Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille on Friday urged President Thabo Mbeki to ”speak out” on Zimbabwe before it was too late.
In an open letter to Mbeki on the DA Coolsitewebsite, Zille said: ”There is a crisis in Zimbabwe. Everyone recognises this now.”
This week, the international community was united in its condemnation of the arrest and detention of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai by the Zimbabwean security forces.
On Thursday, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga described President Robert Mugabe as a dictator and an embarrassment to Africa.
”You [Mbeki] said nothing. What will it take for you to acknowledge what is happening in Zimbabwe? How many more people must be detained, tortured or killed?” Zille asked.
Since the March 29 parliamentary and presidential elections it had become clear that Mugabe would do whatever it took to stay in power.
This included, among other things, the arrest of MDC leaders Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, stopping food aid to 100 000 children in MDC strongholds, and Zanu-PF’s systematic intimidation campaign, which had reportedly resulted in the killing of 65 MDC supporters and the displacement of 25 000 people.
Also, there were rumours of an assassination plot against Tsvangirai, the intensified use of the state-controlled media as a propaganda arm of Zanu-PF, the arrest and intimidation of journalists, including three South Africans jailed for six months for being in possession of broadcasting equipment, and the detention of United States and British diplomats.
”These developments, added to the systemic flaws in Zimbabwean electoral law, remove any vestige of hope that the presidential run-off election on 27 June will be free and fair,” Zille said.
”What are you in your role as mediator doing to ensure that the election reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people? How have your mediation efforts improved the situation in Zimbabwe?”
The time for quiet diplomacy was well and truly over. It had served only to prop up a dictator and prevent real change in Zimbabwe.
”By appeasing Mugabe and endorsing every fundamentally flawed election in Zimbabwe, you are complicit in the tyranny that has befallen that country,” she said.
It was essential that Mbeki publicly call on Mugabe to:
- immediately halt state-sponsored political violence and intimidation of opposition parties;
- release all journalists and opposition supporters currently detained by the security forces;
- lift all restrictions on independent media, both domestic and foreign;
- allow for the deployment of international electoral observers to Zimbabwe to monitor the presidential run-off election; and
- reinstate the NGOs responsible for food aid in areas of need.
”These measures, if implemented, will not ensure that the presidential run-off election is free and fair, but they may enable the will of the Zimbabwean people to triumph despite the systemic flaws in the electoral process.
”As the president of the leading power in Africa and the appointed mediator in Zimbabwe you are in a position to exert considerable pressure on Mugabe to implement such measures,” Zille said. – Sapa