ZIM. Youth Group Threatens to Shutdown Embassy in South Africa

 The youth group wants the Ambassador to forward
the petition to government officials in Zimbabwe. They are demanding that
Zimbabweans in the diaspora be allowed to vote and an end to political
violence. If the authorities do not comply in 7 days, the group has
threatened to ferry their members to the embassy grounds and shut it down.     Khaya Moyo had refused to accept the petition during previous demonstrations
at his offices. But when the youth group threatened to occupy the embassy
grounds and shut it down, the Ambassador agreed to meet with them at the
Police station in Pretoria on Tuesday.                               ZRYM President Simon Mudekwa said Khaya Moyo did not attend the meeting
himself. A representative from the embassy met with the ZRYM Secretary
General John Vincent Chikwari and Gauteng police representatives. Chikwari
reported that there was a heated debate. He said in the end the police
officials told the embassy staff that if the Ambassador refused to accept
the petition on Thursday, then the police could not provide any security
when the youth came to occupy the embassy grounds.                                 Mudekwa said it was agreed by all at the meeting in Pretoria that the
Ambassador would accept the ZRYM petition at the demonstration on Thursday.
The group expects him to forward the petition to government officials in
Zimbabwe. They want their demands to be met by March 8th.                             If the Zimbabwe government fails to comply within 7 days, Mudekwa said they
will go ahead with their planned action, which he refused to disclose to the
press. He simply said: “We will carry out our action and shut down the
embassy because it has no use and no Zimbabweans are helped there.”             Meanwhile, the demonstration organised by the Zimbabwe Youth Network (ZYN)
and the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) at the Zimbabwe Consulate
went ahead peacefully in Johannesburg on Wednesday. ZYN youth member
Nkathazo said about 500 people took part in the event. A security guard came
out and accepted a petition which also calls for Zimbabweans in the diaspora
to be allowed to vote.It seems the campaign for a diaspora vote is bringing together many
different Zimbabwean groups in the diaspora. Nkathazo said the key speaker
at the Consulate was Simon Mudekwa.