Cosatu: Things not well in Zim

2004-10-28 16:22

Johannesburg - The short-lived Congress of South African Trade Unions' (Cosatu) fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe proved things are not well in Zimbabwe, the trade federation's deputy secretary general Bheki Mtshali-Mtshali said on Thursday.

He told a packed press conference at Cosatu's Braamfontein offices the mission was not there long enough and did not speak to enough people to determine whether free and fair elections were possible next year.

But he said that if held tomorrow, "it would be a very difficult issue" to comment on.

He and his colleagues were in agreement that the Zimbabwean government was not at present respecting the rule of law, human rights, or Zimbabwe's international obligations.

"The police invasion of the offices of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the arrest of the Cosatu mission and their ill treatment at the hands of the police, all proved beyond doubt that the government had no respect for human rights and the freedom of trade unions to function freely within the law."

- SAPA