Little expected from Zuma as he jets into Harare

By Lance Guma
16 March 2010

South African President Jacob Zuma jetted into Zimbabwe on Tuesday in a visit that marked his first official trip as chief mediator to the deadlocked power sharing talks. His office issued a statement saying he will make an assessment of the coalition government, one year after it was sworn in. Additionally he is expected to examine how the obstacles to the full implementation of the coalition deal can be removed.

Diplomatic speak aside analysts have already cynically suggested Zuma has a better chance of finding an additional wife in Zimbabwe than solving the deadlock caused by Mugabe’s intransigence. During his trip to the United Kingdom the South African leader turned himself into Mugabe’s errant boy by campaigning for a lifting of targeted sanctions slapped on cronies of the regime. But the UK government demanded more reforms in Zimbabwe first before they could consider such moves.

This time Zuma arrives in Zimbabwe a few weeks after Mugabe spat in the face of the coalition agreement by stripping several MDC ministers of their mandates. Instead of reigning in the troublesome part of the government Zuma has instead focused on trying to appease Mugabe and ZANU PF, much like his predecessor former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Tsvangirai’s party seems to have woken up and smelt the political coffee coming from South Africa. Spokesman Nelson Chamisa said they would not agree to Zuma’s previous ‘park and proceed’ proposal in which outstanding issues would be set aside so that fresh elections can be held. ‘Preparing for a free and fair election entails implementation of these issues in the Global Political Agreement. Parking them is almost like shelving a problem and running away from your own shadow. It is not possible,’ he said.

South African mediator Charles Nqakula meanwhile said that as Zuma’s facilitation team they were not going to be guided by what people say in public and in the media, because they were interacting with the political parties involved in the talks. But the signs are ominous. When Mugabe unilaterally tampered with the ministerial mandates he assigned control of elections to one of his trusted aides, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa. The move made it clear who was running the show and was a statement of intent to rig the elections, prematurely being touted as the final solution.