SA prepared to observe in Zim
2008-02-18 17:36
Cape Town - South Africa was fully prepared to send election observers to Zimbabwe if asked, said foreign affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa on Monday.
"If South Africa is invited to take part, either in its own right or as part of the Southern African Development Community, it will not be found wanting," he said.
Earlier on Monday, a South African refugee NGO, Passop, urged the government to immediately send observers to Zimbabwe, which holds combined local, parliamentary and presidential elections on March 29.
Passop said that, as a result of the hardships they faced in their own country, there were more than three million immigrants from Zimbabwe in South Africa.
Possibility of reverse migration
"If there is faith in the transparency of the elections we will see a significant decrease in migration during the electoral period and even a possible reverse," said Passop.
There was a serious threat of electoral violence in Zimbabwe, and in previous elections there had been opposition allegations of vote-rigging.
"We urge the government to send observers immediately to closely examine this build-up to the elections."
European Union and Commonwealth observers alike denounced as flawed the last presidential election in 2002 that saw Robert Mugabe win a new term in office, while an African Union observer mission gave the vote a clean bill of health.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said his government would bar foreign observers who did not have "an open mind".
Some observers only served to "sow the seeds of confusion, disunity and ultimately bloodshed", he said.
EU monitors were barred from the last parliamentary elections in 2005, although teams from so-called "friendly countries" - mainly from Africa, but also including Russia - were allowed in.
- SAPA