Southern African leaders pressed Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe and his long-time rival to implement a stalled power-sharing deal on Monday, but both Zimbabwean leaders appeared intransigent.
Both sides had indicated that Monday’s talks would make or break the deal seen as vital to ending an economic crisis that has half the population in need of food aid.
With evening falling and the leaders still locked behind closed doors, a leading official of Mugabe’s party told the Associated Press there was no sign of the agreement. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of a declared media blackout.
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and former president and mediator Thabo Mbeki, Mozambique’s President Armando Guebuza and other leaders of the Southern African Development Community met all day with Mugabe, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, head of a smaller MDC faction.
The power-sharing deal was signed in September but stalled by disagreements over Cabinet posts.
The deadlock has left the government paralysed amid a spiralling economic crisis, with the central bank last week introducing a Z$100-trillion note to keep up with rocketing inflation. The health, water and education systems have collapsed, and most major goods are in short supply.
More than five million Zimbabweans are likely to need food aid this year, and a cholera epidemic has killed more than 2 200 people and infected more than 42 000.
The September 15 power-sharing deal calls for 84-year-old Mugabe to remain president, Tsvangirai to become prime minister and for Cabinet posts to be equitably shared.
Mugabe has tried to keep all important portfolios for his party. But Tsvangirai has said he will not be ”bulldozed” into joining a lopsided government, after winning first-round presidential elections in March but pulling out of the run-off because of violence against his supporters.
Untold suffering
Meanwhile, failure by Zimbabwean political parties to reach agreement on power sharing was to blame for the country’s crumbling health system, the South African Medical Association (Sama) said on Monday.
”The cholera crisis is driven by social issues beyond healthcare. The lack of basic social services such as functioning sewerage system, safe drinking water and food is resulting in untold suffering to the people of Zimbabwe … all because of the government’s inability to focus on the needs of its citizens,” Sama said in a statement.
The association said the crumbling health system was further compounded by the flock of skilled Zimbabweans to other countries ”for their livelihoods”.
”Sama also remains concerned that the widespread shortage of both health personnel and pharmaceutical products is causing difficulties, including the non-availability of treatment for people living with HIV/Aids.”
This, the association said, could ”lead to increased mortality in Zimbabwe”.
Sama urged South Africans, particularly health professionals to join relief efforts in Zimbabwe.
”Sama is considering more tangible means of supporting efforts of international agencies like Unicef and NGOs.
”Sama requests the South African government to assist in this humanitarian crisis by providing additional resources. We also call on our government to take the lead in rallying regional governments in a combined social assistance programme to relieve the suffering,” it said. — Sapa-AFP, Sapa