Back to Index

Public dialogue held on Zimbabwean leadership
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
August 02, 2007

http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,153455,00.html

An International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has predicted that its year on year inflation could exceed 100 000% by the end of the year. This is just one of the latest developments that have prompted Wits University to host a public dialogue with three prominent Zimbabweans on the leadership challenge facing their country.

Zimbabwean opposition politics suffered a major setback when a break-away faction of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the country's opposition, announced that it would not back Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC leader, in next year's elections. Instead, Arthur Mutambara declared that he would personally stand as the MDC faction's presidential candidate.

Trevor Ncube, the Mail & Guardian publisher, a fierce critic of Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean president says: "The crisis of leadership has effectively paralysed Zimbabwean society." Ncube says that the current leadership crisis affecting both the ruling Zanu-PF and opposition MDC indicates that neither political party can produce a credible leader. He says Zimbabwe needs a leader to steer it away from the current socio-economic turmoil.

Zimbabweans are confused

"Zimbabweans right now are confused by the division within the MDC. They are disheartened and indeed feel the pain of abuse that comes from Zanu-PF. They are running around looking for a home and they are unable to find it. For me the third way has been a rejection of the politics of Zanu-PF, a rejection of the politics of the MDC and an opportunity to offer a new beginning for Zimbabweans. But I have realised that the third way is an idealistic position...an idealistic position that in this particular time might be a luxury," Ncube said.

The southern African state is hard hit by high unemployment and rising poverty. Many urban residents are reportedly also facing water, electricity and transport shortages. During the past month, the Zimbabwean government arrested, charged and fined hundreds of business people for overcharging food prices. The IMF has warned that the price controls being enforced are likely to exacerbate the shortages and ultimately fuel further inflation.

Elinor Sisulu of the Zimbabwean Civil Society Activists said: "Zimbabwe is not an aberration on this continent...it is an exaggerated symptom of an African sickness".

Populist tactics

Sisulu, a Zimbabwean born political activist, accuses the Mugabe administration of using, what she terms, "populist tactics" to cover up its total disregard for the rule of law.

"Food is being used as a weapon. Voter registration was supposed to have been taking place during this upheaval of price controls...it is not well advertised. People have not been assisted on proper information on the voter registration exercise. So many people would not have registered because they will be busy chasing after bread, milk and meat. And these elections would be declared free and fair. The same Southern African Development Community
(SADC) people will go there and the same South African government will announce that those elections are free and fair," she said.

Last weekend, President Thabo Mbeki stressed that Zimbabwe's upcoming elections had to be "free and fair" and also produce a legitimate government. SADC earlier this year mandated Mbeki to mediate between Zanu-PF and the MDC.

Transparent talks Tawanda Mutasah, the Zimbabwean executive director of the Open Society Initiative, believes that Zimbabwean peace talks should be conducted in a more transparent and inclusive manner.

Tawanda Mutasah says: "I think we need to make sure that those talks are not talks that are happening in the closet. If the talks are happening behind closed doors...and the very Zimbabweans who were brutalised are suddenly excluded from the table. I have a problem with that. So I think it is very critical that the talks shift from being talks between six men who are able to fly between Pretoria and Harare".

Meanwhile, Xolelwa Mangcu, a Wits University academic, says the Zimbabwean government and Zanu-PF declined to participate in the latest public dialogue on the state of their country and its future.

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