The protestors, among them members of the Revolutionary Youth Movement of Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Crisis In Zimbabwe Coalition (South Africa Chapter), Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) and several other civic society organisations danced and sang at the venue of the talks demanding the stepping down of Mbeki, whom they accuse of siding with President Robert Mugabe in the power-sharing talks.
In a brief interview with CAJ News this morning, MDC spokesperson for South Africa, Sibanengi Dube, said Zimbabweans were fed up with Mbeki’s open bias towards Mugabe's ZANU-PF in the negotiations with the MDC.
"The protesting Zimbabweans here are sending a clear message to the SADC leaders that they are sick and tired of Mbeki’s antics. Our message should be correctly taken to the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) for further discussion with a view to finding a lasting solution to this problem.
"We are saying to Mbeki, please, you have failed, so go in peace and leave us alone'. We do appreciate what he did in making the two warring parties meet, but this has been done in bad faith with a view to re-invigorate Mugabe," said Dube.
Reverend Mufaro Hove, the patron of the Youth Movement of Zimbabwe, told CAJ News that Mugabe's government had turned Zimbabwe into a failed state.
"The talks being mediated by Mbeki will not yield anything. This is the reason we are calling for both the United Nations and the African Union to intervene. We need a solution now or else Mbeki should be removed from being the SADC chief mediator because of his bias towards ZANU-PF," said Hove.
Mugabe leads the ZANU-PF delegation at the extra-ordinary summit of SADC, which is hoping to bring the MDC formations led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara to agree to work with the country's ruling party in a government of national unity. —CAJ News.
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