President Thabo Mbeki’s promises about Zimbabwe have the same value as the bearer’s cheques being printed by that country’s Reserve Bank, Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon has said in his weekly South Africa Today newsletter.
”They look real enough, but in the end they are worthless.”
Leon reminded his readers that Mbeki predicted at the World Economic Forum in Durban in June that a solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe would be found within a year.
”Three months later, there is absolutely no sign of progress. If anything, the situation in Zimbabwe has deteriorated,” Leon said.
He said inflation in the country had reached a record high of 427%. That meant that prices were changing on a daily basis.
In addition, laws that violated basic human rights were still in place, and political repression had intensified.
”Instead of condemning this behaviour, Mbeki spent the week lobbying for the Commonwealth to lift its suspension of Zimbabwe, and arguing that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should be allowed to attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria in December.
Leon further said he had been visiting London this week, where he had a number of meetings with both South Africans and Britons.
”They shared a sense of embarrassment and bewilderment at President Mbeki’s actions. Simply put: how does our current stance on Zimbabwe help South Africa? What cause does it advance? Which principle does it uphold? Certainly not the finest commitments of Nepad [New Partnership for Africa’s Development] and the African Union. Definitely not the cause of human rights and international solidarity.
”At best, our stance is a throwback to the era of John Vorster, who used to proclaim that South Africa’s domestic affairs were its own concern and did not need any outside meddling,” Leon said. — Sapa