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Zim loan 'must be conditional'
04/08/2005 14:12 - (SA)
Cape Town - Opposition parties have strongly rejected the idea of any South African loan to Zimbabwe without any conditions attached.
"Now that cabinet has given an in principle 'thumbs up' for South African taxpayer's money to be given to Zimbabwe, it is up to the government to outline the specific conditions attached to the loan," Democratic Alliance foreign affairs spokesperson Douglas Gibson said on Thursday.
"This should be done without delay. Zimbabwe was deep in the red with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), owing it close on US$300m.
"The conditions attached to the loan had to be debated in parliament as a matter of urgency, and if there was any question about the loan proceeding within the next two weeks, parliament should be summoned urgently.
"There is also an important strategic imperative in publicly debating the conditions attached to the loan.
"While it remains highly unlikely that the (President Robert) Mugabe government will abide to any attached political conditions, it will certainly make it more difficult for his government to renege on these conditions if they are in the public domain," Gibson said.
African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe said it was "repulsive" that cabinet could decide in principle to give a loan to the Zimbabwean government without any conditions attached.
"The SA government may have assumed this position after hearing that President Robert Mugabe has been angered by the conditions attached to the loan.
'Scared of Mugabe'
"The South African government must tell us why they are so scared of Mugabe. When they have to confront him on the suffering he is causing to this own people, they refer to his destruction campaigns as an internal matter. This is both shocking and unacceptable.
"The ACDP supports every kind of humanitarian aid to the suffering people of Zimbabwe caused by the Mugabe regime and not aid to a ruthless and oppressive government that has destroyed homes and small businesses of people making an honest living," Meshoe said.
On Wednesday, cabinet confirmed South Africa's openness, in principle, to assist Zimbabwe, including providing a loan facility in relation to Zimbabwe's obligations to the IMF.
Briefing the media after cabinet's fortnightly meeting, government communications head Joel Netshitenzhe said government's approach on the issue was premised on the principle that such assistance should benefit the Zimbabwean people as a whole, "within the context of their programme of economic recovery and political normalisation".
Asked if any such assistance would come with conditions attached, Netshitenzhe said the South African government did not relate to other countries on the basis of conditions.
"We do not believe in behaving like big brother.
"As we have said, our approach in principle would be one based on the understanding that any such assistance should benefit all the people of Zimbabwe and that it should be sustainable and not result in the current difficulties recurring next year," he said.
- SAPA
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