A dawn police raid on opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and a violent crackdown on protests on Wednesday have dealt a major blow to President Thabo Mbeki’s efforts to strike an agreement in Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai was seized from his home at about 4am as his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) prepared protests against President Robert Mugabe in defiance of a police ban.
Explaining Tsvangirai’s detention, a police spokesperson said ‘we had only wanted to establish his intentions†after the MDC had vowed to defy a ban on the marches. Tsvangirai was released four hours later without charge.
A magistrate upheld the police ban on the march while allowing the MDC to hold a protest rally, but police used batons and tear gas to disperse supporters gathered for the protests.
Addressing supporters at a field on the outskirts of Harare, Tsvangirai vowed more defiance.
‘This marks only the first step towards claiming back our rights,†he said.
The protest had been ‘a test of the sincerity of Mugabe, Mbeki and SADC [Southern African Development Community]. Do they want to find a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis? I do not think they do,†Tsvangirai added.
He said the crackdown showed there was no chance of a free and fair election.
The clashes are more bad news for Mbeki, who failed last week to get the two sides talking again after negotiations for a political settlement stalled.
The MDC wants a postponement of elections, now scheduled for March, and a new constitution before polling, but Mugabe says his opponents are just not ready to face him.
In Harare last week to try and break the deadlock, Mbeki said he had ‘no reason to question the commitment of all parties†involved in the process. But, a quick agreement now looks increasingly remote as tensions rise.
Mbeki was due to send Sydney Mufamadi, his senior mediator in the talks, to Zimbabwe this week. MDC officials said they would tell Mbeki that Wednesday’s clashes were evidence that Mugabe was still out to crush dissent and that he was unwilling to allow his opponents the freedom to campaign.
While Tsvangirai claimed a ‘moral victory†over Mugabe, he was left to ponder his failure to rally broad support for the protests, despite a deepening economic crisis.
Police chased protesters past large, static crowds of people queuing outside banks for cash.
Despite tempers in the queues running high, the MDC’s expectations that thousands would turn out for the protests were disappointed.
This week’s power cuts added more misery to the lives of Zimbabweans who are already facing soaring inflation. The country’s reserve bank recently introduced a Z$10-million note, hoping to solve a cash crisis that has seen thousands of depositors besieging banks daily.
But even the new Z$10-million note is not enough to buy lunch, and economists say Zimbabwe will have to print even larger denomination notes in order to keep up with inflation. Mugabe only reluctantly agreed to the Z$10-million note, and has instead shifted blame to the banks, which he accuses of hoarding cash to discredit his government.
Finance Minister Samuel Mumbengegwi on Tuesday summoned bank executives to a meeting where he gave them a week to clear the queues.
‘We will not hesitate to close those banks that clearly no longer want to continue operating in this country,†Mumbengegwi said.
But banks say they just cannot meet demand for cash from depositors under pressure from a sharp spike in prices.
‘Does he [Mumbengegwi] think any banker likes the chaos outside our premises?†the head of one of the country’s largest banks asked the Mail & Guardian this week. ‘We are still in denial about where our inflation is right now. [The] Reserve Bank just cannot print enough cash to meet demand.â€
With much of the formal economy decimated, most transactions in Zimbabwe are cash-based.
Zimbabwe stopped publishing official inflation data in September, but the International Monetary Fund estimates in a new report that annual inflation is close to 150 000%.