SA facilitation team arrives in Zimbabwe to speed up GPA talks

The South African team, led by ANC stalwart Charles Nqakula jetted into Harare on Sunday night. The other two members of the new facilitation team are veteran ANC cadre Mac Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu, an international relations expert.

The team is set to join negotiators from ZANU PF and the two MDCs in renewed efforts to broker a lasting solution to the countrys political crisis. South African President Jacob Zuma appointed the new team last week in the hope that they will push Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara to fully implement the GPA.

Negotiators from the three parties spent most of last week locked in marathon meetings, but the talks are running behind schedule as SADC gave the parties 30 days within which to negotiate, conclude and report back to the SADC Troika. On Monday the South African facilitation team met with negotiators in Harare to set the agenda for their programme.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us the facilitation team wanted to meet first with the negotiators before talking much about their itinerary.

The team is here and they said theyre eager to help the parties overcome their differences. They have a deadline to meet so Im sure after the introductions they will get straight to business, Muchemwa said.

There is renewed optimism that the shaky inclusive government will deal with the outstanding issues after a SADC summit early this month asked Zuma to step in as the new facilitator. Zuma replaced his predecessor former President Thabo Mbeki who helped broker the power sharing agreement in September year.

But Tsvangirai has been critical of Mbeki for being soft on Mugabe, and publicly declared that he no longer had confidence in his mediation. On Sunday Tsvangirai reiterated his partys commitment to the inclusive Government saying that the arrangement was the only viable option the country has.

He told thousands of party supporters at a rally in Harare that it was pertinent the inclusive government overcomes challenges that it is facing in implementing the GPA.

While we are currently involved in another round of negotiations to overcome obstacles on the implementation of the GPA signed by the three political parties in September 2008, we remain committed to the framework of the inclusive Government, Tsvangirai said.

He added; The vast majority of Zimbabweans see the GPA as the only viable alternative in moving our country forward. Therefore, it is essential that we overcome these current challenges as the legitimacy of this new government is based solely on its ability to deliver prosperity and freedoms to the people of Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of not fully implementing the unity deal. He contends that the outstanding issues being contested by his party are the appointments of senior civil servants who include the central bank governor, the attorney general and provincial governors.