This week’s short-lived fact-finding mission by the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) to Zimbabwe proved things are not well in Zimbabwe, Cosatu deputy secretary general Bheki Ntshalintshali said on Thursday.
He told a press conference at Cosatu’s Braamfontein offices that the mission was not there long enough and did not speak to enough people to determine whether free and fair elections are possible next year.
But he said that if held tomorrow, “it would be a very difficult issue” on which to comment.
He and his colleagues said the Zimbabwean government is not at present respecting the rule of law, human rights or Zimbabwe’s international obligations.
The 13-member Cosatu mission was deported from Zimbabwe on Tuesday.
Said Ntshalintshali: “The police invasion of the offices of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), the arrest of the Cosatu mission and their ill treatment at the hands of the police all proved beyond doubt that the government had no respect for human rights and the freedom of trade unions to function freely within the law.”
Earlier, Ntshalintshali had congratulated the 13-strong team for its “heroism and commitment”.
“Their courage in the face of harassment, threats and assault from the Zimbabwe security forces was in the finest traditions of the trade-union movement.
“We thank them all for their refusal to be intimidated and to stick to their mission in the face of brutal repression.”
Mistreatment
Later in the briefing, Cosatu national gender coordinator Nkemeleng Mzibomvu gave meaning to the words by explaining how police at the airport had mistreated her and a colleague.
She was pulled by the hair and he was grabbed by the genitals — for no apparent reason.
Ntshalintshali said Cosatu condemns the actions of the Zimbabwe government, “which revealed its utter contempt not only for the principles of respect for human rights and civil liberties, but for the rule of law, when it brushed aside an order of the Harare High Court interdicting them from deporting the members of the Cosatu mission”.
Cosatu also criticised Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa for saying “Zimbabwe is an independent, sovereign state that has an inalienable right to determine and to apply its immigration legislation as it may deem appropriate and in its own interest”.
Ntshalintshali pointed out that Zimbabwe is a signatory to several international conventions that guarantee basic human rights, including freedom of movement, assembly and speech.
“The government’s conduct this week has attacked all these rights. No democratic government has the right to deny entry and free movement to visitors who, like the Cosatu mission, do not contravene any immigration laws and who obey the laws of the land,” he said.
Cosatu’s mission was lawful, and as South Africans they did not require visas for Zimbabwe.
There were no grounds for denying the delegation entry, and the delegation was right to reject conditions stipulating whom they could meet.
“We accept that the African National Congress government shares with Cosatu the common goal of restoring democracy in Zimbabwe, but that it is pursuing a different route from Cosatu towards achieving this goal.
“Ronnie Mamoepa also said, on Radio 702, that the solution to the problems of Zimbabwe had to come about through amicable discussion with the parties involved — precisely what the Cosatu mission was trying to do.”
Asked whether the mission was another triumph for quiet diplomacy, mission leader Violet Seboni, Cosatu’s second deputy president, said it is not for the trade federation to pressure the government.
“We respect the government with regard to ‘quiet diplomacy’. Cosatu can tell workers what to do, not government,” she said.
Cosatu to keep on campaigning
Ntshalintshali, meanwhile, recommitted Cosatu to campaign publicly in support of the ZCTU and the country’s workers.
“We will be ready, if called upon by the ZCTU, to take solidarity action in support of their struggle for the right to meet, demonstrate and organise, free of any interference from the state, in line with the International Labour Organisation and United Nations conventions. And we shall also campaign for the restoration of democracy and for free and fair elections.”
Isaac Ramputa of finance union Sasbo said Cosatu’s central committee will next month decide on further action.
He said speculation on border blockades and other action against Zimbabwe by Cosatu is therefore premature.
ZCTU secretary general Wellington Chebebe, also at the media conference, said what he would like Cosatu to do is continue to “unmask [the lies of] the Zimbabwe government”, as it has done through its visit. — Sapa
Govt regrets outcome of Cosatu visit