South African President Thabo Mbeki is making a weekend visit to Zimbabwe for talks with the bitter rivals he is trying to bring together in a coalition government — President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mbeki has been mediating power-sharing talks between Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and its opponents since July 24.
In a statement on Friday, the Department of Foreign affairs said he will leave on Saturday and return on Sunday for talks with the heads of all the parties involved — Zanu-PF, Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, and a small opposition faction led by Arthur Mutambara.
Mbeki has imposed a news blackout on the ongoing talks, which have involved top deputies of the party leaders and been held at an undisclosed location in Pretoria. The blackout has made it difficult to determine whether Mbeki is making any progress in easing what has been a deadly stand-off, but that has not stopped Zimbabweans from speculating a deal is imminent.
Zimbabwe’s main labour federation on Friday condemned the lack of information about the talks and reiterated its opposition to a power-sharing solution. The labour federation, which Tsvangirai once led, said Zimbabweans are demanding a return to the rule of law and a chance to choose their own leaders in a new round of polls.
The South African mediators have said the talks are aimed at creating some form of coalition, but the sticking points appear to be the questions of who would lead a unity government and whether Mugabe would have any role.
Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai claim to be Zimbabwe’s legitimate leader — Tsvangirai based on placing first in a field of four in March presidential elections; Mugabe based on a widely denounced June run-off in which he was the only candidate.
Tsvangirai, who did not win the March vote by the margin necessary to avoid a second round, withdrew from the run-off because of attacks on his supporters blamed on Mugabe’s party militants and security forces.
Tsvangirai has said that while he could work with Zanu-PF moderates, he will not share power with Mugabe.
The talks broke down July 28, with officials saying the problem was Mugabe’s insistence that he be the president of any new government. But talks resumed on Sunday, and there was an indication on Wednesday that both sides were determined to work together toward a solution: the MDC and Zanu-PF issued a joint communiqué condemning violence.
Mbeki is under pressure to show results before a summit he is to host at mid-month of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which appointed him to find a solution to a crisis that is undermining regional security.
Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have fled their homeland’s political and economic crises, straining resources in fellow SADC countries, chiefly South Africa, Zambia and Botswana. The resulting tensions have led several African leaders to take the unusual step of criticising Mugabe, one of their own.
Botswana’s Foreign Minister, Phandu Skelemani, speaking to lawmakers in Botswana on Friday, said Mugabe should be barred from the August 16 to 17 SADC summit.
”The legal process of producing a government in Zimbabwe has failed and as a result Botswana feels that those who claim to represent a government in Zimbabwe … should be excluded from attending SADC and African Union meetings as their participation in these meetings would be equal to giving them unqualified legitimacy,” Skelemani said.
He added that Botswana supports Mbeki’s mediation efforts and hopes the process will place Zimbabwe on a ”path of national reconciliation, economic reconstruction and development”.
Mbeki has faced increasingly sharp criticism for sticking to a policy of ”quiet diplomacy” seen by some as appeasing Mugabe. — Sapa-AP