Zuma urged to take ‘decisive stand’ on Zim

By Alex Bell
01 March 2010

South African President Jacob Zuma is being urged to take a decisive stand on Zimbabwe, as he heads to the UK for a visit during which the Zimbabwe crisis is set to be high on the agenda.

Zuma is heading to the UK for an official visit and he has indicated that he will fight on Zimbabwe’s behalf for targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime to be lifted. Zuma told journalists recently that sanctions were ‘undermining’ his efforts to push Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to agree to an electoral framework that could guarantee a free and fair vote.

“We want to create a conducive environment so that they can have elections to choose their own government, but the continuation of sanctions is undermining the agreement,” Zuma said.

The European Union (EU) last month extended the targeted sanctions on Mugabe and his inner circle by another year citing lack of progress in implementing the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Zuma’s statement on the sanctions has since attracted severe criticism from analysts who said the person to blame for Zimbabwe’s woes was none other than Mugabe himself, as well as his ZANU PF party, the very same people that would be rewarded if the measures were dropped.

Athol Trollip, the parliamentary leader for South Africa’s main political opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday said Zuma needed to focus on two key issues: plans for the ‘indigenisation’ of foreign firms, and South Africa’s stance on the ‘shopping’ sanctions. Trollip told SW Radio Africa on Monday that these are considerations critical to stabilising Zimbabwe’s tenuous political situation.

Trollip called the indigenisation plans ‘extremely problematic’ not only because of Mugabe’s various destructive policies such as land reform, but also because of his access to state wealth. Trollip accused Mugabe of using state wealth to ‘shore up his position,’ to the detriment of the country whose economy has been decimated.

“This most recent proposal appears, on face value to serve a similar purpose and there is absolutely no evidence that the Zimbabwean state is capable of properly managing such a massive share (or, indeed, any share) of the Zimbabwean market,” Trollip said.

He added that if Mugabe is serious about properly managing the Zimbabwean economy, “he needs to reform his policies.” Trollip explained that Mugabe needs to demonstrate a commitment to democracy, and ensure that the state’s wealth will not be used for political purposes.

On sanctions, Trollip said the Global Political Agreement between the MDC and ZANU PF, which was meant to address the numerous crises facing Zimbabwe, had not resulted in any meaningful change by the country's administration. Trollip said there “remains no sufficient political reason for the sanctions imposed on Mugabe to be lifted.”

”In the light of few real steps taken by the Zimbabwean administration towards truly democratic governance, President Zuma needs to support the European community’s decision to reconstitute sanctions against President Mugabe,” Trollip said.