The head of the Catholic Church in Zimbabwe, Archbishop Pius Ncube, criticised the South African government on Tuesday for failing to rein in Harare’s hard-line President Robert Mugabe.
”They are in the best position to put pressure on Zimbabwe, to call for sanctions if necessary,” the archbishop of Bulawayo said on the SAfm radio station.
”They could force Mugabe to change, but they have been watching this thing. It’s now the eighth year it has been deteriorating,” he added.
Mugabe has come in for widespread international condemnation over his treatment of the opposition, whose leader Morgan Tsvangirai was arrested and then assaulted last week.
South Africa, which has long pursued a policy of ”quiet diplomacy” towards its northern neighbour, has called for Zimbabwe to respect the rights of all its citizens, but the comments stop some way short of the expressions of outrage that have been heard elsewhere.
”We hear that behind doors President [Thabo] Mbeki has talked strongly to Mugabe, but when it comes to the public, we never hear any strong words,” said the archbishop, who has long been one of Mugabe’s most outspoken critics.
”We are very disappointed; there is so much suffering that goes on.”
The United States has already said it is considering widening a programme of sanctions that is already in place against Mugabe and his immediate coterie following the treatment of Tsvangirai and fellow members of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The archbishop, however, said it was vital that any new measures did not hurt the general population.
”The civilians are already extremely vulnerable,” he said.
”But sanctions that are targeted towards the government, or quick sanctions — cutting off the electricity for instance — would cause the Zimbabwean government to think fast.”
Hit squads
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai said in an interview published on Tuesday that Mugabe is using ”hit squads” to crack down on opposition politicians and activists.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Tsvangirai said: ”Instead of random beatings at police stations, [Mugabe] is now using hit squads, unidentified men, unidentified vehicles.”
”But we know these are units of state agents that have been given this assignment.”
Tsvangirai and dozens of other activists were severely beaten as they tried to stage an anti-government rally on March 11.
The opposition leader laid the blame squarely at Mugabe’s door, telling the Telegraph: ”I can assess who is in charge of this — it is coming directly from Mugabe.”
”Mugabe is a violent man and he doesn’t hide it, especially where his power is threatened … No excuses, no regrets, the defiance epitomises his attitude.”
The country’s Security Minister, Didymus Mutasa, however, denied Tsvangirai’s allegations, saying bluntly: ”It is a flat lie.
”He and his group are the people who started the whole process in defiance of the government’s order not to hold a rally at a specific place,” Mutasa was quoted by the Telegraph as saying.
Opposition to 83-year-old Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, has been steadily mounting amid an economic meltdown with inflation standing at 1 730% and four out of five people out of work. — Sapa, AFP