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Civil society organisations in Southern Africa have called on the region's leaders to stop ignoring Zimbabwe's political and economic crisis, saying the 'business as usual' approach is not working and the region is suffering because of it.
The nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) want to force the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State meeting to put Zimbabwe on the agenda. In a communiqué submitted to the foreign ministers of the 14-member grouping, NGOs expressed disappointment that successive summits had consistently ignored Zimbabwe's plight, despite growing evidence of its regional impact.
The two-day SADC meeting in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, began on Thursday. The agenda includes items such as the formation of a regional common market, the re-admission to the body of the Republic of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, HIV/AIDS, avian flu and the 2010 World Cup.
No talks on Zimbabwe's economic meltdown or its repressive security laws were scheduled, although SADC secretary Salomao Tomaz said the issue of political stability was a priority.
Once described as the region's breadbasket, unemployment has surpassed 70 percent and inflation is hovering at 1,000 percent. It has been estimated that around three million Zimbabweans have crossed into South Africa alone, many illegally, in search of employment.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, which comprises about 50 civic organisations, urged the SADC to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation, and said regional leaders could not continue to provide political support for President Robert Mugabe's excesses, as the ruling Zanu-PF government had flouted SADC protocols, to which it was a signatory.
"The constitutional, legislative and electoral framework in Zimbabwe remains unchanged. Repressive security and press laws and other pieces of legislation, prejudicial to freedom of speech, the press, movement and association, remain on the statute books without amendment," the coalition said in a statement.
According to Daniel Molokela, a Zimbabwean lawyer, human rights activist and chairperson of Zimbabwe Civil Society Forum, "The only thing SADC leaders are likely to do is to adopt Mugabe's choice of [former Tanzanian president Benjamin] Mkapa as mediator between Zimbabwe and Britain. This is in line with their long-standing policy of appeasement [of Mugabe]."
He said Zimbabwe's crisis was the result of internal governance, and Mkapa's focus should be on an exit strategy for Mugabe. The proposed bilateral talks with the British government would not address the country's real problems.
"SADC leaders can see the effects of the crisis in growing illegal immigration to their countries, but they are afraid of telling Mugabe to deal with it or go. They will continue to display a form of solidarity and praise him - as they have done before - but there is no doubt that many of them are worried about the Zimbabwe meltdown and its effects," Molokela said.
SICK MAN OF SADC
A senior regional development planner at SADC's Gaborone regional headquarters, who declined to be named, said Zimbabwe's "contagion effects" could not be ignored any more, as they were slowing down regional growth and integration. "Zimbabwe is the sick man of SADC, the sore thumb in this region."
The failure to tackle the Zimbabwe crisis was delaying key infrastructural and economic development projects in the region. He cited the stalling of three new border posts with Botswana and the construction of the Kazungula Bridge across the Zambezi River to link Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as examples; agriculturally, the whole region was now in a permanent state of alert to combat Zimbabwe's regular livestock epidemics.
On the fiscal front, all SADC member states except Zimbabwe had tightened their monetary policies and reduced inflation rates to single digits. "Zimbabwe is the only one going in the opposite direction. In fact, the effects of its high inflation on the region are such that the regional average shot to 23 percent, against a possible 10.8 percent if the country's high figures were not factored in. We can as well abandon the regional search for a common currency as long as inflation remains abnormal in one member state."
Eddie Cross, a policy adviser to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, reportedly told Cape Town's press club on Thursday that the Zimbabwean economy had taken on the dubious mantle of being the world's most indebted country: it owed US$5.5bn and $2.2bn in arrear payments, equivalent to two years of the country's gross domestic product. He said Zimbabwe's crisis had slowed South Africa's growth rate by 2 percent.
Some SADC officials have indicated that although Zimbabwe is not on the heads of state agenda, it may arise in closed-door sessions.
Zimbabwe's justice, legal and parliamentary affairs minister, Patrick Chinamasa, told IRIN that the civil society groups in Maseru were "nothing but running dogs - agents of western imperialism that are working to bring down the government".
"The so-called petitions and concerns are part of the Western agenda of regime change - our enemies sponsor them to rubbish the name of this country whenever they can," he said. "The government is concerned that some of our neighbours play host to anti-Zimbabwe organisations, and even allow them to go about disturbing the peace and important proceedings for mean gains. There is no crisis in Zimbabwe and, therefore, nothing to petition or call the region to meet about. SADC knows our position."
The nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) want to force the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State meeting to put Zimbabwe on the agenda. In a communiqué submitted to the foreign ministers of the 14-member grouping, NGOs expressed disappointment that successive summits had consistently ignored Zimbabwe's plight, despite growing evidence of its regional impact.
The two-day SADC meeting in Lesotho's capital, Maseru, began on Thursday. The agenda includes items such as the formation of a regional common market, the re-admission to the body of the Republic of Seychelles, an Indian Ocean archipelago, HIV/AIDS, avian flu and the 2010 World Cup.
No talks on Zimbabwe's economic meltdown or its repressive security laws were scheduled, although SADC secretary Salomao Tomaz said the issue of political stability was a priority.
Once described as the region's breadbasket, unemployment has surpassed 70 percent and inflation is hovering at 1,000 percent. It has been estimated that around three million Zimbabweans have crossed into South Africa alone, many illegally, in search of employment.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, which comprises about 50 civic organisations, urged the SADC to promote political dialogue and national reconciliation, and said regional leaders could not continue to provide political support for President Robert Mugabe's excesses, as the ruling Zanu-PF government had flouted SADC protocols, to which it was a signatory.
"The constitutional, legislative and electoral framework in Zimbabwe remains unchanged. Repressive security and press laws and other pieces of legislation, prejudicial to freedom of speech, the press, movement and association, remain on the statute books without amendment," the coalition said in a statement.
According to Daniel Molokela, a Zimbabwean lawyer, human rights activist and chairperson of Zimbabwe Civil Society Forum, "The only thing SADC leaders are likely to do is to adopt Mugabe's choice of [former Tanzanian president Benjamin] Mkapa as mediator between Zimbabwe and Britain. This is in line with their long-standing policy of appeasement [of Mugabe]."
He said Zimbabwe's crisis was the result of internal governance, and Mkapa's focus should be on an exit strategy for Mugabe. The proposed bilateral talks with the British government would not address the country's real problems.
"SADC leaders can see the effects of the crisis in growing illegal immigration to their countries, but they are afraid of telling Mugabe to deal with it or go. They will continue to display a form of solidarity and praise him - as they have done before - but there is no doubt that many of them are worried about the Zimbabwe meltdown and its effects," Molokela said.
SICK MAN OF SADC
A senior regional development planner at SADC's Gaborone regional headquarters, who declined to be named, said Zimbabwe's "contagion effects" could not be ignored any more, as they were slowing down regional growth and integration. "Zimbabwe is the sick man of SADC, the sore thumb in this region."
The failure to tackle the Zimbabwe crisis was delaying key infrastructural and economic development projects in the region. He cited the stalling of three new border posts with Botswana and the construction of the Kazungula Bridge across the Zambezi River to link Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as examples; agriculturally, the whole region was now in a permanent state of alert to combat Zimbabwe's regular livestock epidemics.
On the fiscal front, all SADC member states except Zimbabwe had tightened their monetary policies and reduced inflation rates to single digits. "Zimbabwe is the only one going in the opposite direction. In fact, the effects of its high inflation on the region are such that the regional average shot to 23 percent, against a possible 10.8 percent if the country's high figures were not factored in. We can as well abandon the regional search for a common currency as long as inflation remains abnormal in one member state."
Eddie Cross, a policy adviser to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party, reportedly told Cape Town's press club on Thursday that the Zimbabwean economy had taken on the dubious mantle of being the world's most indebted country: it owed US$5.5bn and $2.2bn in arrear payments, equivalent to two years of the country's gross domestic product. He said Zimbabwe's crisis had slowed South Africa's growth rate by 2 percent.
Some SADC officials have indicated that although Zimbabwe is not on the heads of state agenda, it may arise in closed-door sessions.
Zimbabwe's justice, legal and parliamentary affairs minister, Patrick Chinamasa, told IRIN that the civil society groups in Maseru were "nothing but running dogs - agents of western imperialism that are working to bring down the government".
"The so-called petitions and concerns are part of the Western agenda of regime change - our enemies sponsor them to rubbish the name of this country whenever they can," he said. "The government is concerned that some of our neighbours play host to anti-Zimbabwe organisations, and even allow them to go about disturbing the peace and important proceedings for mean gains. There is no crisis in Zimbabwe and, therefore, nothing to petition or call the region to meet about. SADC knows our position."
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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