African National Congress (ANC) MPs who are part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission to the parliamentary and presidential elections in Zimbabwe will have more freedom than before to give their honest assessment of the situation in that country.
The ANC will compile a report on the implications of the collapse of Zimbabwe on South Africa’s social and institutional infrastructure. The MPs will be expected to “debrief” the ruling party when they return.
The new approach to Zimbabwe was underscored by ANC treasurer general Mathews Phosa who came out against President Thabo Mbeki’s policy of quiet diplomacy at a meeting of the Afrikaanse Handelsinstituut (AHI) last week.
“The policy of quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe has not worked. I think [Robert] Mugabe abused us,” he said.
ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe told the Mail & Guardian that the planned report is an attempt to “close the loopholes within government diplomacy”.
“The party-to-party engagement must be stepped up. We are beginning to talk more critically of the implication of the collapse on South Africa. The ANC members who are part of the observer mission will be quite important for us. They will give feedback of their real observations that are not captured in the general report.”
The ANC’s approach to the observer function is a departure from previous missions where the findings were not discussed in Parliament. The report compiled by MPs after the 2005 elections has yet to be debated.
The Democratic Alliance said the party reserves its right to write its own reports that will be released daily.
Ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo, who will be heading the South African contingent of the SADC observer mission, told the M&G that although the political and economic situation in Zimbabwe constitutes a “crisis”, the pre-election atmosphere is calmer and more tolerant than during the 2005 elections.
The observer mission will only look at complaints brought to its attention and will not factor in Mugabe’s late announcement of the election date, or the new law that gives Zimbabweans part ownership of foreign companies, or the pay hike for civil servants.
The role of the observer mission will be twofold: to observe the elections and to intervene if “something can be corrected”.
“We want to help them have as credible elections as possible. We will stay out of their politics. We will only go as far as our invitation permits,” Mamabolo said.
A preliminary team was sent earlier to check the integrity of the voters’ roll and the environment in general.
Mamabolo said the SADC team could not intervene in the Zimbabwean government’s decision on which media organisations will be allowed into the country to cover the elections.