Land reform in Zimbabwe has not been handled correctly, President Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday. Mbeki, speaking at a news conference at the end of a three-day
State Visit to Botswana, he said he had told the Zimbabwean government that the redistribution of land should be pursued in a way that was equitable for all Zimbabweans.
”We have seen for some time now that the matter is not being handled correctly.
”(Botswana) President Festus Mogae and myself have been in Harare and said directly to the government of Zimbabwe, privately and publicly, that it needs to be handled in a way that is not confrontational; in a way that addresses the land needs of both black and white Zimbabweans,” Mbeki said.
”It is now a matter of how to conclude the situation of land distribution in Zimbabwe; and we continue to discuss it with them. We must establish what remains to be done so we can come to a situation of normalcy in that country as soon as possible.”
He said the land question in Zimbabwe had been recognised even as part of the independence negotiations on the Constitution of Zimbabwe and it was recognised at that time as a matter of central importance to the people of Zimbabwe.
”Even after that, everyone has continued to recognise the importance of the issue. There is no dispute about it. We need land distribution in Zimbabwe,” Mbeki said.
In a joint communique issued after the briefing, the two leaders ”expressed the need to work together to assist the people of Zimbabwe in addressing the problems confronting their country”.
In the communique, Mbeki applauded Botswana for upholding the principles of democracy, good governance and economic development on the African continent.
”Botswana is a living example of what Africa can achieve on these principles. The world should be made aware that Africa had role models such as Botswana that we can all be proud of,” he said.
On the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mbeki told the briefing that South African troops, already part of the United Nations force there, would remain in the DRC as part of the planned international peacekeeping force decided upon in an agreement between the government and rebels in peace negotiations.
He indicated South Africa would make more troops available if requested. On behalf of UN secretary general Koffi Anan, Mbeki had at the start of his visit to Botswana, handed the transitional DRC agreement to the facilitator of the Inter-Congolese National Dialogue, former Botswana President Sir Ketumile Masire.
”South Africa was asked to contribute troops during the first phase of the deployment of a UN force in the DRC and later in the second phase, which we did. Those troops will remain. If they now need more troops, the UN can approach us, they have not done so yet,” Mbeki said.
Mogae said the two countries supported the peaceful disarmament of Iraq.
”We believe Saddam Hussein must disarm,” he said. ”South Africa has shared with him how it got rid of its nuclear capability. We both adopted (at the Franco-Africa Summit) the declaration to say we supported the disarmament of Iraq, but that it must be done peacefully.
”We have not changed our views,” Mogae said. During the visit that started on Tuesday, Mbeki and a delegation of seven South African cabinet ministers held wide-ranging talks with their counterparts in the Botswana government on matters of
mutual interest. Mbeki’s delegation included Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini
Zuma, Mosiuoa Lekota (Defence), Thoko Didiza (Agriculture and Land
Affairs), Jeff Radebe (Public Enterprises and acting transport minister), Manto Tshabalala-Msimang (Health) and Phumzile Mlambo-Nqcuka (Minerals and Energy).
Mbeki and Mogae signed an agreement to establish a Joint Permanent Commission for Cooperation which, they said in a final communique, would facilitate increased interaction between the various structures of their governments.
The 14 member states of SADC are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. – Sapa