President Thabo Mbeki on Friday described as ”astounding” the original approach by the Congress of South African Trade Unions to President Robert Mugabe about its intention to conduct a fact-finding mission in Zimbabwe.
In his weekly letter on the African National Congress website, ANC Today, Mbeki said Zimbabwe’s Financial Gazette newspaper had reported 16 months ago that the secretary general of Cosatu [Zwelinzima Vavi] had written to Mugabe requesting that he should ”grant an audience to our delegation”.
Mbeki said the report further added that Cosatu had said ”the delegation also wanted to see Zimbabwe Minister of Labour, Paul Mangwana, and requested that President Mugabe should assist the delegation to meet the Minister”.
”He [Vavi] had requested Mugabe to ‘revert back to us about suitable dates and times for a meeting’.
He went further to advise President Mugabe ‘to direct all enquiries to our International Relations Secretary, Simon Boshielo in our head office or
alternatively at [mobile]’.
Mbeki added: ”Presumably Cosatu expected that President Mugabe, a head of state, would accept that the situation in Zimbabwe justified that a South African trade union federation should send a political fact-finding mission, whose fact-finding activities he should facilitate, and with which he should then communicate, through its International Relations Secretary, to indicate:
when he would meet the Cosatu delegation;
what arrangements he had made for the delegation to meet the Minister of Labour; and,
which other organisations the delegation should meet”.
Mbeki said Cosatu’s approach showed contempt for a head of state, and a sovereign government, and ”could not have created a climate conducive to serious discussions”.
”The best that could have been expected as a response to the letter was no response.” – Sapa