Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday accused President Thabo Mbeki of misrepresenting the country to US President George Bush, while the Zanu-PF hailed Mbeki as an exemplary leader.
Tsvangirai accused Mbeki of making ”false and mischievous” statements to Bush, saying that no talks were taking place in Zimbabwe between the ruling party and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The opposition leader said Mbeki’s statement to Bush that a dialogue had begun was ”without foundation whatsoever”.
Mbeki, repeating remarks he made in a television interview in South Africa, said he informed Bush that Zimbabwe’s ruling party and the MDC have begun talks on their nation’s deepening political and economic crisis.
”We have urged the government and the opposition to get together… they are indeed discussing all issues. That process is going on,” Mbeki said in Pretoria.
”Statements claiming that there is dialogue going on are patently false and mischievous,” said Tsvangirai.
”Such statements are manifestly partisan.”
He said claims on talks between Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s party and the opposition were aimed at ”buying time” for Mugabe and at delaying efforts by ”potential genuine brokers,” such as the United States, to help end the political and economic crisis.
Earlier talks between the two sides broke down because of the dispute over Mugabe’s narrow and tainted re-election victory last year and demands that the opposition drop a court challenge of the election.
Earlier this year, Mugabe again insisted the opposition recognise his election and drop the case before he would go to the negotiating table.
The opposition has demanded unconditional talks.
”Since the aborted talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF in April 2002, there has been absolutely no political engagement between the two political parties. The Mugabe regime has remained intractable and sustained an arrogant and defiant program of violence, torture, murder, rape and all manner of crimes against humanity,” Tsvangirai said on Wednesday.
He said several well-wishers, inside and outside Zimbabwe, have expressed an interest in brokering new dialogue between the two political parties, but Mugabe’s party ”with the assistance of some key regional players has consistently rebuffed all such efforts”.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe’s ruling party warned Bush that his tour of Africa should serve as a lesson to the American leadership that Africa was ”not for sale”.
”No one should ever take the continent for granted. We are not for sale. America’s hegemony has neither space nor place in Africa,” Zanu-PF’s South African chair Bigvai Gumede said in a statement released in Johannesburg.
”Africa has come of age,” he said.
He said Africa did not need a lecture from Western leadership on how to run its affairs.
”The destiny of Africa lies with ourselves. The African Union and New Partnership for Africa’s Development are our institutions.
”These institutions were designed by Africans to serve their needs,” he said.
Gumede hailed Mbeki, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and other leaders for their ”exemplary leadership” in assisting the Zimbabweans in solving their country’s problems.
Mbeki has consistently pursued a policy of ”quiet diplomacy” in his dealings with Zimbabwe while the US government has urged him to use stronger measures to force political change there.
”As far as South Africa and Zimbabwe are concerned Bush and his entourage should know we are one people. We share a common border, history, culture and destiny,” Gumede said. – Sapa