SADC allows Mugabe to dictate terms at Johannesburg summit

Written by James

Tuesday, 11 November 2008 06:04

SADC leaders at the extraordinary summit on Zimbabwe allowed Robert Mugabe to dictate the terms, giving him the coveted backing of the regional bloc, Newsreel learned on Monday.
The summit ruled that the Ministry of Home Affairs must be co-managed by ZANU PF and the MDC T, a proposal presented by Mugabe. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has rejected this.
It's reported that the ZANU PF leader took advantage of the absence of his critics, namely Botswana President Ian Khama, to advance his accusations that Khama was actively working with the MDC to destabilise Zimbabwe.
Botswana has strongly refuted the accusations.
The latest failed diplomatic effort - which attracted only five leaders from the 15-nation bloc - leaves the country sinking deeper into a humanitarian crisis. Only Kgalema Motlanthe, the South African host, Joseph Kabila from the DRC, President Hifikepunye Pohambo of Namibia, Armando Guebuza of Mozambique and Lesotho Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili were present. The rest had representatives standing in for them. An extraordinary situation when you consider that the summit was set up to discuss two major crises - Zimbabwe and the DRC. But we should also remember that Kgalema Motlanthe was the head of the South African observer mission to the massively rigged Zimbabwe presidential election in 2002. He declared that poll completely free and fair.
After Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara made their presentations to the SADC leaders, the trio was asked to recuse themselves from the room to allow the summit to deliberate and issue a ruling.
Basildon Peta, a Zimbabwean journalist who covered the summit, said Tsvangirai and Mutambara made their way out, but Mugabe flatly refused to leave the room.

Mugabe told them (SADC leaders) point blank he was not going out. So he sat in judgement of his own case. He had his way and no leader, including the South African President, challenged him on that, Peta said.

Mugabe's participation in the deliberations, where he had vested interests'
was also raised by Tsvangirai during a press briefing at the end of the summit. The MDC told the SADC leaders they lacked the courage to tell Mugabe that his position was wrong.

There are reports from the summit describing Mugabe as extremely contemptuous' of Tsvangirai throughout the summit, and interrupting him during his presentation. When the MDC leader said he had won the March 29 election, Mugabe shouted You didn't! You didn't!'

Although the SADC leaders ruled that the contentious Home Affairs Ministry should be shared, almost all leaders, except Mugabe, acknowledged that it was not workable. SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salamao admitted that not only was it not workable but SADC had never heard of a similar situation, and never experienced it in their own countries.

Peta said Salamao was of the view the situation in Zimbabwe was abnormal,'
and they were trying to get a middle of the road position for the crisis.'

Salamao told us it was a bizarre solution they were prescribing to the crisis. I think what they wanted was to bury their heads in the sand.

Asked if the summit had discussed anything apart from the Home Affairs issue, Peta said the SADC position was, go home, establish a new government and then the rest will follow. SADC said all other areas that were being contested would be resolved once there was a government in place.

SWRadio Africa

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