Mugabe 'knows results'

2008-04-16 10:51

Pieter du Toit and Erika Gibson

Johannesburg - The ANC believes President Robert Mugabe knows exactly what the election results are and have said the delay in making them public is a "miscarriage of justice" and a denial of the wishes of Zimbabwe's voters.

The statement made on Tuesday by ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe, as well as observations by ANC Treasurer General Mathews Phosa, widened the gap between the party and President Thabo Mbeki, despite denials that this was happening.

Minister of Provincial and Local Government and member of Mbeki's mediation team in Zimbabwe Sydney Mufamadi said, in defence of Mbeki's statement that there was not a crisis in Zimbabwe, that the President had been "quoted out of context".

He said that when Mbeki had made the much-criticised statement over the weekend, there had not yet been any finality over the MDC's application to the Zimbabwean High Court to make the results public.

Clear crisis

Mufamadi explained that Mbeki had meant that a crisis only emerged when all means by which to resolve a situation had been exhausted.

"A crisis is a situation that emerges when there are no further instruments established by law by which to resolve it. There are adequate laws (in Zimbabwe) by which to solve the current situation."

Phosa said on Tuesday that it was clear that there was a crisis in Zimbabwe and that the weekend's meeting of the heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had been "useless".

"We can't ignore what is happening on our borders. The numerous respected leaders of our country, region and continent must urgently play a constructive role in the mediation process to ensure that we respect the choices of the voters," Phosa said.

He warned that that which was happening in one's neighbouring country, such as a lack of peace and stability, could easily spill over and that it should be avoided at all costs.

"If the election results are available, as some parties and observers claim, then they must be made public. We as a region cannot afford that the short-term damage becomes a long-term problem.

Run-off election premature

The ANC's National Working Committee (NWC) said on Tuesday that the Zimbabwean electoral commission was forfeiting credibility and that the results should be made public without delay.

In an apparent attempt to prevent speculation over differences between Mbeki's and the ANC's positions on Zimbabwe the NWC added that it accepted that Mbeki had to remain "neutral" in his role as mediator.

Mantashe said that it was completely premature for Zimbabwe's government to ask for a run-off election before the results had even been made public.

"By asking for that kind of election you're sending out the message that you know what the results are but don't want to publicise them. What it comes down to is that the voters' wishes are being disregarded. What's happening there is unacceptable," Mantashe said.

Contrary to the ANC's instructions to deployed cadres in the government to carry out ANC decisions regarding the Scorpions (abolition), Mantashe said that the ANC would not try to influence the Government over its policy concerning Zimbabwe.

- Beeld