President Thabo Mbeki should call for an urgent resolution on human rights violations in Zimbabwe when he addresses the United Nations General Assembly this week, the Democratic Alliance said on Monday.
Mbeki is scheduled to address the 58th session of the General Assembly on Tuesday.
Acting DA leader Joe Seremane said Mbeki would have the opportunity during his speech to counter ”the growing perception” that he and his government were actively advancing the interests of the Mugabe regime, against the interests of ordinary Zimbabweans.
While everyone else was criticising the Zimbabwean government for its draconian and oppressive media laws after the Daily News was closed down last week, Mbeki’s government was actively campaigning for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe to attend the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Nigeria in December, said Seremane.
Mbeki’s spokesperson Bheki Khumalo was saying there was no reason for the continued exclusion of Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth. The ANC government was risking the interests of South Africa for a rogue state, Seremane said.
He said South Africa actually led the rejection of a draft resolution on the human rights situation in Zimbabwe in April. Under the resolution, the UN human rights commission would have expressed deep concern at continuing violations of human rights by Mugabe’s Zanu-PF government and would have demanded certain actions, said Seremane.
Mbeki should use Tuesday’s opportunity to put pressure on Mugabe. By calling for a new resolution, Mbeki could show the world that he was serious about the values reflected in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
If he did not call for action, it would simply be another instance where South Africa, and Mbeki, had failed to do the right thing, said Seremane. — Sapa