Despite the efforts of South Africa and the Commonwealth Secretary General, Don McKinnon, the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe is likely to overshadow all other issues at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Abuja, Nigeria, next week.
Officially, the Commonwealth will be meeting to discuss social and economic development in member states and access to markets for developing countries, among other matters.
But earlier this week, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo announced that Zimbabwe would not be invited to Chogm, sparking a call by Zimbabwe for African countries to boycott the Abuja meeting. African governments’ initial response indicate the call will be ignored.
The South African government has made it clear that it supports McKinnon’s view that Chogm should not be reduced to one issue.
President Thabo Mbeki’s spokes- person, Bheki Khumalo, said: “Chogm can discuss the contribution it can make to a Zimbabwean resolution by ensuring that the Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] and Zanu-PF work together for the sake of their country. But the Commonwealth should not deal with only one issue.”
Khumalo added that South Africa did not believe the Zimbabwe crisis would prove the Commonwealth’s undoing. “Zimbabwe does not define the Commonwealth. It does not define how members relate to each other. Countries may differ on Zimbabwe, but they are united by broader imperatives,” he said.
With Australia and Nigeria, South Africa is a member of the troika mandated to deal with Zimbabwe after the latter’s flawed elections. South Africa, in particular, has hit flak over its perceived soft stance on its northern neighbour.
Khumalo said the conference would discuss other matters, including “the opening up of markets for developing countries, economic development, debt relief and the trade imbalance between the rich North and developing South”.
“We must also not lose sight of the progress made at the World Trade Organisation summit in Cancun and should consolidate that. The Commonwealth is the only body in the world that caters for small and poor countries and gives them an opportunity to voice issues of common interest. Those who say it must disband don’t know what they’re talking about,” said Khumalo.
Professor John Stremlau, of Wits University’s Institute for International Affairs, said the Commonwealth should promote itself as the champion of democracy and accountable government. “It should recommit itself to good governance and spell out what that means for Zimbabwe and Pakistan, which have both been suspended.”
Stremlau said that because of Britain’s role in the war on Iraq, it was likely that the war against terrorism would also be raised.
Calls for the disbanding of the Commonwealth have not abated. Professor Korwa Adar, of the African Institute of South Africa, said that although the smaller countries might argue that they needed the United Kingdom for trade and developmental purposes, the Commonwealth was “irrelevant”.
“The enormous resources spent on this amorphous body should be channelled to Nepad [the New Partnership for Africa’s Development],” Adar argued. “If African countries could stand up to the might of the United States at the United Nations and reject a resolution supporting an attack on Iraq, I don’t see why they cannot display such independence now.”
n Meanwhile, reports Marianne Merten, MDC MP Paul Themba Nyathi on Wednesday became the first Zimbabwean opposition member to address South Africa’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee.
The committee had previously been briefed by Zimbabwe’s ruling party, Zanu-PF, and Zimbabwean church officials.
Nyathi, also the MDC’s spokes- person, called on South Africa to apply pressure on the Zimbabwean government to bring about formal talks between the MDC and Zanu-PF.
Referring to recent stayaways and other civil action, Nyathi said the MDC might accept criticism that it was acting in bad faith, but not from South Africa. “South Africa has a history of rolling mass action. We have learnt a few lessons from our [South African] brothers and sisters.”
The focus on whether President Robert Mugabe would be invited to the Commonwealth summit in Abuja or not had diverted attention from the crisis in Zimbabwe, Nyathi said.