Back to Index

SADC summit and international relations
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
Extracted from Weekly Media Update 2007-32
Monday August 13th 2007 - Sunday August 19th 2007
August 23, 2007

The SADC summit held in Zambia and related developments claimed the limelight in the media during the week. The print media devoted 52 stories to these developments. Of these, 37 appeared in the official papers while the rest featured in the private Press. ZBC aired 34 reports while the private electronic media carried 27. However, most reports in the government media selectively highlighted developments that reflected regional support for President Mugabe while avoiding open debate on the circumstances leading to the adoption of a proposed "economic rescue" package for the country.

For example, none of them attempted to explore what exactly took place in the closed-door meetings, provide details of the proposed regional measures to address the country's crisis, or test their adequacy and relevance.

ZTV (17/8, 8pm), Spot FM (18/8, 8am) and The Herald (18/8), for example, merely reported that SADC leaders had "welcomed" reports on rescue measures for Zimbabwe after they were presented to the summit by the outgoing chairman of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

Neither did The Herald attempt to verify claims by its "sources who attended the closed-door meeting" that ZANU PF and the MDC were "closer to reaching an agreement".

Instead, the paper and ZBC stations passively quoted Mugabe telling reporters on his return from Zambia that everything "had gone well" and he was satisfied "with the outcome". Instead of asking him to elaborate on the alleged "progress" in his party's talks with the opposition, or spell out what exactly SADC's next course of action on Zimbabwe would be, they just allowed him to speak generally about the summit's discussion on regional economic integration and development, including the political and security situation in the region.

The same passive coverage was also apparent in The Sunday Mail (19/8). It merely reproduced the SADC communiqué describing the ZANU PF/MDC talks as "progressing smoothly" and encouraging the parties to "expedite the process . . . so that next year's elections are held in . . . peace and tranquillity" without corroborating the claims with the two parties. Neither did it give informative detail about the economic report on Zimbabwe prepared by SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao, save to say regional leaders had taken "note" of it and urged their finance ministers "to use the report to come up with an economic plan to support Zimbabwe". How they were going to do that was not explained. Neither was a timetable given. Otherwise, the official media simply swamped their audiences with reports that simplistically presented the summit as having reaffirmed the region's unconditional support of Mugabe.

For example, Spot FM, ZTV and Radio Zimbabwe (16/8, main bulletins) narrowly interpreted Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa's statements that commodity shortages were "not new in the region" to mean he approved of the situation in Zimbabwe, while Spot FM (17/8, 8am) and ZTV (18/8, 6pm) presented the "thunderous applause" Mugabe had received at the summit as an indication that delegates viewed him as the "last statesman to confront the West."

Without seeking any official confirmation, the stations also claimed Mugabe was so popular at the summit that he had "turned down addressing other forums."

The Herald, Chronicle (13-17/8) and The Sunday Mail carried similar reports.

Apart from reporting on Mugabe's popularity at the Summit, the official media also used the occasion as a platform to discredit the MDC, which they presented as being hated in the region for allegedly fronting Western interests. The Herald (16/8), for example, splashed the comments of Zambian opposition leader Michael Sata "blasting" the Morgan Tsvangirai-MDC delegation and its "network of NGOs" as a "harem of Western agents" that had "descended on Lusaka to earn breadcrumbs by selling out their birthright". Rather than give the opposition and civic organisations the right to respond, The Herald and Chronicle simply amplified Sata's comments the next day and claimed - without a shred of evidence - that "Tsvangirai has insulted almost all Sadc leaders, accusing them of siding with Zimbabwe . . . "

To reinforce the impression of a growing resentment against Tsvangirai, The Herald (17/8) also claimed that people "who spoke" to the paper had "no kind words" for his faction, which they said was exposing its "lackey-nature and desperation" by trying to "grandstand" for the Western media in Lusaka. It also seized on statements by the Arthur Mutambara-led MDC criticising Tsvangirai for sending "a demonization (sic) delegation" to Zambia to reinforce its stance. ZTV (18/8, 8pm) followed suit, alleging that Tsvangirai's deputy Thokozani Khupe was "snubbed" at the Summit forcing her to make an "embarrassing . . . admission that the MDC is behind the crippling sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe."

Again, these claims were made without any attempt to verify them.

Although the official media significantly quoted those outside government as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, nearly all the foreign voices were quoted in the context of supporting Zimbabwe while the majority of the MDC voices were those of the Mutambara faction who either attacked their rivals or the West for its alleged complicity in compounding the Zimbabwe crisis.

Fig. 1 Voice distribution in the government Press

Fig. 2 Voice distribution on ZBC

Only the private media tried to investigate the behind-the-scenes developments at the summit and exposed the harassment of Zimbabwean civic activists by the Zambian authorities. For example, the Zimbabwe Independent (17/8) reported that SADC had imposed "stringent conditions" on the proposed economic rescue package for Zimbabwe, whose economy was described by Mwanawasa as in the "doldrums". The paper stated that the tough conditions included the need for "political and legal reforms, economic liberalization and privatization of public enterprises". Studio 7 (17/8) concurred that evening, quoting unnamed diplomatic sources alleging that SADC leaders had "grilled" Mugabe behind closed doors and demanded economic and political reforms before they could rescue Zimbabwe.

At the weekend, The Standard (19/8) reported MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa also claiming that Mugabe had been criticised by his peers for failing to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. He told the paper: "We know he (Mugabe) was told to change his way of running the country." However, none of these media sought official corroboration.

In other reports, the private media exposed contradictions on the alleged progress in the South African brokered mediation efforts. For example, Studio 7 (17/8) noted that while Mbeki had claimed that the inter-party dialogue was going on well, statements by Justice Minister and one of ZANU PF's chief negotiators, Patrick Chinamasa, dismissing the talks as unjustified (New Zimbabwe.com and The Financial Gazette, 16/8) showed otherwise. The station quoted a US government official arguing that Chinamasa's assertions, coupled with the ruling party's failure to attend key meetings with the MDC in the past, had actually "undermined the important initiative".

And while the official media narrowly interpreted Mwanawasa's opening speech as a reflection of the unreserved support for Zimbabwe, the Gazette and Studio 7 (16/8) observed that his calls on the country to "ease tensions" to avoid sliding "further backwards" showed that the region was concerned about the crisis.

In addition, the private media exposed sustained international displeasure with Mugabe's misrule. SW Radio and New Zimbabwe.com (17/8), the Gazette and The Standard, for instance, reported that Australia had extended its smart sanctions against the ruling elite by targeting their children studying in that country. Reportedly, it was in the process of withdrawing visas from eight students, which The Standard alleged, included the children of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri. Earlier, Studio 7 (14/8) and SW Radio Africa (15/8) reported Human Rights Watch urging SADC leaders to censure Mugabe and send human rights monitors to Zimbabwe ahead of the 2008 elections. In addition, they revealed that Zambian authorities had blocked 60 Zimbabwean human rights activists from travelling to Lusaka for the summit to air their concerns on the country's worsening crisis (15 & 16/8). However, they did not appear to seek comment from the Zambian government on the matter.

The private media's coverage was a reflection of their attempts to give more room to those outside government to examine official pronouncements. See Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 3 Voice distribution in the private electronic media

Fig. 4 Voice distribution in the private Press

Visit the MMPZ fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP