SA blames UK for Zimbabwe crisis Chris McGreal
13 August 2007 07:37 DisplayDCAd('220x240','1','');
South Africa has blamed Britain for the deepening crisis in Zimbabwe by
accusing the United Kingdom of leading a campaign to "strangle" the beleaguered
African state's economy and saying it has a "death wish" against a negotiated
settlement that might leave Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF in power.
According to a South African government document circulating among diplomats
ahead of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit this week,
President Thabo Mbeki will paint an optimistic picture of his efforts to broker
an agreement between Mugabe and the Zimbabwean opposition.
But the document, a draft of the report the South African president is expected
to present at the meeting, says Britain remains a significant obstacle by
spearheading sanctions that Mugabe blames for his country's economic collapse.
"The most worrisome thing is that the UK continues to deny its role as the
principal protagonist in the Zimbabwean issue and is persisting with its
activities to isolate Zimbabwe," the report says.
"None of the Western countries that have imposed the sanctions that are
strangling Zimbabwe's economy have shown any willingness to lift them."
Britain pressed the European Union to impose "targeted sanctions" against
Zimbabwe's leadership by refusing visas, freezing bank accounts and other
measures that the UK said were aimed at individuals without harming Zimbabweans.
But Mugabe has blamed what he describes as the "illegal sanctions" for the
economic collapse and said his government is a victim of British imperialism
because it seized white-owned farms for redistribution to poor black
Zimbabweans.
His opponents say the crisis is the result of a brutal strategy to hold on to
power by violently suppressing the opposition, rigging elections and trying to
buy support by seizing the farms. This last move devastated the tobacco export
industry that provided Zimbabwe with much of its foreign earnings.
The wholesale printing of money helped fuel inflation now estimated to be
running at about 20 000%. Shops are virtually empty of basic foodstuffs.
Some African leaders have been willing to criticise Mugabe, although a Zambian
opposition leader, Michael Sata, urged the region's leaders to "join hands and
launch strong protests against attempts by the west to recolonise Zimbabwe".
The South African report describes the crisis as "Zimbabwe's bilateral dispute
with Britain". However, the focus of Mbeki's efforts is to reach an agreement
between Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change ahead of
elections next year.
Mbeki has not had a smooth ride. Mugabe's two negotiators, both Cabinet
ministers, failed to arrive for talks in South Africa last month. The
ministers, Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa, finally arrived in Pretoria a
week ago.
The document says some issues, including constitutional reforms, have been
"worked out". "There are strong indications that the two sides are sliding
towards an agreement," it says.
But MDC sources say that agreement is not near and they suspect that Mr Mugabe
is playing for time until the end of the year when the focus will shift to the
presidential election campaign. Meanwhile, the economic crisis is expected to
deepen. More than three million Zimbabweans have left the country in search of
work.
'Economic migrants'
Meanwhile, South Africa rejected calls on Sunday to set up a refugee camp for
the thousands of hungry Zimbabweans who daily flock into the country, saying
that to do so would violate United Nations regulations.
"South Africa is a signatory to many UN conventions. We cannot impose a refugee
status on people who do not want to be refugees. We will be doing that if we
set up a refugee camp... and that will be against the UN regulation," Home
Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nquakula said in a televised interview.
She described most Zimbabweans who illegally enter the country as "economic
migrants" who had no intention of settling but wanted only to buy food.
Media estimates suggest between 3 000 and 5 000 Zimbabweans cross the border
into South Africa every day.
"These are people who still want to go back to their country. They are not
asylum seekers... Asylum seekers do not jump borders, they know where to go to
seek asylum. People who jump borders are economic migrants," the minister said.
She was reacting to a call by another contributor to the television programme,
Lounies Bosman, president of a South African agricultural body, Agric-SA, that
a camp should be set up with the United Nations at the border.
Mapisa-Nquakula said the focus of the South African government and of the
regional bloc SADC should be to tackle the root causes of Zimbabwe's problems.
A SADC summit is taking place this week in the Zambian capital Lusaka and
Zimbabwe is top on its agenda.
She slammed the media for "peddling incorrect" figures about the number of
Zimbabweans crossing the border, saying it was creating a "state of panic".
"I believe that we must defuse the myth that millions of Zimbabweans are in
South Africa," she said. - Guardian Unlimited, Sapa-AFP
---------------------------------
Ask a question on any topic and get answers from real people. Go to Yahoo!
Answers. _______________________________________________
Ugandanet mailing list
[email protected]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/ugandanet
% UGANDANET is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------
