Saturday Zim Protests Aimed At Zuma

President Zuma was appointed by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) as facilitator for talks to solve the Zimbabwe political crisis.

Chairman of the Global coordinator for the 21 st Movement organising the protests, Den Moyo, said in a press release on Wednesday, Zuma had failed to hold Mugabe accountable to the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

“It is as if we are back to the quiet diplomacy of President Mbeki, now being perfected by President Zuma,” said Moyo who criticised Zuma’s recent calls for Zimbabweans to be patient through the facilitation spokesperson, Lindiwe Zulu.

Moyo said it was as if the MDC was demanding fresh reforms.

“How much more patient should we be, before we conclude that President Zuma’s action is no different from Thabo Mbeki’s, who denied from the onset that there was a crisis in Zimbabwe?” he said.

“The world is watching and we are collecting empirical evidence which points to SA’s complicity in the on-going Zimbabwean Crisis. Round 4 of our protests, on Saturday April 21, will be the final round where we target just SA Embassies. We have sufficient evidence to take the protest to the next level.”
 
In Round 5, focus will be shifted to SADC to expose SA’s failure to enforce the implementation of the GPA and letting the political situation in Zimbabwe deteriorate. 

Other protests will take place in Washington DC, London and Australia,.

“We demand that President Zuma make a public statement that he, as the SADC Facilitator is demanding that Zanu (PF) implement the agreed reforms, and that he is not going to allow the holding of elections in Zimbabwe which do not meet the SADC standards. So far we have only heard it from his spokesperson, and we are starting not to believe it.”
 

In London MDC Midlands South District is joining hands with the Vigil, which holds protests outside the Zimbabwean Embassy every Saturday, to lead a demonstration that will culminate in presenting a petition to Prime Minister David Cameron.

The UK demonstrators will be calling on Cameron to use the UK’s position on the Security Council to ensure that the next election in Zimbabwe is free and fair.

“As Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) is clearly not interested in holding free and fair elections, the demonstrators will be demanding that the United Nations supervise the electoral process,” said Moyo. “Cameron made an undertaking to Morgan Tsvangirai to do what he can to ensure free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.”

“SADC promised last year to send three delegates to help monitor the implementation of the Global Political Agreement, but none has yet arrived”

“We fear a scenario, in which Zanu (PF), in desperation because of Mugabe’s failing health, collapses the GNU, calls elections and again bludgeons its way to a victory. Rather than wait for this crisis to happen, we believe the international community should stop it now and force Mugabe to abide by, and respect, the agreement which allowed him to remain as President.”