By Tererai Karimakwenda
01 July 2005

As international pressure mounts for African leaders to get involved in the Zimbabwe crisis, Zimbabwean exiles and human rights campaigners in the UK have launched a campaign to boycott South African products. As the big brother of the southern African region, President Thabo Mbeki's support of the Mugabe regime has come under heavy fire.

Members of the Zimbabwe Vigil group plan to trample South African fruit into the pavement and pour South African wine down the gutter at a demonstration outside the Guildhall in London on Monday. The location is the venue for a one day meeting organised by the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD as it is known. The partnership is largely an Mbeki initiative, aimed at boosting investment and aid in Africa, with good governance and peer review mechanisms at the core. It is hoped Mbeki himself will attend. The meeting is to report to the G8 Summit in Scotland just days later.

Vigil organiser Dennis Benton said Zimbabweans are angry that South Africa has again accepted rigged elections in Zimbabwe and are appalled at the treatment of Zimbabwean exiles fleeing to South Africa. Benton also expressed shock at the recent sale of South African military spare parts to Zimbabwe for equipment used in the recent demolition of homes and businesses.

The Zimbabwe Vigil is encouraging supporters to bring banners denouncing South Africa and be prepared to sing and dance. Vigil members have been demonstrating outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for nearly three years now, in support of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.