With people still left guessing whether he intends holding formal talks with his country’s opposition, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe added a new dimension to the drama this weekend when he was allegedly rushed to South Africa after collapsing at his home in Harare.
On Sunday the South African Broadcasting Corporation reported that Mugabe was in South Africa, saying the duration and purpose of the trip was unclear. South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to confirm the visit, however.
Spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa was quoted as saying: ”If President Mugabe is here in South Africa, it stands to reason that he would be on a private visit. If he was here on an official visit, we would not hesitate to inform the public.”
This is not the first time Mugabe’s health has been in the spotlight. In October last year there were unconfirmed reports that that he had been secretly flown to South Africa for treatment after suffering either a stroke or a bad fall.
The speculation about the Zimbabwean leader comes at the tail-end of a week of debate about South Africa’s role in helping to resolve the political situation in Zimbabwe.
On Thursday South African President Thabo Mbeki said Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party had agreed to enter into formal talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on resolving Zimbabwe’s long-running political crisis.
”I’m happy to say that they have agreed now that they will go into formal negotiations. I am saying that I am quite certain that they will negotiate and reach an agreement,” Mbeki told a joint news conference with visiting German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
Mbeki’s comments were echoed by Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Friday.
But the MDC’s secretary for information and publicity, Paul Themba Nyathi, said his party was extremely sceptical about ”the nature of Mugabe’s commitment to a process of dialogue”.
According to Nyathi, Mugabe and Zanu-PF have — to date — taken no steps that would indicate a commitment to formal dialogue for ending the political problems that have dogged the country since the start of 2000.
”There have been no approaches to the MDC whatsoever. In fact it has been business as usual with court orders being ignored and political violence carrying on relentlessly,” said Nyathi.
He added that if Mugabe had given Mbeki renewed undertakings that he was prepared to begin negotiations, then Mugabe himself should have announced this to the Zimbabwean people.
A Zanu-PF MP, who asked not to be named of fear of harassment, said talks between the government and the opposition were not likely to occur in the near future.
”There are no plans within Zanu-PF to hold formal talks with the MDC. Why should we be talking to them? We do not recognise them as anything — let alone an opposition. We have no idea what Mbeki is going on about,” he said.
Didymus Mutasa, the ruling party’s secretary for administration, confirmed in a statement issued after Mbeki’s Thursday announcement that no talks with the MDC were being contemplated.
In the past, Mugabe has indicated a willingness to enter into talks with the MDC — provided the party dropped its legal challenge to his controversial re-election in 2002.
The MDC accuses the president and his party of electoral fraud and has refused to drop its court challenge. Meanwhile MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai is on trial for treason following government claims that he plotted to assassinate Mugabe and stage a coup — charges that Tsvangirai has denied.
So if both parties are adamant that there is no sign of formal talks in the horizon, why is Mbeki insisting that discussions are afoot?
Political analysts ascribe it to the fact he is coming under a great deal of pressure to bring some resolution to the Zimbabwean crisis before the next meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised countries, scheduled to take place in the United States in June. (The G8 includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the US.)
It is hoped that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), a development blueprint drawn up by African leaders, will still remain high on the G8’s agenda.
However, sources in the Nepad secretariat said that at the last G8 held in France, the administration of US President George Bush made it clear that unless certain issues were tackled — Zimbabwe being one of them — Nepad would receive little attention at the US meeting.
John Stremlau, head of international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, says Mbeki is in a corner.
”Zimbabwe has repeatedly embarrassed him. He is opposed to sanctions, he can’t use force, he does not want to use megaphone diplomacy — so what does he do now?”
Whatever happens, Zimbabweans living in South Africa are listening with bated breath to every piece of news about Mugabe’s health.
”Each time we hear that he is ill or has collapsed we all pray that he will die and that the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe will stop — and we can go home,” says Blessing Mutasa, a refugee trying to eke out a living in South Africa.
In addition to its political problems, Zimbabwe’s economy is also in crisis — with inflation standing at about 619,5% towards the end of last year. — IPS
Mugabe confirms trip to SA