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Zille: Endgame reached in Zim
13/07/2007 16:55 - (SA)
Cape Town - Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille has accused the government of again washing its hands of responsibility, and abetting Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's "survival programme".
Writing in her weekly newsletter on the DA website on Friday, Zille also urged increased international pressure on Mugabe.
There was now no doubt that the endgame had been reached in Zimbabwe.
"No doubt, except in the minds of the governments of both South Africa and that unhappy country," she said.
The task was to turn the endgame into a bold new beginning, as speedily and as intelligently as possible.
By any definition of a modern state - a functioning economy, effective public service, distinct civil society comprising media, courts and related institutions - Zimbabwe barely existed.
"The empty supermarket shelves and marauding militias we saw are final, unavoidable proof: the self-destructive policies set in motion seven years ago by President Robert Mugabe have destroyed the country."
According to long-time Mugabe critic Archbishop Pius Ncube, "Politics in Zimbabwe is all about Mugabe's survival".
As long ago as the mid-'80s, Mugabe masterminded the killing of thousands of opponents in Matabeleland, foreshadowing today's wanton destruction, Zille said.
As a result, the apocalypse - mass starvation and a headlong flight from the country - had arrived.
"How has our government reacted? After all, in his dealings with our northern neighbour President Mbeki has long echoed the famed 'special relationship' of Britain and the USA, maintaining economic links, staving off international criticism and maintaining warm fraternal ties with Zanu-PF," she said.
When the Southern African Development Community (SADC) tasked Mbeki last year with brokering talks between Mugabe and the opposition MDC, it was a covert admission that government's policy of "quiet diplomacy" had failed to set Zimbabwe on the right course.
Mugabe's contempt for the subsequent talks in Pretoria - which the South African tax-payer was funding - was confirmed this week, when Zanu-PF failed to appear.
Faced with this humiliating rejection of South Africa's mediation efforts, and the unfolding collapse which had seen South African nationals arrested for failing to reduce prices, Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma jetted off on a state visit to Cuba.
"Thus has Mbeki's government once more washed its hands of responsibility, and abetted Mugabe's survival programme," Zille said.
One way to confirm Mugabe's pariah status was to bar him from international gatherings and so embolden his associates to urge his resignation, she said.
Zille said: "What is critical is that Mugabe and his inner circle be forced to step down.
"The endgame is over; beginning anew will call for all our courage as well as our compassion."
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