Zimbabweans in the dark as SADC mediation continues

By Tererai Karimakwenda
21 May, 2007

A mediation team from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) led by Sydney Mufamadi, South Africa’s Minister of Provincial and Local government, is reported to have met Robert Mugabe secretly in Harare two weeks ago. The report said Zimbabwe’s negotiation team was comprised of Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and the labour Minister Nicholas Goche, and that the team had also met with representatives of the two factions of the opposition MDC. Mufamadi was accompanied by Frank Chikane, director-general in the Presidency, and Mojanku Gumbi, Mbeki's legal adviser. They also met with Mugabe vice-presidents Joyce Mujuru and Joseph Msika.

Information on these meetings has surfaced weeks later, in line with president Thabo Mbeki’s secretive policy of “quiet diplomacy”, but nothing has happened to change the daily lives of suffering Zimbabweans. And continuing state sponsored violence on the ground raises the issue of whether Mugabe can be trusted.

The negotiating teams are supposed to facilitate free and fair elections, which are currently scheduled for March 2008. Chris Maroleng, a research fellow at South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, said the key stumbling block to the negotiations will be the requirement for compromise that is implicit for the negotiations to succeed. And Mugabe is that stumbling block. Maroleng explained: “In order for negotiations to be successful the various parties will definitely have to be in a mood to engage in some compromise. To date, president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has not been known to be the most open to engaging in negotiations that require compromise on his part.” Although Maroleng believes the negotiating team has a difficult task, he said they have made headway and brought the two sides closer to being face to face.

According to reports Mufamadi told Mugabe to stop the violent campaign against the opposition in order to establish confidence in the negotiation process. But the stubborn dictator said it would be ‘difficult’ to meet the demands of the opposition before next year's elections. ZANU-PF’s spokesperson Nathan Shamuyarira, is also reported to have said recently that talking to the MDC was a waste of time. Other reports said the rural housing Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa, this week revealed that Mbeki imposed conditions on opposition leaders Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara ahead of the talks. The conditions include the acceptance of Robert Mugabe as president and the renunciation of violence. Mnangagwa told parliament that no such conditions had been imposed on Mugabe.

While the various leaders of SADC go back and forth, meeting and talking and getting nowhere, Zimbabweans continue to suffer and to die.