Share & more
On the international front, former South African President Nelson Mandela launched a barely disguised, scathing attack on Mugabe.
In remarks widely reported at the weekend, Mandela labelled Mugabe a tyrant who had held power for too long. Speaking in Johannesburg on Saturday, Mandela did not directly name Mugabe who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980. But he said: “Everybody here knows who I am talking about.”
He said some African leaders had liberated their countries, but had then overstayed their welcome. “They want to die in power because they have committed crimes. The tyrant of the day can be destroyed by you and I,” he said. He said leaders like Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Pompeii, and Adolf Hitler had also been brought down by the ordinary masses.
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