Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 28th October 2006

o her for support for the terrible plight of Zimbabwean women, saying, for instance, that they had no sanitary towels.
They were evicted from the meeting together with other activists. Dr Zuma’s refusal to comment on the Zimbabwean situation in spite of taunts “Tell us what you think of Zimbabwe?” undermined the credibility of South Africa’s new membership of the UN Security Council. She went so far as to say that Zimbabweans in Britain had no right to speak about the situation in Zimbabwe – apparently forgetting that she herself had spent part of the apartheid era in exile here.
Her hypocrisy did not pass unnoticed by the audience at the London School of Economics. While she scuttled away through the back door, many who’d come to hear what South Africa had to say stayed behind at the protest outside to see what Zimbabwean exiles had to say. Everyone at the Vigil was thrilled by the success of the Wednesday protest.
We were pleased to have with us today young Tatenda Tsikire whose mother is to be released from prison just before Christmas. In the Vigil diary of 30th September, we wrote that she had been imprisoned for working with bogus papers and appealed to the British government to allow asylum seekers to work. It was a joy to watch Tatenda dancing as previously he has been so withdrawn. Congratulations to Obey – we have a new Vigil baby, his daughter, Florence. – For this week’s Vigil pictures: http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR THE RECORD: 69 signed the register. FOR YOUR DIARY: Monday, 6th November, 7.30 pm, Central London Zimbabwe Forum. Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John Adam Street, London WC2