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S.Africa's
Ramaphosa says action needed in Zimbabwe
Reuters
May 04, 2005
http://www.reuters.co.za/
JOHANNESBURG
(Reuters) - A leading South African businessman with strong ties
to the ruling African National Congress said on Wednesday intervention
was needed to rescue the Zimbabwean economy from an acute recession.
"It's (Zimbabwe's
economy) under so much stress it needs some kind of intervention,"
Cyril Ramaphosa told an African investment conference in Johannesburg.
He gave no indication
of what kind of action should be taken to remedy the situation in
Zimbabwe, which is suffering from severe shortages of food, fuel
and hard currency blamed by many on mismanagement by President Robert
Mugabe's government.
"We do not want
the economy going south (downwards)," said Ramaphosa, one of South
Africa's richest black men and a senior member of the ANC's National
Executive Committee.
ANC leaders,
including President Thabo Mbeki, have acknowledged Zimbabwe's economy
is in crisis but have been criticised in some quarters for their
perceived support of Mugabe, who is accused by western governments,
the domestic opposition and church and labour groups of human rights
abuses.
Mugabe is also
accused of driving Zimbabwe's once vibrant economy into the ground,
in part by adopting a controversial land policy that gave white-owned
farms to landless blacks. He blames western governments, which have
imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Mbeki himself
has come under persistent criticism from analysts and the Zimbabwe
opposition for his "quiet diplomacy" style in trying to resolve
the Zimbabwe crisis, saying that Mugabe has simply ignored all overtures
from Pretoria.
Ramaphosa's
were some of the strongest comments to date from a senior ANC official
on what needs to be done in Zimbabwe.
"Instability
and conflict within one African country has a destabilising impact
on its neighbours and an unsettling effect on potential investors,"
said Ramaphosa, a former trade unionist who helped negotiate South
Africa's transition to democratic rule from decades under apartheid.
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