Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe may finally be ready to step down ”within a year”, according to a report in Business Day.
The newspaper said SA president Thabo Mbeki had predicted that a political settlement could be reached ”within a year” and this had given credence to suggestions that Mugabe could leave office before his current term ends.
The newspaper quoted Mbeki at the final session of the World Economic Forum in Durban, as saying: ”We will have an agreement in Zimbabwe between government and the opposition about all the challenges that face Zimbabwe.”
Business Day said that according to sources in Harare, Mugabe was ”tired of trying to keep at bay the local and international forces opposing him” and apparently wanted to leave once the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) recognised his presidency.
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai has now been in prison for 12 days after he was arrested on charges of high treason for organising countrywide protests against the ruling Zanu-PF. His trial resumed today after a three week break, and concerns the first charges of treason brought against the Tsvangirai, and two other opposition leaders, Welshman Ncube and Renson Gasela.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s runaway annual inflation rate climbed nearly 31% to just above 300% last month, the state-run Herald newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The rise, which puts the annual inflation rate at 300,1%, was due to steep price increases of foodstuffs, consumer durables and services.
With inflation at 300% in May, the objective of Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa to bring the annual rate back down to below 100% appears to be out of reach.
Murerwa made the pledge to stem runaway inflation when he presented the budget for 2003 at the end of last year.
Zimbabwe’s rampant inflation is a reflection of the deep-seated economic crisis that is battering the country. Food, fuel and foreign currency are in short supply here, and some 70% of the working population is unemployed.
Three-quarters of Zimbabweans live below the poverty line, and nearly half the population of some 11,6-million are at risk from famine, sparked by a drought and by chaotic land reforms.
Meanwhile, the Biz-Community media newsletter reported on Tuesday that Zimbabwean newspaper The Daily Mirror had halted its operations due to the high costs of printing and the harsh economic environment.
Other newspapers have also come under pressure. The Daily News and its sister publication the Daily News on Sunday said they had lost about $1,6-million after suspected Zanu-PF youths and self-styled war veterans destroyed copies of the latest issues, accusing them of backing the MDC mass protests. – Sapa-AFP