About 200 people protested outside the Zimbabwe embassy in Pretoria on Wednesday, calling for the release of presidential election results.
Gabriel Shumba of the Zimbabwe Exiles’ Forum said the protest was over the delay that had followed the March 29 elections.
The protesters, mostly Zimbabweans, called for Zimbabwe’s ambassador to South Africa, Simon Moyo, to step down as his term of office expired on the day of the elections.
”Although nobody received our memorandum, our message is clear that his term has expired,” said Shumba.
The Movement for Democratic Change’s Nicholas Dube reiterated this, adding that Moyo ”should pack his bags and go home as he no longer represents us”.
”We need to begin to govern,” said Dube.
The protesters also criticised President Thabo Mbeki over a comment he made at the weekend. Following a meeting with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare, he said there was ”no crisis” in the landlocked southern African nation.
Said Shumba: ”We believe that Mbeki has now compromised his facilitative role in the SADC. He must step down.”
The protesters chanted songs and displayed placards, some of which read ”Free and fair elections 2008”.
The Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum’s Sox Chikohwero said the Zimbabwean people wanted to reclaim their freedom and dignity.
The group would return to the embassy on Friday. They would also hand over a memorandum at the Union Buildings. — Sapa