Mugabe’s Regime is “Arrogant”

Hundreds of demonstrators led by COSATU officials walked from President
Thabo Mbeki’s offices at the Union buildings to the embassy to demand that
elections in Zimbabwe be held under free and fair conditions.                           Bongani Masuku, COSATU’s international relations officer said they were
infuriated by the behaviour of officials from the embassy who refused to
come out and listen to the grievances of Zimbabweans in South Africa.                   ‘We had a petition that contained our demands to the government of Zimbabwe,
but no one came out to receive it. So we threw it over the gate as a sign of
our disgust towards the government,’ Masuku said.              He added; ‘It was a display of naked arrogance of the highest order.’                   The SADC bloc also came under fire from COSATU for allowing Mugabe to
manipulate the electoral system in the country.                  ‘We have SADC guidelines that each country is supposed to follow in an
election, but the government in Zimbabwe blatantly deviates from the norms
and the regional body never does a thing to condemn such actions,’ Masuku
added.     COSATU urged SADC to stop being accommodative to the machinations and
manipulative tendencies of Mugabe. It said Mugabe should allow a free
multiparty electoral contest on the basis of universally acclaimed
democratic principles and standards, as set out in various international
protocols.    Masuku said they have noted in recent weeks that the crisis in Zimbabwe has
scaled new heights, where it has become the norm for police to arrest and
harass opposition activists.       Masuku added, ‘The government of Zimbabwe is stopping at nothing to crush
the resistance of opposition parties, civil society organisations and the
trade unions and ruthlessly trample on human rights.’