After years of inhuman hardship, it seems Zimbabwe is finally in the throes of a meltdown. A clue that President Robert Mugabe’s regime is running out of time was the imposition this week of a three-month ban on political rallies and protests.
The ban followed clashes between the police and opposition Movement for Democratic Change supporters in Highfield township — a traditional hot spot of opposition politics.
And as Mugabe was being feted on the occasion of his 83rd birthday this week by the sycophantic state-run press, ordinary Zimbabweans were told that stores in Harare had run out of bread.
In an interview on Tuesday night, the eve of his birthday, Mugabe struck a familiar note of defiance by insisting that there was no vacancy at the top. “There are no vacancies because I am still there. Can you see you any vacancies? The door is closed,” he told his interviewer.
Perhaps he is scared of being prosecuted for the deaths of an estimated 20 000 innocent civilians from the Ndebele tribe in the 1980s.
In 2006, Mugabe told Canadian television he was not afraid of being arrested after leaving office. Political analysts have always speculated that one reason he will not leave office is that he cannot trust whoever succeeds him to protect him from arrest.
So what is to be done? President Thabo Mbeki’s government in South Africa and, indeed, those governments in the wider Southern African region seem unwilling, or are perhaps unable, to intervene.
And with China’s chequebook diplomacy and a weakening resolve in Europe to isolate the regime, Mugabe can probably stay for as long as he likes.
He seems hell-bent on destroying the country he helped shape into a prosperous South African nation. But while he nibbles on canapés and sips fine wine, his countrymen are literally starving. In the end, it seems, we can only rely on death to remove him from office.
| FULL SPEED AHEAD |
NOT SO FAST |
Trevor Manuel
In another smartly delivered budget speech, the minister of finance has addressed secondary tax on companies and announced tax breaks and much-needed extra funds for police, teachers and healthcare, among others. Not all the gaps have been filled, but it’s sound progress. |
 Robert Mugabe
It is hard to think, apart from the world’s worst despots, of someone who has made a bigger mess of his country than Zimbabwe’s president. About 80% of the country’s population is out of work and inflation has hit the stratosphere, yet Mugabe continues lay blame elsewhere and shuffle his Cabinet. Isn’t it time Thabo Mbeki paid a visit to his northern neighbour? |
Most-read stories
February 15 to 21 2007
1. Army and police desert beleaguered Mugabe
Widespread desertions from Zimbabwe’s army and police are weakening President Robert Mugabe’s security forces as large strikes loom because of the country’s deepening economic collapse.
2. Masetlha points to Kasrils
Astonishing new allegations relating to the “hoax e-mail” affair and the sacking of former National Intelligence Agency director general Billy Masetlha have emerged from a previously secret affidavit.
3. Taliban warns of ‘bloody attacks’
The Taliban has deployed 10 000 fighters for a spring offensive of “bloody attacks” against foreign troops in Afghanistan, a rebel commander said on Friday.
4. Rumblings over Blade in SACP
The general secretary of the South African Communist Party, Blade Nzimande, is likely to face a stiff challenge to his leadership at the SACP’s congress in July this year.
5. Iran wants nuclear talks, no preconditions
Iran wants talks on its nuclear programme but rejects preconditions demanding it freeze the work, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday, just ahead of a United Nations deadline for Tehran to back down.
6. Good news in budget on tax and spending
Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s 2007/08 budget tabled in Parliament on Wednesday holds good news for most, with R8,4-billion staying in the pockets of individual taxpayers — who will also benefit from the abolition of retirement-fund tax from March 1.
7. Cheaper broadband by March?
Hope is at hand for hard-pressed broadband consumers, if the government’s plans for a cost-based telecoms infrastructure company delivers on its promise.
8. Mugabe slams ‘corrupt’ ministers
Zimbabwe’s veteran leader Robert Mugabe reiterated on Tuesday there was no vacancy for the country’s presidency, warning ambitious government colleagues to stop jostling to succeed him.
9. Clouds gather ahead of Mugabe’s birthday
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe turns 83 on Wednesday, fit for his age and combative in the face of a crumbling economy, social unrest and a looming battle over who will succeed him.
10. We have had enough, says Zim opposition
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai vowed on Monday to step up the campaign to topple President Robert Mugabe despite a riot-police crackdown that prevented him from holding a major weekend rally.