No ‘blind spots’ Please, Mr Zuma

Written by The Editor

Sunday, 15 November 2009 15:12

Now that South African President Jacob Zuma (Pictured) is the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s trouble-shooter in Zimbabwe, it is our fervent hope that he will avoid the pitfalls that made his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, such a spectacular failure.
Following the meeting of the SADC Troika and the signatories to the global political agreement (GPA), which gave birth to Zimbabwe’s government of national unity in Maputo two weeks ago, Zuma was given the task of monitoring the implementation of the agreement and subsequently enforcing compliance .He is due to step into that all- important role in the next few days when the 15-day deadline within which the parties must agree expires. Zimbabweans pin their hopes on him to do right by them.
There is no doubt that Mbeki’s dubious quiet diplomacy and fanatical support for President Robert Mugabe not only prolonged human suffering in Zimbabwe but it contributed to his own demise as head of state. We appeal to Zuma as the beneficiary of Mbeki’s failures both domestically in South Africa and on the international scene, not to repeat the same mistakes. One of the former South African president’s most serious blunders was to swallow hook, line and sinker, Mugabe’s deceitful propaganda about being the victim of a Western imperialist “regime change” plot to topple him from power on account of his implementation of the land reform programme.
Mbeki lost respect and credibility among ordinary Zimbabweans as a result. Zuma should not allow himself to be swayed by the same gibberish. Mbeki believed so slavishly in Zanu (PF)’s right to rule in Zimbabwe perpetually that South African journalist and political commentator, Justice Malala once described him as “Mugabe’s foreign minister.” We fervently hope Zuma will be a different kettle of fish in executing the task at hand and will avoid what Steven Chan , a political science and international relations professor has described as Mbeki’s “blind spots” resulting from his fanatical reverence for Mugabe as the “ grand old man of liberation”.
We do not deny that Mugabe may have deserved that title at one stage but with the populace he claims to have liberated now permanently under siege because of his tyranny, Zuma must open his eyes to the realities and be able to stand up to the Zimbabwean leader. Mbeki’s biographer, Mark Gervisser has described how an almost father-son relationship existed between Mbeki and Mugabe and how Mbeki felt a “filial obligation” to support his political hero at any cost. We call on Zuma not to allow personal niceties and considerations to stand in the way of facilitating a just and lasting solution to the Zimbabwean problem.

Word for today
"The Lord's promises are pure,
like silver refined in a furnace,
purified seven times over.
Therefore, Lord, we know you will protect the oppressed,
preserving them forever from this lying generation,
even though the wicked strut about,
and evil is praised throughout the land." - Psalm 12 vs 6-7

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