“We are as low as Mugabe “

The story of Zimbabwe has many villains, with the chief of the calumny
none other than Robert Mugabe himself. But of those outside Zimbabwe's
borders, none is more directly responsible than the government of South
Africa and its leaders.

Since 2000 South Africa has arrived at Commonwealth meetings, SADC
meetings, the United Nations and everywhere that the presidential jet
could fly, to defend Mugabe as if the very lives of South Africans
depended on it. There is perhaps no other issue — except the debacle
over HIV-Aids — where we have been so energetic and so intransigent.

The results are there for all to see. Zimbabweans are dying by the
hundreds, fleeing their country by the thousands and being exiled by
the millions. In the meantime, some of us still refer to this outrage
as brought about by the West. The truth is that Mugabe brought this
failed state about, and chief among those who colluded with him were
former president Thabo Mbeki and his cabinet.

But that is history. Those who have defended and aided Mbeki's stance will, with time, also be judged as Mbeki today is.

The real conundrum, however, is that over the past two years, as the
momentum against Mbeki inside the ANC took hold, we were told that the
new ANC leadership would act against Mugabe. Indeed, in the incoherent
explanations about why Mbeki was axed in late September, Zimbabwe was
mentioned several times by ANC leaders.

So one would have expected that the installation of Kgalema Motlanthe
in the Union Buildings would have seen a dramatic and swift change of
policy towards Mugabe and his cronies. One would have expected that
deadlines would be set and ultimatums issued. One would have expected
that we would stand on the side of the poor and the oppressed, not the
looters and oppressors.

Alas, this has not transpired. Instead, what Motlanthe and his cabinet
have done is to reward Mbeki's abject failure by telling him to
continue on the deluded path he has been on for more than eight years!
Mbeki seized on the opportunity and proceeded to accuse the man who was
robbed of an election, Morgan Tsvangirai, of wanting the West to free
Zimbabwe.

Who would blame Tsvangirai for this anyway, when Mbeki and his cronies have aided and abetted Mugabe for so long?

There are real leaders elsewhere in the world and on this continent who have spoken out strongly against Zimbabwe.

Real heroes have been the president and foreign minister of Botswana.
These two have consistently spoken out against Mugabe's rule and
Mbeki's sham mediation in that country. This weekend Botswana's foreign
minister Phandu Skelemani said Mugabe would be out of power within two
weeks if Zimbabwe's neighbours starved his armed forces of fuel for
their vehicles.

It is the SADC, in my view, which has enabled Mugabe to be
intransigent. More pressure could be brought on these countries,
Skelemani said. Is the Union Buildings listening?

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu said last week that Mugabe must step down or be removed by force.

I think now the world must say: You and your cohorts have been
responsible for gross violations, and you are going to face indictment
in The Hague unless you step down', Tutu said.

Another hero, Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said: It's time for African governments … to push him out of power. 

This weekend British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined them and urged
world powers to pile pressure on Mugabe and say: Enough is enough.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was well past time for
Robert Mugabe to leave and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband
called the Zimbabwean government a rogue regime.

Is anyone here listening? Ask the same question of any official of the
new ANC leadership or the Motlanthe cabinet and you will get a million
excuses and apologies . South Africa is Mugabe's greatest and most
formidable defender.

What has happened to this country? What has happened to us? It is a sad
day when the country of Nelson Mandela stands side-by-side with a
dictator like Mugabe. It is sadder still that we stand quiet when we
know the meaning of right and wrong, yet come out consistently on the
side of what is wrong and evil.

The South African government of today is just as guilty of aiding the
Mugabe regime as the Mbeki government of yesterday did. For all our
vaunted human rights culture, we are as low as  First
published in The Times (South Africa). used with permission. 

Mugabe himself.
Motlanthe and Jacob Zuma should be ashamed of themselves.

–Justice Malala: Monday Morning Matters