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Zim crisis divides S Africa
04/05/2008 10:08 - (SA)
Dickson Jere
Johannesburg - The crisis in Zimbabwe has exposed divisions among Southern African nations who have traditionally supported each other against what they perceive as Western interference, analysts said.
The rifts in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), a 14-member regional bloc, are mainly between countries led by anti-colonial national liberation leaders and heads of state driven by a more pro-Western agenda.
Neo Simutanyi, political science lecturer at the University of Zambia, said there is a view among the old guard that Western nations want to replace leaders such as Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe with "imperialist agents."
"The situation has been worsened by the fact that young leaders are departing from the old culture of solidarity. They want to publicly condemn when things are going wrong in a neighbouring country," Simutanyi said.
Agents of the "West"
A generation of new African leaders, riding on the agenda of democracy and good governance, has emerged within SADC and wants to change the culture of solidarity between comrades-in-arms based on old friendships.
"The leaders pushing for a hardline stance on Zimbabwe are either third or fourth presidents of their respective countries. They have no strong links to the liberation struggle," said Kapembe Nsingo, chairperson of the African Renaissance Institute, a think tank in South Africa.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa - backed by his Botswanan counterpart Ian Khama and Tanzania's Jakaya Kikwete - are said to be the only vocal leaders within SADC who have demanded intervention in Zimbabwe.
Mwanawasa and Khama are third heads of states while Kikwete is the fourth.
"It is difficult for the old leaders to openly share information with the young breed of leaders because they don't trust them," Nsingo said.
Mwanawasa, chairperson of SADC, which was formed in 1980, is a vocal critic of the government in Harare and has come under constant attack by allies of Mugabe, who perceive him as an agent of neo-colonialism.
It is no wonder, analysts argue, that the SADC has failed to resolve the stand-off in Zimbabwe since the SADC-appointed mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, is biased towards liberation hero Mugabe.
"Mbeki is a 'scion' of liberation movements. There is no way he can dump President Mugabe at this critical moment," said Campion Mereki in an opinion piece published in Zimbabwe's state-run Herald newspaper.
Zimbabwe's main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai have often been accused by Zimbabwe officials of receiving financial support by outside powers to pursue an imperialist agenda.
The main leaders in SADC who have not condemned Mugabe publicly include Mbeki, Angolan President Eduardo dos Santos, Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba and Mozambican President Armando Guebuza.
All these heads of state share a common background of taking part in the liberation struggle and believe in offering each other solidarity in times of trouble, analysts said.
For the Herald commentator, the outside threat against the liberation struggle is not in doubt. "The West wants to wipe out all liberation movements in Africa, especially in southern Africa," he argued.
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