SADC Gearing Up For Confrontation Over Zimbabwe?

SADC are not worth spit when it comes to the Global Political Agreement in Zimbabwe...

sadc blind to the truth mDIUJ 16744

"South African President Jacob Zuma and his Southern African Development Community (SADC) colleagues are tenaciously moving to tackle President Robert Mugabe and the Zimbabwe situation at the forthcoming inter-regional tripartite free trade area summit in Johannesburg next month after he wriggled off the hook at today’s extraordinary regional meeting in Windhoek.

Following the watershed SADC troika of the organ on politics, defence and security summit in Livingstone in April, Mugabe has been furiously lashing out at regional leaders in public, while at the same time secretly sending envoys to apologise and plead for support.

Zuma and his SADC leaders read the riot act to Mugabe in Livingstone and wanted to deal decisively with him and the Zimbabwe situation today in Windhoek."

I object to the word "tenanciously" as the definition of that is "with obstinate determination"...

There is no determination in SADC's weak attempts to have the GPA implemented. And Mugabe has treated SADC with absolute disdain. A tribunal hearing concerning the landgrab was laughed at by Mugabe who argues the authority of SADC in Zimbabwean matters.

If that is the case, then why is he a member of the organisation? He does not recognise the authority of the body... but uses them as a good excuse to travel, with an oversized entourage to foreign countries - where they fill the aircraft up with all manner of trinkets, trophies, food and clothing, none of which is subject to Customs & Excise regulations upon arrival in Harare.

When was SADC going to actually draw a line in the sand and say, "That far, and no further!"

They are scared of Mugabe...

"Sources said Zuma and other SADC leaders now want to hold a focused and rigorous session on Zimbabwe on the sidelines of the Sadc-Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) - East African Community (EAC) Tripartite Free Trade Area summit in Johannesburg. They said Zuma and his allies - who want Mugabe and other GNU leaders to fully implement the GPA and come up with an elections roadmap before free and fair polls can be held within a realistic and practical timeframe – have already started serious lobbying ahead of the critical meeting.

The SADC-COMESA-EAC summit will be held in Johannesburg from June 10-12. SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao yesterday confirmed from Windhoek the inter-regional grouping summit would be held within the next three weeks but could not comment on SADC plans to have a concentrated session on Zimbabwe there.

"The tripartite summit will be held in Johannesburg on June 10," Salomao said without elaborating.

Regional leaders in Namibia will now discuss the report of ministers of justice and attorney-generals on the controversial SADC Tribunal - another issue infuriating Mugabe – the principles, guidelines and institutional framework, the declaration and roadmap towards the establishment of the grand free trade area between COMESA, EAC and SADC and progress on the impact of the global financial crisis on SADC."

SADC are the supposed guarantors of the GPA, so their progress report to the tripartite summit will probably be the shortest in history.

Nothing that they do or say will cause Mugabe to change. He has dug in and is determined that there will be elections this year, and, as he has done so well in the past 31 years, he will beat and bludgeon his way into another fictitious 'majority' government.

"Fearing Zuma and his allies would finish him off in Windhoek, Mugabe, who has lost support in the region, also dispatched other top envoys to different SADC countries. Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa went to Angola and Security minister Sydney Sekeramayi travelled to Mozambique to plead for backing. Mugabe and his officials were involved in frantic lobbying in a bid to avoid being routed in Windhoek.

Zuma has now come up with new plans to deal with the Zimbabwe problem at the looming inter-regional summit in Johannesburg, a senior South African official said last night.

"Zimbabwe is out of the agenda because President Zuma is busy with local government elections whose full results will only be out this weekend. It was decided weeks ago that he is not attending," the official said. "Besides, there was a feeling here in Pretoria among the president’s advisors that the atmosphere around the summit has been poisoned and discussing Zimbabwe there would generate more heat than light."

Mugabe has been telling the world that the country is 'peaceful' and 'stable'. If that is the truth, then why the need to despatch diplomats to member SADC states to explain themselves?

Robb WJ Ellis

The Bearded Man