The news of opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai's acquittal on the charge of treason two weeks ago has been hailed as a step forward in the quagmire that is Zimbabwean politics. It was certainly welcome relief in what is otherwise a political terrain of sustained demoralisation. The case itself was based on suspect evidence, and a rebarbative state witness who became an embarrassment even to the state itself.

Information minister Jonathan Moyo proclaimed that the judgement "confounds, exposes and shames those merchants of lies and falsehoods...always given to maligning and denigrating Zimbabwe as undemocratic and without an independent judiciary".

It would be a mistake, however, to regard this judgement as a reversal of the politics of repression that characterises Zimbabwe.

Firstly, the judgement does not detract from the immense damage that has been inflicted on the judiciary by the executive since 2000. The combination of highly politicised judicial appointments at the highest levels, executive disregard of court rulings and the continuous use of the judiciary and police to undermine the opposition and the civic movement have played a decisive role in shaping the current political terrain.

Secondly, the state has shown little additional indication that it is willing to open up political space in the country. The major pillars of repressive legislation, namely the severe controls on information dissemination and freedom of association, remain in place. Recently both the ministers of Information and Legal Affairs have reiterated the government's refusal to allow the opposition access to the public media on the basis that the MDC is not a loyal opposition.

This characterisation of the MDC is consistent with the declaration that the 2005 general election will be an "anti-Blair" election. The implications of such a discursive assault are that the MDC is not a national entity and therefore not entitled to speak on national issues. The ruling party has set the parameters of national legitimacy and in so doing has unilaterally delineated the boundaries of what is acceptable in the political arena.

A further message of such state censure is that those parties that fall outside such a selective definition of the "national" must accept to be dealt with by any means necessary. This language of selective citizenship has marked the authoritarian nationalism of the ruling party and there are indications of its infectiousness in other countries in the region.

In the light of such prevailing conditions it is necessary to read the positive judgement in the case of Tsvangirai extremely cautiously.

It is now clear that the Mugabe regime needs a "legitimate" outcome from the 2005 election, and to that purpose has instituted some minimal election reforms that it argues are in accordance with the Mauritius guidelines on minimal standards. An international acceptance of the 2005 election would serve as a launching pad for the ruling party's return to the international community.

Thus far President Robert Mugabe has retained the support of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) and the African Union and there is little to assume that such support will not remain in place until next year.

Certainly there is a general position in the region that the 2005 election could serve as the means to resolve the Zimbabwean crisis, even if such a resolution takes place at the level of form rather than substantive content. South African President Thabo Mbeki appears to favour such a denouement for his policy of quiet diplomacy.

Thus Sadc will certainly be pushing the MDC to take part in next year's election, and there are indications that sections of the European Union favour such a course as well, if only to get Zimbabwe off the international agenda.

The purported election reforms, combined with the favourable court judgement of the opposition leader, will thus be used as evidence of goodwill from the ruling party, and a strong push for the opposition to enter the 2005 electoral race.

In the current political environment, in which so much damage has been done to the political process, a decision by the opposition to oblige such pressures will more than likely lead to a major defeat of the MDC.

In the event of such an outcome the Sadc minimum standards will have been used to ratify an authoritarian regime in the name of the interests of Zimbabwe and the region, and Mbeki will have walked the tightrope of maintaining African legitimacy while remaining the "pointman" of the West. The major victim of such a process will be the struggles for democratisation not only in Zimbabwe but in the region.

* Brian Raftopoulos is associate professor of development studies, IDS, University of Zimbabwe. This article first appeared in the Zimbabwe Independent and is reprinted with permission of the author. Please send comments to

“There is simply no law and order in Zimbabwe," declared Cosatu vice president Violet Seboni upon her arrival back in Johannesburg after the deportation of her 13 strong delegation from Zimbabwe by the Mugabe government. "A nasty, horrible experience," was how Seboni summed up her ordeal at the hands of the Mugabe government. The consolation for her is that her mind has been cleared now: "There is no respect for labour rights in that country, no respect for human rights and the rule of law," she said.

Police arrested 34 supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party attending a meeting here, in what the opposition party said was yet more evidence of continued harassment of its members by state security agents. Officials of the opposition party said heavily armed police stormed a community hall in Mpopoma constituency here and force-marched the MDC members who were meeting there to West Commonage police station nearby.

They were fêted by Robert Mugabe as patriots and pioneers in a radical redistribution of land to redress colonial injustice. But the war veterans who ousted white farmers have now themselves been invaded. Last month, police units fanned across Trelawney, a rural district outside the capital, Harare, and erased settlements with matches and mallets. "Now we are in the position the white farmer was. The authorities used us," Richard Mapuringa (33) said last week, sifting through the ruins of his house.

The Zimbabwean government, battling with a strike action by teachers, has resorted to hiring retired educators to man classrooms and invigilate ongoing examinations. "We have not yet been told how much we will be paid for our services during the invigilation of examinations, but I think it would be something worthwhile. I have not been employed since my graduation in 2002 and I think this is a grand chance for me to get a few [Zim] dollars for myself, as you know how difficult life is these days," a job hopeful, Malvern Mavhaire, told IRIN.

