Time for Zim ‘to free itself of Bob’s tyranny’
DA LEADER Mmusi Maimane has called for the immediate resignation of President Robert Mugabe, and for free and fresh elections to be held as soon as possible in Zimbabwe.
Maimane believes that an urgent election would allow Zimbabweans to choose a new direction for the country “and to free themselves from the tyrannical reign of Robert Mugabe”.
“As chairperson of the Southern African Platform for Democratic Change, I have engaged with the opposition in Zimbabwe on a number of occasions, and it is clear that the only way forward is for free and fair elections to be held as soon as possible,” he said.
He also urged the Minister of International Relations and Co-operation, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, to provide South Africans with an urgent briefing on the nature and extent of the crisis in Zimbabwe, including what action the government might be taking.
“South Africa cannot continue with its ‘quiet diplomacy’ while the people of Zimbabwe suffer. We must engage with the goal of finding a solution which does not open the door for another dictator to take the reins,” Maimane said in a statement.
According to reports, the Zimbabwean Defence Force has moved into the capital Harare to “target criminals” who are aligned to Mugabe – what some political analysts and leaders are calling “the first signs” of what appears to be a military coup.
Maimane also criticised the South African government’s failure, under former president Thabo Mbeki, to stand up for democracy and enforce the results of the 2008 election.
“By allowing Mr Mugabe to remain in office even after losing an election clearly sowed the seeds for what we are seeing today,” he said, adding that this was “the original sin” in the sad collapse.
The IFP’s Narend Singh said South Africa would be directly affected by unrest or instability in Zimbabwe.
“Currently we have millions of Zimbabweans who have sought asylum in South Africa. These numbers could increase dramatically,” Singh said.
Speaking to Independent Media yesterday, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said he, however, believed that South Africa would suffer minimal impact if a coup took place in Zimbabwe.
He said that for economic and other reasons, Zimbabweans have been “flooding South Africa for a long time”.
The Thabo Mbeki Foundation yesterday said the former president would be not going to Zimbabwe amid
SA cannot continue with its quiet diplomacy
the turmoil.
Spokesperson Thami Ntenteni added that the foundation would not issue a statement regarding the conflict in Zimbabwe until “all the facts were known”.
In August, Mbeki was reported to have held private talks with Mugabe in Harare.
His visit came at a time when the issue of succession was central to the discussion in the ruling Zanu-PF party, with Mugabe’s wife Grace grabbing the headlines after she called on the veteran leader to name his successor.
Liesl Louw-Vaudran, a senior research consultant with the Peace and Security Research Programme of the Institute for Security Studies, said that although the military has denied it was a coup, “this intervention has all the elements of a coup”.
“South Africa has to mediate and take charge. It is very important that some kind of process takes place to restore civilian rule there,” she said.