SA Defence Minister repeats Mugabe’s line on regime change

By Tererai Karimakwenda
19 November, 2007

The role of South Africa as the regional appointed mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis has been questioned from the beginning, given President Mbeki’s refusal to even criticize the Mugabe regime and the harsh treatment of Zimbabwean refugees in South Africa.

Recent comments by South Africa’s Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota, have undermined the country’s mediation role even further, because they are reminiscent of language used by Robert Mugabe himself when defending his failure and brutal policies.

The Cape Times (SA) reported last Friday that Lekota said regime change was one of the "external threats" faced by countries in the region. Speaking at the opening of the ministerial session of the SA-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission on defence and security, Lekota is quoted as saying Southern African countries face a "very real challenge" of regime change, encouraged by foreign powers.

Professor Mukonoweshuro, the Secretary for international affairs in the Tsvangirai MDC, described Lekota’s statement as “reckless and unfortunate.” He explained that it raises all kinds of suspicions and renewed concerns.

He said: “We would have expected that South Africa, playing that kind of role, ought to try by all means to demonstrate its even-handedness in dealing with belligerent parties.”
The Professor went further to say that mimicking the language of paranoia used by ZANU-PF does not encourage or build up confidence in the process that South Africa is mediating.
Regarding the issue of state-sponsored violence, which has continued while the mediation process is in progress, the Professor said it had reached critical levels and the MDC should not be blamed if the violence situation becomes a talks breaking point.

Asked if Mbeki should be insisting strongly that the Mugabe regime put an end to the violence, Mukonoweshuro said: “The irony of the whole situation is that South Africa, whilst it pontificates about issues of democracy, human rights and good governance, as long as they pertain to the South Africa situation, when they cross the border they are blind to glaringly brazen issues of violence.”
He added : “They are in actual fact even ready to forget their own history, when the international community created a context in which reasonable dialogue could take place between the ANC and the Nationalist Party.”