SA 'defending situation in Zim'

2008-07-02 14:41

Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance on Tuesday accused the government of complicity in defence of the political situation in Zimbabwe.

"By turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Zimbabwe and the outcome of a farce election, South Africa is complicit in defending the political situation in Zimbabwe," DA spokesperson Tony Leon said.

South Africa still had a moral responsibility to ensure the will of the people of Zimbabwe prevailed.

Part of that solution was to exert strong pressure on those responsible for stealing the election from the people, by imposing travel bans and asset seizures on them, he said.

Blocking UN sanctions

It was telling that while President Thabo Mbeki maintained that Zimbabwe's political impasse could still be resolved, South Africa's ambassador to the United Nations Dumisani Khumalo, was doing everything to block any initiative that would make it clear to Mugabe that he could not continue down this path, he added.

Leon condemned the South African government's decision to block a UN resolution to impose sanctions on members of President Robert Mugabe's government.

Khumalo's comment that: "I don't think that this is the kind of pressure that will work" was disingenuous.

These sanctions would be instrumental in showing Mugabe that he no longer enjoyed the support of South Africa, Leon said.

"Mugabe's response so far to the 'softly softly' approach indicates that no amount of negotiation will convince him to hand over power to the legitimate victors of the election.

"Unless South Africa leads the campaign for tougher action against Mugabe, nothing will stop him from extending his illegal grip on power.

"In the meantime innocent Zimbabweans continue to suffer at the hands of an illegitimate and brutal regime," Leon said.

- SAPA