South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe opened an extraordinary summit of southern African leaders on Sunday with a call to Zimbabwean leaders to "show political maturity" by ending the two-month-long stalemate over the formation of a power-sharing government.
Motlanthe, speaking in his capacity as chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), also echoed the appeal for an immediate ceasefire in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) issued by an African Union summit in Nairobi on Friday.
The summit, which is taking place in Johannesburg, has been called to address two issues:
- the failure of Zimbabwe's political leaders to finalize the composition of the power-sharing cabinet which they undertook to form in an agreement signed on September 15; and
- the fighting in the DRC region of North Kivu between government forces and rebels lead by former general Laurent Nkunda.
Last Monday, President Ian Khama of Botswana said that in the absence of agreement on a cabinet, the "one viable way forward" would be to re-run this year's presidential election under international supervision.
But Motlanthe said on Sunday that the September 15 agreement "remains the only vehicle to help extricate Zimbabwe from her socio-economic challenges." He said it was "disappointing" that Zimbabwe's parties had been unable to conclude their talks.
"We urge the three parties to build on the achievement made thus far and reach an agreement on the outstanding issues including the Ministry of Home Affairs," he added. Control of the ministry – which controls Zimbabwe's police force – is a crucial sticking-point in the talks.
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On the DRC, Motlanthe said there was "no military solution to the problem" and suggested that the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the DRC, known by its French acronym, Monuc, needed to be widened. "Their current mandate limits their ability to become real peace-makers and provide for a lasting solution," Motlanthe said.
He added that SADC called for full implementation of both the communiqué issued after the Nairobi meeting and earlier agreements. "These processes are a basis for a sustainable solution to the problems of the eastern part of the DRC," he said.
Following a South African government spokesman's statement last week that the government would be "taking quite a hard stance" on Zimbabwe at this weekend's talks, Motlanthe declared: " Let me emphasise that the objective of this summit will be to resolve the issues before it."
