President Thabo Mbeki must convince his counterparts in the Southern African Development Community (SACD) that the time has arrived to impose limited sanctions against Zimbabwe, says acting Democratic Alliance leader Joe Seremane.
In his party’s weekly online newsletter, SA Today, he said Mbeki had to admit the talks he brokered between Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change had ”gone nowhere”.
Seremane’s call comes at the start of the 27th SADC heads of state summit in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, which is set to end on August 18.
”Today, President Thabo Mbeki is scheduled to report on the progress of his mediation with Harare to … SADC. This presents South Africa with an excellent opportunity to intervene decisively and positively in the affairs of that unhappy country.
”If the president is honest, he will have to admit that the talks he has brokered have gone nowhere, for the selfsame reason that his interventions have failed in the past. President Robert Mugabe has — as usual — refused to show any sign that he is committed to resolving the crisis in his country. It is time to change gears.”
In light of the failure of his brief, Mbeki should now use the SADC summit as an opportunity to persuade regional leaders the time had come for limited sanctions against Harare.
”These would include travel bans and the freezing of assets of senior Zanu-PF officials in the SADC region.
”Lest anyone at SADC be in any doubt, our president must drive the point home. The need for punitive measures has arisen because the Mugabe regime simply does not respond to polite pressure.”
In light of the economic and political collapse in Zimbabwe, it was clearly in the self interest of all SADC members to take firm steps against Harare.
”Zimbabwe has now been in crisis for seven long, lean years. The steady erosion, not only of the features of a free society, but of the elements that sustain life itself — food, water, housing, power — has been all too plain for her neighbours to see.
”It is frankly a disgrace that President Mbeki and his fellow SADC leaders have allowed the situation to deteriorate this far.
”If this regional organisation, and our government in particular, is serious about avoiding a human catastrophe, they must act at once, and with resolution,” Seremane said. — Sapa