SA Zim mission 'a farce'

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Cape Town - Patricia de Lille's Independent Democrats party (ID) has withdrawn from the multi-party South African Parliamentary observer mission to monitor the March 31 election in Zimbabwe.

In a statement released by Member of Parliament Vincent Gore, ID member of the team - which is headed by African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe - he said his party believed that the "entire observer mission is a farce and a waste of taxpayers' money".

"It is quite clear that the upcoming Zimbabwean elections are not going to be free and fair, and that the mission is being used as a vehicle to rubberstamp the ruling party's (ANC's) various statements already made by government that the elections will be free and fair."

Plagued by inefficiency Gore said since their arrival in Harare, the mission had been plagued by inefficiency, bad planning "and wasted time".

Since Monday, the mission has met with only four organisations - the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission, the Electoral Supervisory Commission, the Zimbabwean Council of Churches and the Zimbabwean Crisis Coalition.

"To date, we have not met with any political parties, nor does there appear to be any plans for us to do so. Various attempts to meet with (President Robert Mugabe's ruling) Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have been delayed, and it is now clear that the MDC will not meet with any South African Government observer mission.

"With Members of Parliament being deployed to various provinces it will be almost impossible for the South African parliamentary mission, as a group, to meet with any political party before the elections on March 31," he said.

"The decision to withdraw from the observer mission was finally prompted by a complete lack of activity and work on Thursday March 17. The agreed-upon plan was to meet for a briefing session at the Sheraton hotel in Harare, at 09:00 by all members of the mission, before being dispatched in 10 groups to various provinces to observe the elections.

"We were informed by a staff member to return to our hotel rooms and wait for a phone call. All Members of Parliament spent the rest of the day waiting for such a phone call which never happened. At a proposed budget of approximately two million rand, the entire day cost for South African taxpayers is over R100 000.

"With the meetings held with the various governmental and civil society organisations, the Independent Democrats believes that the upcoming Zimbabwean elections will not be free and fair and therefore will not be a true reflection of the will of the people of Zimbabwe.

"Despite drops in levels of violence within the country, the pervasive levels of violence over the past number of years and the ever present threats of violence within the country, as well as repressive legislation create an atmosphere in which opposition political parties are not allowed to campaign openly and freely, and voters are not able to express their will without intimidation and violence.

- I-Net Bridge (News24)