Bennett to function as MDC Treasurer General in exile
By Violet Gonda
30 May 2006

Exiled opposition leader Roy Bennett has said he will continue with his official duties as MDC Treasurer General from neighbouring South Africa. He said that the decision for him to go to SA had been discussed with the MDC leadership and that he would also use the opportunity to interact with the SA government and its counterparts in the African National Congress ANC. He would be in a position to bring them up to date with the situation in Zimbabwe.

Speaking on SW Radio Africa after addressing a press conference in South Africa on Tuesday Bennett said, “I am treasurer General of the MDC. There is no Tsvangirai or Mutambara MDC. There is one MDC...I will continue as Treasurer General which is part of the reasons that we decided at leadership level that I seek asylum here in South Africa where I would be able to do my duties and carry out my mandate that the people of Zimbabwe have trusted upon me at the congress.” He was responding to a question about whether he was going to continue with his official duties as the Treasurer General of the Tsvangirai MDC.

The outspoken opposition official added, “Our enemy is Robert Mugabe. Our enemy is ZANU PF… there are leadership differences. People at a leadership level have broken away. The grassroots are intact.” Fearing for his life, the former Member of Parliament and commercial farmer fled Zimbabwe in April and sought asylum in South Africa after the government implicated him in an alleged assassination attempt against Robert Mugabe in early March.

Bennett has been a thorn in the side for the state since he was elected MP for Chimanimani in 2000. He was however denied asylum by SA despite having irrefutable evidence and support from A mnesty International and Lawyers for Human Rights in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Bennett is hopeful that his appeal (to an independent appeal board) will be successful. He said he chose SA because there is a thriving democracy and therefore he felt his chances of a fair hearing would have been real.

He said the South African government, African leaders and the world need to know that the issues in Zimbabwe are not issues around land or race. “The issues are about an illegitimate, corrupt regime that has denied the people their rights and denied them their democratic rights of a free and fair elections.”