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Weekly Media Review 2011-13
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday March 28st - Sunday April 3rd 2011
April 08, 2011
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ZANU
PF rebels as SADC gets tough with coalition
SADC's public
censure of the Zimbabwe coalition government's failure to implement
the terms of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) and the increasingly hostile political
environment "characterized by a resurgence of violence, arrests
and intimidation", was recognized as extraordinary news by
the country's private media.
Although the
print media were slow to report the details of a communiqué
issued at a meeting of the regional grouping's Troika on Politics,
Defence and Security in Zambia on Thursday evening (March 31st),
they recognized the cautionary speech by Zambia's President Rupiah
Banda at the meeting as a dramatic and unprecedented change in SADC's
approach to dealing with Zimbabwe's political crisis.
The Troika's
irritation appeared in the strongly worded communiqué after
South African President and SADC facilitator Jacob Zuma presented
the group with a damning report about the political situation in
the country.
However, the
government media either censored or buried the salient elements
of this historic development, such as the background to the meeting,
its resolutions and the implications of the Troika's decisions.
Their reports
of the meeting initially focussed on trivia and then assumed a reactionary
and one-sided perspective, echoing the ZANU PF arm of government's
infuriated response to the Troika's resolutions.
For example,
these media only reported on the communiqué in the context
of President Mugabe's angry reaction to it while addressing his
party's Central Committee meeting, saying:
"We will
not brook any dictation from any source. We are a sovereign country.
Even our neighbours cannot dictate to us. We will resist that...The
facilitator . . . cannot prescribe anything . . . "
Subsequent reports,
opinion pieces and editorials amplified Mugabe's annoyance with
the Troika's resolutions and set the tone for a vicious propaganda
offensive that threatened to ignite a diplomatic row between Zimbabwe
and South Africa.
In its editorial
comment, The Sunday Mail (3/4) discredited SADC as having been "hijacked"
by imperialist forces and dismissed the integrity of President Zuma's
facilitation on the grounds of his "disaster-prone" private
and sexual life. It described the South African leader as "a
dishonest broker" and portrayed him as an appendage of the
West.
Another article
by ZANU PF Politburo member Jonathan Moyo dismissed the Troika meeting
as a "circus", and a "neo-colonial" attempt
to effect "regime change".
The private
media reported analysts welcoming SADC's historic decision to flex
its muscles over the Zimbabwe crisis, as the region had appeared
to side with Mugabe in the past, sparking allegations of bias against
the MDC-T (The Standard and NewsDay, 3 & 4/4).
They prominently
reported the Troika's demands that the inclusive government stop
arbitrary arrests, political violence, intimidation and hate speech,
and implement all the provisions of the GPA to "create a conducive
environment for peace, security and free political activity".
The private
media also reported on the Troika's resolve to send a team to "assist"
the country implement its recommendations (NewsDay, The Standard,
The Zimbabwean On Sunday Studio 7, Radio VoP, SW Radio Africa and
New Zimbabwe.com, 1, 2, 3, & 5/4).
And they quoted
political commentators warning Mugabe against ignoring the SADC
recommendations or withdrawing Zimbabwe from the regional bloc,
saying such action would result in international isolation or intervention
(The Standard and NewsDay, 3 & 5/4).
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