The Insider - Zuma no different from Mbeki

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The Insider - January 2010

Zuma no different from Mbeki

There was a lot of joy in Zimbabwe when Jacob Zuma was elected President of the African National Congress. There was even more joy when South African President Thabo Mbeki was forced to step down, just before his term had expired. Mbeki was accused of being too soft on Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe.

Zimbabweans believed that Zuma would be tougher on Mugabe than Mbeki because of his strong backing from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - one of the three partners in the ANC. Cosatu is more sympathetic to Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai, a former secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions.

But it is now increasingly becoming clear that Zuma is no different from Mbeki. South Africa's foreign policy, especially towards Zimbabwe, has not changed and it is not likely to change. It is basically that Zimbabweans should find a solution to their own problems.

This was clearly demonstrated last week when President Zuma told South African radio that Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should be flexible about demanding the removal of some officials to save the global political agreement from collapsing.

MDC-T insists that attorney-general Johannes Tomana and central bank governor Gideon Gono should go because their appointments were against the spirit of the GPA. Mugabe has vowed he will not reverse the appointments because they were constitutional.

"Are these issues so fundamental that we cannot move without them?" Zuma asked, adding: "Can we park them and proceed?"

Zuma's sentiments were a slap in the face of the MDC-T because they came barely a week after MDC-T policy coordinator, Eddie Cross, had called on Zuma to do to Mugabe what former South African Prime Minister John Vorster did to Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian Smith- force him to talk with black nationalists.

Zuma's stance was a clear indication that he supported Mbeki's policy of "quiet diplomacy". It quashed the notion that Mbeki's policy towards Mugabe and Zimbabwe was not shared by the ANC.

Former South African deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad put the record straight in a documentary made by the Southern African Liaison Office (SALO), entitled: South Africa's relations with Zimbabwe Part II- The impact of the Zimbabwe Transition and South Africa-post Mbeki.

"I don't think South African policy in general but more specifically vis-a-vis Zimbabwe can change," Pahad said. "We must always work on the basis that this was not a policy of Mbeki. This was a policy of the party implemented by the government.

"There might have been tactical differences between the party and the government but generally the policies and even the tactical approach was the correct one. I don't believe the new government will change that. We can't go on a learning experience for ever."

Pahad went a step further. "The Zimbabwean solution can only come from Zimbabweans," he said. "Any outside involvement must be to support what is the African, SADC solution."

Prime Minister Tsvangirai seems to agree. He says in the same documentary, Zimbabweans must not dwell on petty issues and forget their primary goal.

"We all know that for the last ten years government embarked on policies that destroyed the country. We all know that. We also know that within the past ten years my head was battered. I was arrested. I was charged with treason. But those are personal issues.

"At the end of the day there are people who died for this struggle. And I think that it would be a betrayal on my part and on those that are in the democratic movement always to remember that for us to reach where we are and having a transitional government, hundreds of people perished, thousands of homes were burnt in order to defend power.

"But we are already on the road of ensuring that that power is restored to the people. That's the objective. Let's not miss the focus and the goal. If we continue stammering around some of the side issues we might actually miss that what we need is a constitutional process. It's the restoration of the rule of law. It's the legislative agenda to make sure that these reforms take root and our economy is restored again to start responding to the needs of Zimbabwe."

Posted- 21 January 2010

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