Military junta 'in charge of Zim'
2008-07-10 14:25
Johannesburg - The military, not President Robert Mugabe, is in charge of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum says.
Spokesperson Sipho Theys said a military junta had taken over Zimbabwe with militia controlling parts of the country.
"A militia junta rules Zimbabwe. Rural bases of soldiers are living off rural communities and humanitarian aid," Theys told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
He said Mugabe was no longer the problem as he had lost charge.
Meanwhile, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition spokesperson McDonald Lewanika said informal curfews had been put in place in Zimbabwe.
Lewanika, who arrived from Harare on Thursday, said the humanitarian crisis in that country had escalated.
"It feels like the election period. Police are warning people to be in doors by 19:00 or they would be at risk for their lives."
The Zimbabwe Solidarity Forum was a network movement of South African civil society organisations which included youth, women, labour and faith-based groups.
Lewanika reported that scores of internally displaced people were turning up at embassies in Zimbabwe on a daily basis, looking for protection.
"Embassies are swamped by people on a daily basis as the violence on ordinary people is unleashed," he said.
Lewanika said the civil society favoured a transitional authority to be put in place to govern the country for 18 months. This authority should not consist of political parties but be made up of various independent people.
- SAPA