South Africa opposition urges Mbeki to grant Roy Bennett asylum

By Tererai Karimakwenda
25 April 2006

The Democratic Alliance party in South Africa issued a strongly worded statement Tuesday urging the South African government to grant political asylum to Roy Bennett without delay. The statement said the government should act decisively to protect Bennett as he has bravely stared down the Mugabe regime in the face of adversity. Bennett’s whereabouts had been a mystery from the time the government attempted to implicate him in the alleged ‘arms cache’ found in Mutare at the home of Peter Hitchmann. He surfaced this week when it was reported he is seeking political asylum in South Africa. The Democratic Alliance Foreign Affairs spokesman and chief whip Douglas Gibson told us history will remember Bennett as a hero and the South African government needs to be on the side of those who fight for democracy.

Gibson said the South African government should go out of its way to give asylum to Bennett and members of his family who may be targeted. He believes this is an opportunity for President Thabo Mbeki to show that he stands with those who support respect for human rights and democracy for all of Africa. Gibson said he is shocked at the South African government’s response to the Zimbabwe crisis so far. He believes Robert Mugabe has some secret supporters within the ruling ANC “who have lost their moral compass and do not know just what to do about Zimbabwe.” He said if South Africa can shelter a tyrant like Jean Bertrand-Aristide (ex President of Haiti) and provide him with a life of luxury, a man of Bennett’s character surely deserves the same.

Gibson said the D.A. will approach Mbeki on the Bennett asylum issue, but he stressed this was not the first time the party had done so. He said when Bennett was in prison the party had interceded on his behalf and approached the African Union, European Union and various human rights organizations. He believes it would be a travesty of democracy if the D.A. said nothing and did nothing this time around. Asked whether there had been any indication as to what the South African government intends to do with Bennett, Gibson said: “ I am a born optimist and I expect them to do the right thing until they prove me wrong.” In the D.A. statement Gibson said: “If we turn a blind eye to Bennett, then we are turning a blind eye to the suffering of all Zimbabweans. In time to come Roy Bennett will be seen as a hero of the people of Zimbabwe; South Africa should get on the right side of history.”