Back to Index

Mugabe adds to pressure on Mbeki
By Jonathan Katzenellenbogen, International Affairs Editor, Sapa-AP Johannesburg
February 25, 2004

This article was published in the Business Day (Johannesburg)

Policy of quiet diplomacy under fire

WITH Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe appearing to slam the door on talks, there was mounting pressure on President Thabo Mbeki yesterday to show evidence for his prediction that talks are imminent.

In an interview yesterday, Mugabe said that talks with the opposition would be the equivalent of "supping with the devil".

Last month, Mbeki said the only thing holding up talks was the holiday period. But since Mugabe's return to work earlier this month there has been no move towards talks.

The South African Council of Churches also delivered a rebuff to government over Zimbabwe yesterday. In an urgent letter to Mbeki, the council has requested intervention in Zimbabwe to help restore dialogue. Last year, church leaders in Gauteng wrote to government calling for an end to its policy of quiet diplomacy.

Democratic Alliance national chairman Joe Seremane has said Mugabe's rejection of talks showed Mbeki's policy of quiet diplomacy on Zimbabwe had been exposed as an embarrassing and costly disaster.

Yesterday, trade union federation Cosatu, which has been outspoken about rights abuses in Zimbabwe, issued a statement of solidarity with striking trade unionists in Zimbabwe. The statement of support for a strike, against the failure of the National Social Security Authority to talk to the Zimbabwe Confederation of Trade Unions on some "pertinent" issues, could foreshadow action in SA in support of unions north of the Limpopo.

In the past, Cosatu has not ruled out a border blockade if the Zimbabwean union were to call upon it to do so.

In an interview broadcast on Monday evening on state television, Mugabe said he was not prepared to hold talks with Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai because the MDC was a front for the western powers.

Analysts said Mugabe's words seemed to close down any immediate prospects for talks.

"As long as they are dictated upon from abroad we will find it extremely difficult to negotiate with them, but that having been said, we stand to hear what views they have," Mugabe said.

"We are prepared to discuss with them how their own ideas and our own ideas can merge (for the) benefit our society.

"But if they are going to now seek the hand of our enemy to destroy our economy, then we begin to wonder whether they are for the people or against the people."

In the taped interview, Mugabe said: "We can't discuss with allies of the western that want to destroy our economy. The devil is the devil we have no idea of supping with the devil."

Referring to the MDC's lobbying for the renewal of European Union sanctions against him and his close associates, Mugabe said the opposition was seeking to ruin the economy. If that is the policy of the MDC, he said, "it stands rejected".

Mugabe argued that what made any negotiations with the MDC even more difficult was that the party was not home-grown. "We are not just saying we can't discuss with that party all we have said is that the (western) umbilical cord must be severed and if they try to be part of us, try to think as Zimbabweans, as Africans, then naturally you have a clear view who will accord you that facility of negotiation."

Mugabe also called some opposition party members, including Tsvangirai, shallow-minded.

There are some good people in the MDC, he said. "It's unfortunate that the depth of understanding and appreciation of some of the members of the MDC is very shallow."

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