Zimbabwe Parties Fail To Agree – Zuma Receives Report
Lindiwe Zulu, Zuma’s International Affairs adviser told Radio VOP on Wednesday night that a report was going to be presented to Zuma.
“We are going to receive the report tomorrow from the Zimbabwean negotiators and we take a few days interrogating it before making a
decision on how to engage further with the process,” Zulu told Radio VOP, Wednesday night.
“Thereafter we will present it to President Zuma.”
Zulu is part of a three-member team appointed by Zuma to oversee the Zimbabwe talks late last year. The team is also made up of
anti-apartheid hero Marc Maharaj and former cabinet minister Charles Nqakula.
The report, which comes almost 10 days late, now awaits Zuma’s action and recommendations from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The SABC reported that the report noted that the parties, Zanu PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations had failed to agree on outstanding issues.
However, analysts remained pessimistic of an immediate solution and were calling for the creation of an even playing field for fresh elections, the SABC reported.
Sources told the SABC that the consolidated report was now in South Africa and after Zuma has seen it, the document will be forwarded to Mozambican president Armando Guebuza, as SADC chairman on defence politics and security.
Zimbabwean analysts said the perpetual stalemate was in Zanu-PF’s favour.
Failure by the parties to find common ground has all but watered down President Zuma’s statement last month that the parties had agreed on measures.
The two old times foes, President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who formed a unity government last year in February after signing a historic agreement in September 2008, are haggling over how to democratise Zimbabwe and introduce reforms to
introduce a new political regime in the southern African country.
The tension within the coalition government appeared to have been made worse by ANC’s Youth Leader Julius Malema’s visit over the easter weekend which was largely viewed by the MDC as an open show of sympathy with Zanu PF. Malema who refused to meet the MDC, kept on emhasising that it was a party to party visit with nothing to do with the on-going talks.
Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe and his Zanu PF party of frustrating efforts to introduce the much needed reforms. One of the accusations centres around the veteran leader’s refusal to undo the unilateral appointment of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomanna. Gono stands accused of presiding over the destruction of the country’s economy through a slew of quasi-fiscal activities as well as funding activities infringing upon people’s human rights while the Tomana is accused of using his office to persecute opposition supporters and human rights activists. Apart from this the MDC also wants the appointment of its officials as provincial governors expedited together with that of its Deputy Agriculture Minister designate, Roy Bennett.
On his part Mugabe wants the MDC to engage on a public call for the removal of targetted sanctions imposed on him and members of his inner circle by western country. In addition he also wants MDC to cause the closure of so-called pirate radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from abroad.