South African President Jacob Zumas facilitation team will once again return to Zimbabwe this week, as part of Zumas mediation efforts in the political crisis. The teams return follows Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirais regional lobbying efforts last week. The MDC leader told regional leaders that the coalition government was under the control of dark and sinister forces, and warned that the country was on the verge of sliding into a police state. He urged the region to intervene in Zimbabwe immediately, before the level of violence seen in 2008 returned.
Tsvangirai returned to Zimbabwe last Friday after his quick tour, where he met leaders from Zambia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana and South Africa. South Africas Zuma, who is the regionally appointed mediator in Zimbabwe, reacted by promising to send his three-member facilitation team back to the country. The team is led Charles Nqakula and includes former Minister Mac Maharaj and Zumas international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu.
South Africa has been tasked by SADC to work with the Zimbabwean parties to find solutions to their political challenges, the South African presidency said in a statement on Friday. President Zuma will next week send his Zimbabwe facilitation team to Harare to meet parties to the Global Political Agreement.
The visit by the team comes ahead of a meeting of the regional SADC troika on peace and security, set to take place in Zambia on March 31, to deal with the Zimbabwe crisis. In the past two years Zuma appears to have made little headway in persuading Mugabe to actually implement the GPA, which led to the unity government. Observers have expressed little hope that yet another visit from his facilitation team will make any difference at all.
Post published in: News