A group of women on Monday staged a peaceful demonstration outside the South African embassy in Harare to demand the inclusion of civic rights groups in South African-mediated talks on the Zimbabwe crisis.
The members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (Woza) hung posters on the security fence surrounding the embassy in northern Harare, and handed over a petition for President Thabo Mbeki.
Embassy staff quickly tore down the posters after the women demonstrators dispersed, a Deutsche Presse-Agentur reporter saw. There was no sign of police, who have outlawed demonstrations in some parts of the capital.
Woza coordinator Jenni Williams said that the concerns of civic rights groups should be heard at the talks that have got under way in South Africa between Zimbabwe’s ruling party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
”Civic voices should be heard. The agenda should be a consulted agenda,” she said. ”It shouldn’t just be a political process.”
Mediators are keen to see an end to the political tensions in Zimbabwe between the governing Zanu-PF and the splintered MDC party ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections in March.
Zimbabwe is mired in its worst economic crisis yet, with inflation believed to have topped 4 530% last month.
Desperate consumers have been calling for government intervention this weekend to end astronomical price hikes, sometimes by as much as 300% in a few days. — Sapa-dpa