Manuel defends government stance

South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has defended his country’s “quiet diplomacy” approach to the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, saying there was little point in his government “shouting at its neighbour across the Limpopo”, the ‘Financial Times’ reported.

“I don’t think we should be asked to apologise for talking in the way that we do. We can’t afford an implosion in any one of our neighbouring states,” he said on Monday. South Africa has come under pressure to take a more forceful stance towards finding a resolution to instability and democratic infringements in Zimbabwe, the newspaper reported. But President Thabo Mbeki has pursued a policy of constructive engagement with Robert Mugabe, his Zimbabwean counterpart, and has allowed Zimbabwe to build up considerable arrears for the supply of its power with Eskom, the South African electricity utility, to alleviate its economic crisis.

In a presentation to investors in London, Manuel distanced his country’s land reform policies from the land invasions that have taken place in Zimbabwe and emphasised that South Africa could not be held accountable for its neighbour’s woes. He acknowledged that land issues in the two countries were similar but said that reform in South Africa would be undertaken under judicial supervision and within the ambit of the constitution. “In South Africa, the land issues may appear similar but the measures of treating them are qualitatively different,” he commented.