South Africa Abandons Soft Stance On Zimbabwe

South Africa yesterday for the first time publicly criticised the illegal occupation of white-owned farms by self-styled veterans of Zimbabwe's 1970s independence war and their attacks on private companies and foreign aid organisations ostensibly on behalf of discontented workers. In the clearest sign yet of a shift by Pretoria from its policy of quiet diplomacy on Harare, Jeremiah Ndou, South Africa's High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, said in a statement that his country strongly condemned the current wave of company invasions.