South African President Jacob Zuma on Friday urged donors to give more development aid to Zimbabwe to help the unity government revive an economy shattered by years of hyper-inflation.
“We have noted the benchmarks and conditions put forward by donors on their re-engagement in Zimbabwe,” Zuma said in a speech at Zimbabwe’s annual farm show.
“As South Africa, we encourage donors to provide the development aid that is direly needed to ensure that the inclusive government is able discharge its responsibilities of turning around the political and socio-economic development situation in Zimbabwe,” he said.
Western donors are providing humanitarian aid to ease crippling food shortages, but have demanded that President Robert Mugabe make greater political reforms before granting direct aid to the unity government.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader who joined the government in February, recently toured Western capitals seeking to raise $8,3-billion in aid but returned with no direct support for the national budget.
Zimbabwe has raised more than $2-billion so far, mainly from African organisations and China.
Zuma, who met for nearly two hours with Mugabe and Tsvangirai earlier on Friday, said the leaders recognised the need to overcome their differences on implementing the unity accord.
“We also emphasise that the parties in Zimbabwe should work together to remove any remaining obstacles to the implementation of the agreement,” he said.
“The parties are in agreement on the need to speed up the implementation and find solutions to the current points of disagreement,” he added.
“The inclusive government also has a responsibility to fully implement the [unity accord] and thus create confidence in the process.”
Six months into the unity government, Tsvangirai says his supporters still suffer harassment from police. He also disputes Mugabe’s unilateral appointments of the Reserve Bank governor and the attorney general.
Mugabe insists that Western sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze on the president and his inner circle, are undermining the deal. — AFP