No date yet for Mbeki-Mugabe meeting

South African President Thabo Mbeki and his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe have yet to set a date for a proposed summit on the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, following discussions between some of their ministers in Pretoria on Sunday and Monday. A source told IRIN on Tuesday that the talks had been “open but tense”, and that while several issues were discussed, no conclusions were reached. He said it appeared as though the South Africans were concerned about the limited mandate Zimbabwe’s ministers seemed to have to conclude agreements. However, at the same time, the meeting was not intended to find immediate solutions to Zimbabwe’s crisis, he added. He also said that while Mbeki faced domestic pressure to respond to events in Zimbabwe, the South African government could not, realistically, do too much. All the South Africans could do, he said, was encourage Zimbabwe to adopt and implement economic policies and programmes that would lead to growth. It could not operate independently of the regional bloc SADC or intervene in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs, he said. The ministerial meeting took place as Zimbabwe’s economy deteriorated further and fuel shortages began to affect emergency services. Details of the meeting were still sketchy on Tuesday, but SASOL spokesperson Alfonso Niemand told IRIN that the Zimbabwean delegation wanted SASOL to resume providing fuel directly to NOCZIM, Zimbabwe’s national oil company. South African producer SASOL has been providing fuel to Zimbabwe intermittently, and through third parties, because NOCZIM has not been able to meet its payment obligations. Niemand said there was still “lots of talking” to do before a decision could be taken to supply Zimbabwe with fuel. “It must be a pure and clean commercial deal based on standard international trading principles,” he said. Zimbabwe’s delegation included Finance Minister Simba Makoni, Industry and International Trade Minister Nkosana Moyo, Lands Minister Joseph Made, Mines and Energy Minister Sydney Sekeramayi, and other senior officials. South Africa’s delegation included Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, other senior government officials and a delegation from SASOL.