SA NGO urges government to send observers to Zimbabwe elections

By Tererai Karimakwenda
18 February, 2008

A non-governmental organisation that assists refugees in South Africa, has called for the government there to immediately send election observers to Zimbabwe. The group ‘People against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty’ (Passop) also urged the authorities in South Africa to call for media controls in Zimbabwe to be loosened before the polls on March 29th.
Passop is the group that organised protests against police brutality and xenophobia at the Central Police Station in Cape Town earlier this month. Director Braam Hanekom, was himself arrested several times for demonstrating against the victimization of refugees by the police and immigration officials.
Hanekom is quoted as saying: "We urge the government to send observers immediately to closely examine this build-up to the elections. If there is faith in the transparency of the elections we will see a significant decrease in migration over the electoral period and even a possible reverse migration.”
Meanwhile South Africa's Foreign Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, on Monday said that Zimbabwe's elections next month will be free and fair as long as new laws on security and the media are fully implemented. She was speaking at a joint press conference with her visiting counterpart from New Zealand, Winston Peters.

Dlamini Zuma, whose government has been accused of being too soft on Robert Mugabe, was referring to changes in the law that were agreed to at the SADC initiated talks between ZANU-PF and the MDC. South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki mediated at the talks but he has so far failed to get Robert Mugabe to implement the changes he agreed to.

Additionally, the authorities in Zimbabwe have banned several opposition rallies and assaulted and arrested students and activists during separate peaceful protests since the talks abruptly stopped without any signed agreement. Dlamini Zuma did not make a reference to any of this.