A complete meltdown in troubled Zimbabwe appears inevitable, neighbouring South Africa said on Friday while rejecting rising international calls to condemn President Robert Mugabe’s regime.
“It is difficult to see how a total meltdown won’t take place,” South African Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria — pointing to Zimbabwe’s inflation rate of above 1Â 700%.
But Pahad rejected Western condemnation of South Africa’s policy of quiet diplomacy towards its northern neighbour, saying it should be termed “constructive diplomacy” and that of its critics “megaphone diplomacy.”
While foreign governments criticised South Africa for not reacting strongly enough to Zimbabwe’s political and economic down spiral, “we haven’t been told what is not strong, and what else we should have said”, said Pahad.
And he blamed foreign governments for failing Zimbabwe, saying the current situation could have been avoided had the European Union and the United States kept open communication with Africa and Zimbabwe and formulated a common approach to what has been clear for years was an impending crisis.
“If outside governments played a more constructive role from the outset, we would not have had the crisis in Zimbabwe,” Pahad said.
While South Africa was concerned about the situation up north, he added, it would not “make militant statements to make us look good”.
He ruled out the possibility of an African intervention force being deployed to Zimbabwe, saying the issue was being dealt with on a political level “bilaterally, through the Southern African Development Community [SADC] and the African Union.”
South Africa, with these regional bodies, remained seized with Zimbabwe’s problems, Pahad said. All were doing their part to help, he added, without elaborating.
The SADC organ on politics, defence and security was expected to meet in Tanzania later this month to discuss the situation in Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, “we call on all Zimbabweans, and I repeat all, to respect the rule of law and not take any actions that will exacerbate tensions”, Pahad said. — AFP