2008 Articles 25 Dec Kingdom Come 21 Dec Christmas 15 Dec Step Forward 5 Dec Beginning 1 Dec Amendment 30 Nov Facilitation 26 Nov Genocide 24 Nov Running Out 17 Nov Crisis 15 Nov Somalia 12 Nov What Next? 8 Nov Leadership 2 Nov Chipo 1 Nov Rome Burns 29 Oct Failure 25 Oct High Noon 19 Oct Never Easy 10 Oct Abyss 8 Oct Filibustering 4 Oct Chaos in Zim 29 Sept A Mule? 21 Sept On Step 16 Sept The End 12 Sept New Beginning 11 Sept Deal? 6 Sept Consequences 3 Sept Need a Deal 2 Sept Dollar Died 31 Aug Steering 29 Aug Unstuck 23 Aug Betrayed 18 Aug The Devil 13 Aug 13 Aug 08 12 Aug Today 11 Aug Cliffhanger 8 Aug Whats Going On 27 Jul Progress 22 Jul Agree to talk 21 Jul Mbeki kicks 16 Jul Crunch Time 13 Jul Economics 9 Jul Reality Looms 2 Jul Where? 30 Jun Looking Glass 26 Jun Battle 22 Jun What Now? 21 Jun The Commitment 16 Jun Do or Die 13 Jun Morning After 10 Jun Closing Doors 26 May Current Outlook 24 May Fan Club 19 May Tyranny 17 May End Game 15 May Flushing 8 May Violence 6 May Bizarre Process 25 Apr Cornered 20 Apr Electoral Fraud 19 Apr Jesse 17 Apr This Farce 11 Apr The Devil 6 Apr Wounded Buffalo 1 Apr Dying Kick 31 Mar Politcl Tsunami 27 Mar Current Situ. 26 Mar 4 days to go 21 Mar 8 days to go 15 Mar Election Time 27 Feb Games Begin 17 Feb Public Office 11 Feb Choices 4 Feb Decision Time 26 Jan Ambushed 25 Jan The Struggle 20 Jan Truth or Fiction 12 Jan Mugabe Mistake 8 Jan Surprise 2 Jan Kenya Lessons
Articles:- 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004-01
|
|
|
|
|
It's Crunch Time
In any crisis there comes a moment when all the parties to a situation must
face reality and make decisions. The crisis in Zimbabwe is at just such a
juncture. It is no exaggeration to say that the future of the country will
be decided in the next few days.
We have just seen the failure of the G8 States to persuade their
international colleagues to back tough sanctions on Zimbabwe. This was
partly engineered by South Africa who rushed the commencement of talks about
talks in South Africa so as to be able to say at the UN that 'talks' were
under way and the Security Council should give the parties involved time to
try and resolve the crisis along the lines agreed by the AU.
By doing so, Mbeki has in fact both played the ball back to the western
States who backed the tough stance and also put himself in the situation
where he has full responsibility for the next play - in fact the final set
in this particular match. He may live to regret that particular outcome.
James McGee said as much when he stated yesterday that 'it was now up to the
SADC States' to find a solution.
Mbeki has come back from the G8 summit in a hurry to get things moving. He
virtually forced the start of talks about talks last week and after two days
of fruitless discussion, he set up a meeting of the SADC Organ on Politics
and Security chaired by Angola, now scheduled to take place on the coming
Friday. Ping (from the AU) fell ill in Japan and will himself only come to
South Africa on Thursday for talks with Mbeki prior to the SADC meeting on
Friday.
It seems to me that all those involved - from the international donors who
are vital to any recovery process here, to the SADC and the AU and indeed
even the G8 leadership, that all are singing from the same hymn sheet. The
call is for a transitional government with a limited mandate and life
(maximum of two years) with Mugabe as a titular President and Tsvangirai as
a substantive Head of Government or Prime Minister. The power structure of
the new government to be based on the outcome of the 29th March election.
It is envisaged by all that this transitional arrangement would last until a
new national Constitution had been agreed, signed and implemented and fresh
democratic elections held under normal conditions. It is further envisaged
that during this period, a start would be made on the whole process of
stabilisation and recovery.
Clearly, such a transitional arrangement is not acceptable to the new power
brokers in the present regime. The Joint Operations Command made up of a
military Junta with elements of the Zanu PF Party, know full well that this
would represent the end of the road for them in every respect. If they were
to accept such an outcome they would have to either go into exile or seek
refuge in a country that agreed to have them and to provide them with
security and protection from prosecution.
The Zanu PF negotiators know this and Mbeki is also fully aware of just what
he is up against. He knows that neither Mugabe nor his JOC associates can be
trusted to abide by any decisions reached at the negotiating table.
Therefore, what is at stake here is not just the issue of negotiations
themselves but also the future and security of the men (and women?) who have
orchestrated Zimbabwe's freefall into collapse and international ostracism.
The real talks are therefore likely to be between the facilitators and the
JOC rather than between the Zimbabwean Political Parties.
The JOC have their own ideas - they want to keep to their present course. If
left to their own devices they will dissolve Parliament and hold fresh
elections in August or September, maintain or intensify the violence and the
campaign against the MDC and even deepen the crisis here. They do not care
about the economy - a small group of some 2 000 individuals can live very
well on the mines alone thank you, or the human welfare of the millions of
people who live in the cities and towns.
So we are down to the wire. For South Africa the issues are clear. As I
write, millions of Zimbabweans are planning their flight to other countries.
A lethal cocktail of circumstances here is driving this process - the
violence and genocidal attacks on ordinary people across the country; the
economic collapse that is making it impossible to live on a salary even if
you have a job; and the almost complete absence of basic foods, even if you
can afford them. I would say that right now the majority of those who live
inside Zimbabwe have no choice but to consider flight - and South Africa
will be the preferred destination.
This forced migration could become the largest mass movement of people in
recent African history and all the signs are there that it is under way.
Such a migration would tip South Africa into instability and chaos as the
squatter camps resist the influx. Pictures of the South African police
firing bullets and tear gas into crowds would appear on television screens
across the globe. Investors and financial managers all over the world would
downgrade South Africa as an investment destination and FIFA might pull the
soccer World Cup. An exaggerated view, I do not think so anymore!
Inside the country we simply cannot take much more punishment and any
further deterioration in the economic and humanitarian situation will create
conditions from which it will take years to recover. Like an outbreak of
armed resistance, the economic collapse that is now underway will make
things that much worse very quickly - we have weeks not months left in this
respect. Right now in Bulawayo we have 42 000 tonnes of food aid sitting in
sealed warehouses - it cannot be released because the donors will not allow
Zanu PF to control its distribution on a political basis. Tell me if that is
not a crime against humanity.
The US and the UK were quite right in their analysis of the crisis in
Zimbabwe as a threat to regional stability and peace. Mbeki knows that and
partly because of his own actions, he now has to face the Zimbabwe crisis
without western allies at his back. He is left with SADC and the AU.
That is where the Zimbabwe crisis belongs and the biggest test of the Mbeki
Presidency is about to take place. Does African leadership have what it
takes to make the tough decisions that time and history and geography places
on their shoulders. If they do have what it takes (and all the signs are
there that they do), then does Mbeki have the political courage to use his
power as President of South Africa and a key player in the SADC region, to
enforce compliance across the Limpopo? There is no confidence that he will
do so, but we may yet be in for a surprise.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 15th July 2008
|