Zimbabwe National Students Union president Philani Zamchiya was battling for his life on Oct. 18th at Harare's Avenues Clinic after he was kidnapped and severely attacked last Thursday by suspected members of the government's secret service agents. The secret service agents accused Zamchiya of mobilising students and youths to demonstrate at the High Court against President Robert Mugabe during delivery of judgment in opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's treason case that was taking place the following day.

Amnesty International today welcomes the acquittal of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, on charges of treason. Amnesty International believes that the trial of Mr. Tsvangirai was a politically-motivated prosecution in keeping with a wider pattern of arrest and trial on spurious charges as a form of harassment of the political opposition in Zimbabwe.

The government will not allow the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) access to the public media ahead of the parliamentary elections slated for March 2005. The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa told Parliament during the 13 October question and answer session that the government was not so "stupid" as to allow the MDC access to the state-controlled media. He said doing so would enable the opposition party to disseminate British and American propaganda to "effect an illegal regime change against a popularly-elected government."

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) Amendment Bill, which is designed to tighten the controversial media law, was tabled in Parliament on 5 October 2004. Among its provisions, the bill seeks to amend certain sections of the AIPPA for purposes of imposing a penalty for journalists caught practicing without a licence. The bill has been referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) and it has 26 days to determine the constitutionality of the bill and present a report on its findings to Parliament.

Policies and practices of the Government of Zimbabwe are undermining peoples' access to food, and violating Zimbabwe's obligations under international human rights law, a new report released by Amnesty International on the eve of World Food Day concluded. The report, "Zimbabwe: Power and Hunger, Violations of the Right to Food", examines a number of government policies and how their implementation has resulted in the violation of basic rights. These include the controversial "fast track land reform programme", and the operations of the government-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

The International Cricket Council on Sunday said a probe had found no evidence of racism in Zimbabwe's cricket. Cricket in Zimbabwe is in turmoil following a strike by 15 white players led by former captain Heath Streak who alleged racism in Zimbabwe cricket in April. The Zimbabwe Cricket Union refuted the allegations, sacked the rebel players and has subsequently been forced to field a weak and inexperienced side under young captain Tatenda Taibu.

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has claimed victory in a weekend by-election after the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) failed to field candidates for the local poll. ZANU-PF retained the Masvingo district parliamentary seat in southern Zimbabwe, which fell vacant after the death last month of 69-year-old Eddison Zvobgo, a founding member of ZANU-PF. The ruling party now holds 98 of 150 seats in parliament, two short of the two-thirds majority that would allow it to amend the constitution.

Zimbabwean NGOs have adopted a code of ethics ahead of a controversial new law threatening them with closure for maladministration and political activism. The code, which deals with accountability, transparency and good governance, was adopted at a three-day exhibition last week in the capital, Harare, which showcased the work of the NGO sector in health and social service delivery.

Hundreds of families evicted last month from a farm outside the Zimbabwean capital Harare, occupied under the land reform programme in 2000, have been granted a reprieve. High Court Judge Rita Makarau ruled in favour of Percy Masendu and 429 other settlers who had filed an urgent court application to have their eviction nullified. Brian Zindi, one of those returning to the farm, said although they were excited by the court order, the evictions had traumatised them and depleted their resources.

Zimbabwe's request for funding from the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria has again been rejected. Last week Zimbabwe appealed the Fund's earlier rejection of its HIV/AIDS and TB grant proposals and was also rejected. However, Mary Sandasi, the director of a local HIV/AIDS group, Women and AIDS Support Network, said she believed the Global Fund was "mixing issues" and had "a hidden agenda".

Zimbabwe's tiny San community has laid the blame for their ongoing economic hardships squarely on the government, which they accuse of discrimination and neglect. While the San argue that they are a disadvantaged people in need of humanitarian support in order to escape poverty, some neighbouring villagers look down on them - accusing them of alcoholism and a refusal to embrace "modernisation".

Zimbabwe has set up an ambitious Zim $200 billion (about US $35.6 million) loan facility to breathe life into the country's struggling businesses. The Zimbabwe Development Bank (ZDB) and the Small Enterprises Development Corporation (SEDCO) have been appointed to handle and disburse the funds, which are expected to target companies facing economic hardship, particularly those close to bankruptcy or operating below capacity.

A two-day conference on 'Minimum Standards for Elections in Zimbabwe was held in Pretoria on 4-5 October 2004 to determine how the South African community can assist Zimbabwe in building a solid consensus on minimum election standards. Unfortunately, the Zimbabwean government and Zanu-PF decided not to participate in this conference and Mugabe declared that Zimbabwe is not bound by the recently agreed Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) standards and norms on free and fair elections.

For all their differences, one thing Zimbabwe and South Africa have in common is that land issues, dating back to colonial times and white settler government, are highly emotive, evoking difficult questions of history, race, politics, economic opportunity and international diplomacy. Blood and Soil offers a detailed analysis of the different challenges of land reform in both Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Vincent Hogg, former chief executive of the Zimbabwe Cricket Union will inform the ICC's investigators this week about several incidents involving black ZCU directors. These were the main reasons he left the job two months ago after two and a half years, he said. "For instance one director told me that whites have no right to be in the country at all, and that was during a formal meeting. Some of the directors were totally out of order in this regard and it was extremely upsetting to have to listen to that sort of racist language."