SADC and Zimbabwe
The Congress of South African Trade Unions notes Zimbabwe President Mugabe’s verbal undertakings to yesterday’s SADC summit meeting in Blantyre that he agrees to hold free and fair Presidential elections, to allow independent observers and journalists and to investigate reports of political violence. COSATU is however sceptical about this pronouncement and disappointed that the SADC leaders appear to have accepted these promises at face value.
Press statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
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SADC and Zimbabwe
The Congress of South African Trade Unions notes Zimbabwe
President Mugabe’s verbal undertakings to yesterday’s SADC
summit meeting in Blantyre that he agrees to hold free and fair
Presidential elections, to allow independent observers and
journalists and to investigate reports of political violence.
COSATU is however sceptical about this pronouncement and
disappointed that the SADC leaders appear to have accepted
these promises at face value.
Mugabe has given such assurances before and then completely
ignored them. These latest promises will prove as worthless as
those he made at the Commonwealth summit meeting on 6
September 2001 in Abuja, Nigeria, and after previous SADC
meetings on 10-11 September and 10 December 2001.
Since then he has been pushing draconian anti-democratic laws
through Parliament, which:
· Prevent public protests which “cause disorder or
intolerance”;
· Ban “illegal” strikes;
· Restrict the rights of opposition activists;
· Outlaw publishing “false statements prejudicial to the
state or that incite public disorder, violence, affect
defence and economic interests of the country or
undermine confidence in security forces”;
· Ban “spreading malicious rumours or publishing
information likely to cause alarm and despondency”.
· Make it an offence to insult the President.
The election has been made subject to:
· Bans on voter education and election monitors;
· Rules on voter-registration which require votes to have
proof of residence and a bank account, which will
disenfranchise thousands of voters, especially the
unemployed and the young;
· Severe restrictions on opposition election meetings;
· An electoral commission staffed by hand-picked
loyalists, which will not be independent.
All these measures are designed to make it impossible for the
opposition to campaign openly and guarantee President
Mugabe’s own re-election. They not only contradict all his
earlier promises but are steps in the opposite direction.
Yet Malawi and SADC President, Bakili Muluzi, when asked
how Mugabe could be trusted, replied: "I raised that question
myself with him. He said, 'It will be done', and I take his word
for it." This is not the decisive action that millions of
Zimbabweans were hoping for from the regional heads of
government to force President Mugabe to restore democracy.
COSATU wants to see more than promises. Workers will not
be convinced he is serious about holding free and fair elections
unless immediate steps are taken to set up an independent
election commission, with independent observers, the
withdrawal of all the draconian laws currently being pushed
through Parliament and a halt to all attacks on political
opponents and journalists by ZANU-PF supporters.
The SADC leaders should have issued an ultimatum to Mugabe
to comply with these conditions or face expulsion from the
organisation. Their failure to take more decisive action to ensure
that Mugabe genuinely changes his policy is a serious blow to
the idea of an African Renaissance, the New Africa Initiative and
an African Union, all of which aim to transform the continent on
the basis of democracy, human rights and good governance.
If SADC cannot deliver free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,
their credibility will be brought in to question, especially since
they are silent about the lack of democracy in Swaziland. Unless
the SADC leaders face up to their responsibility, there can be no
prospect of democracy in Zimbabwe.
.
Patrick Craven and Moloto Mothapo
Acting COSATU Spokespersons
[email protected]
082-821-7456
339-4911
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Contact 082-821-7456 Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo for further comment.
Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for copies of our most recent press statements. For the full archive go to: http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/archive.html.
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COSATU takes steps to ensure that any attachments are free from viruses. You should, however, carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. COSATU accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by software viruses.
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