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Press release on the occasion of the conclusion of the 28th SADC summit
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations in Zimbabwe (NANGO)
August 20, 2008

NANGO urges SADC to do more to uphold its standards on human rights, democracy and governance, demands the consultation and inclusion of Civil Society in all national dialogue processes and further calls upon political parties to make good their commitment to facilitate much needed resumption of humanitarian operations.

The National Association of Non Governmental Organisations representing Non Governmental Organisations operating in Zimbabwe regrets the continued failure by the Southern African Development Community to oversee the much needed conclusion to its mediation process on Zimbabwe. This latest instance of the historic failure by the SADC to uphold and enforce compliance with its stated commitments to democracy, rule of law and human rights has contributed to the rapid deterioration of humanitarian and human rights conditions in Zimbabwe - thus condemning millions of Zimbabweans to a spiralling cycle of poverty.

A workable agreement by the negotiating parties under the auspices of the SADC mediation process, reflective of the primacy of the needs of the suffering people of Zimbabwe is urgently required to pave the way for a long awaited reform era.

The 28th SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government, held in South Africa from the 16th to the 17th of August 2008 had raised high expectations and hopes that the power-sharing dialogue will be speedily concluded in order to pave way for economic recovery and a return to democracy. This follows the expiry of the two week timeframe adopted in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the conclusion of the talks and the disappointing leaked news that the process is at the verge of collapse as the principals fail to compromise on the sharing of power.

NANGO joined with thousand of Civil Society Organisations at the Summit in a historic wave of solidarity efforts to press for democracy and respect for the people's will throughout the SADC region and especially in Zimbabwe and Swaziland. Such peoples' solidarity initiatives will no-doubt continue until the SADC region becomes a bastion of democracy, development and the full enjoyment of all human rights, by all.

Whilst the Summit's major objective was the launch of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA), an Extraordinary Summit was also held to discuss the Zimbabwe Crisis within the context of the ongoing inter-political parties dialogue.

NANGO congratulates the Summit for 'reaffirming its commitment' to continue engaging the 'people of Zimbabwe' to chat a lasting way forward to the ongoing crisis. Likewise NANGO also appreciates the leaders' acknowledgment that the Zimbabwe crisis cannot be allowed to further drag on at the expense of the suffering ordinary people. In light of this, NANGO urges SADC to fulfil this commitment by going beyond the narrow focus on political power sharing by the negotiating political parties, by creating space for the consultation of Civil Society and other stakeholders in Zimbabwe. This will ensure the inclusion of the interests of the marginalised, under-represented, voiceless and powerless groups that have been continuously disenfranchised by Zimbabwe's undemocratic conditions.

NANGO regrets that the SADC leaders endorsed the controversial presidency of Robert Gabriel Mugabe, hence his inclusion in the list of the Heads of State and Government. This recognition continues to ignore the Civil Society position on the need for a Transitional Authority not headed by either of the two antagonists-Mugabe and Tsvangirai. This recognition also throws spanners into the facilitation process as it advantageously positions Mugabe as an unequal political player in these talks. It is in this context that whilst the call by SADC to allow the convening of Parliament is noble, it flies against the MoU agreement that temporary suspends such political posturing before a holistic and agreeable political settlement is reached by 'all stakeholders'.

In his closing remarks the President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki reported SADC's satisfaction with the progress report he presented about the political parties dialogue towards the formation of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe. This resonates well with the position collectively taken by Civil Society - that an inclusive government is the best interim political arrangement that will harness and return the capacity and political will to drive the recovery and transformation process 'as a matter of urgency'. NANGO thus joins the SADC in further urging the three negotiating principals to expeditiously agree on the outstanding issues that are delaying the signing of a political deal. Furthermore NANGO once again appeals to SADC to the help avert a full fledged humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe by compelling the negotiating parties to make good their commitment to facilitate the resumption of humanitarian operations by Non Governmental Organisations as a matter of urgency.

As Mr Mbeki in his capacity as the Chair of the SADC could not be drawn to 'allocate a date' regarding the possible completion of the negotiations it is NANGO's considered view that a lot more need to be done to render the process more accountable to the people of Zimbabwe, for example through a consistent and credible feedback mechanism apart from leaked media reports.

NANGO also notes with regret the blanket recognition by the Summit that 'the region had managed to consolidate peace and democracy'. While this is partly correct, the democracy black hole in Zimbabwe's polity renders this self-congratulatory stance unpalatable to the suffering masses of Zimbabwe. This lack of self-critical assessment of SADC's achievement arguably puts a smokescreen over its failure to ensure that the 2008 Harmonised elections in Zimbabwe failed to meet the SADC Guidelines on the Conduct of Elections.

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