Mbeki dispatches envoy to Harare to rescue talks

By Tichaona Sibanda
29 January 2008

South African President Thabo Mbeki has sent his chief negotiator Sydney Mufamadi to Harare in last-ditch attempts to rescue the stalled talks before he declares a deadlock to SADC and the African Union.

It is believed Mbeki has confided to close aides he is ready to call ‘a spade a spade’ and brief SADC on who is reneging on the agreed concessions. He’s facing intense pressure from within his country and the international community to officially declare the talks deadlocked and inform the SADC troika of the difficulties he is facing to get Zanu-PF to honour its commitments made during the negotiations.

A source told us Mufamadi met MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in South Africa on Monday before flying to Harare where he was expected to meet the negotiating teams from both the MDC and Zanu-PF. The Zimbabwean government on Monday heightened the crisis by refusing opposition demands for a new constitution to be adopted before the March general election. The government said it would put the issue to a referendum after the polls.

Speaking to Newsreel from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the MDC secretary for International Affairs Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro agreed Mbeki had no other choice but brief the SADC troika on the impasse.

Mukonoweshuro said, “There is a deadlock after several months of negotiations where Zanu-PF and the MDC agreed to work around five key issues identified as a way of promoting an enabling an environment for the holding of free and fair elections. It is clear Zanu-PF has failed to honour its commitment and this should be easy work for Mbeki when he reports to the Troika.”

There is growing pressure from the international community for the SADC Troika to take the Zimbabwean issue to the African Summit that begins in Ethiopia this week.

The crisis talks in the country are centred on five key issues, including demands by the MDC for amendments to security, media and electoral laws, a new constitution and cessation of political violence.
Zanu PF has made concessions on media and security laws, but has ruled out a new constitution before elections in March.