying his future political life. I wish Zuma success in the next ANC Congress!
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