JOHANNESBURG A South African member of a regional parliamentary forum has urged his countrys President Jacob Zuma to put up the Zimbabwe government s refusal to abide by a ruling of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal on the agenda of the blocs next summit. President Robert Mugabe has rejected as nonsense a ruling by the regional Tribunal last November declaring his programme to seize land from white farmers for redistribution to blacks racist and illegal under the SADC Treaty.
In a letter to Zuma — the current chairman of SADC and among a few regional leaders who have spoken out against Mugabes controversial policies SADC Parliamentary Forum member Professor Wilmot James called on regional leaders to act on Harares defiance.
The summit needs to decide on a course of action against member states who refuse to act in accordance with the findings of the Organisation and I would ask that South Africa take a leading role in this. ?
In order to uphold the principles of the Southern African Development Community, I kindly request that you take up this matter at the next summit meeting and take a firm stance with Zimbabwe on this matter, James said in the letter written from Johannesburg.
While the SADC Tribunal can make a ruling on matters against member states, the regional court has no power to enforce its judgments.
Post published in: Zimbabwe News