South Africa backed all regional moves to resolve the crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, including the African Union’s firm recognition of Alassane Ouattara as the winner of 2010 presidential elections, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“One of the things being said in the pronouncement of the AU is that Ouattara is the rightful winner and [Laurent] Gbagbo should step down, and South Africa supports that,” ministerial spokesperson Clayson Monyela said.
This marks a departure from the neutral stance adopted by International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane last month. She called the November 28 presidential elections in the West African nation “inconclusive” and Pretoria sought to broker a power-sharing deal.
Sustained diplomatic efforts
Nkoana-Mashabane’s deputy, Marius Fransman, noted with concern on Tuesday that sustained diplomatic efforts to resolve the stand-off had failed and there was a risk the country could “spiral into a bloody civil war”.
“As violence and conditions worsen in Côte d’Ivoire as the political impasse continues, the African Union and its international partners have dispatched numerous mediation missions to Abidjan with the intent to find a speedy resolution of the crisis, with no positive results.”
Fransman said the government would support all regional and sub-regional efforts to find “an amicable solution to the impasse which would reflect the democratic will of the people”.
Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday saw the worst fighting yet since the elections, as supporters of Gbagbo repulsed forces loyal to his rival in a battle for control of Abidjan, the country’s economic capital.
According to the United Nations, bloodshed since the poll has claimed at least 400 lives.
Fransman said the AU panel was expected to convene its next meeting “as soon as possible” and had invited both Gbagbo and Ouattara to attend.
Proposal rejected
Last month, Nkoana-Mashabane said fresh information about the elections had emerged, prompting Pretoria to believe it was better to help the two opposing camps negotiate a settlement than focus on the result.
“It was them who said they don’t want to discuss elections again, they want to move forward because they realise that there were some discrepancies with the elections.
“So I don’t know if, when they are asking us to find a way forward, we should be stagnating and taking them backward,” she said.
But on March 10 Gbagbo rejected a proposal made by an AU panel of five heads of state, including South African President Jacob Zuma, in Addis Ababa, for a unity government to be appointed to resolve Côte d’Ivoire’s leadership crisis.
The proposal recognised Ouattara as the new president and allowed for him to appoint a government including members of Gbagbo’s party.
Monyela said South Africa’s stance prior to the AU meeting in Ethiopia was motivated by the need to allow the panel “time to do its work”.
“I thought we had clarified this issue,” he added. — Sapa