It seems President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, the regional point man in the Zimbabwe dialogue, has finally lost patience with his treacherous northern neighbour, Robert Mugabe.
After being fooled by Mugabe on several occasions – with the Zimbabwean strongman making hollow promises at summits and endless 'emergency meetings' triggered by his excesses of violence, thuggery and general abuse of power – Zuma has decided to take action.
This was evident at the recent regional SADC summit in Johannesburg where the endless dispute sparked by Mugabe's alleged theft of the 2008 presidential vote took centre stage.
The military cabal led by the ailing dictator has been causing mayhem and threatening another blood-filled election to ensure Mugabe stays in office.
However, the announcement by SADC in its final communique on June 12 that it would immediately deploy monitors to Zimbabwe and raise money to assist the country's cash-strapped Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, JOMIC, has unnerved Mugabe.
JOMIC is a tripartite body created under the 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) to monitor cases of continuing violence, intimidation and other violations of the power-sharing deal brokered by SA on behalf of SADC and endorsed by Mugabe, Arthur Mutambara and Morgan Tsvangirai, the perceived winner of the disputed poll.
A run-off vote was boycotted by Tsvangirai following horrific murders of his backers by Mugabe supporters and renegade members of the security forces.
Judging by the swift reaction from the despot and his associates on the Zanu (PF) side of government to the news of an imminent deployment of SADC monitors and funding to ensure compliance with the GPA, it is clear the regional body has finally touched a raw nerve.
The announcement is also seen as ample evidence that the regional body now means action after a decade of prevarication as the Zimbabwean crisis spiralled out of control.
Suddenly, Mugabe and his errant Zanu (PF) party have close watchers from the region, based in the country, to respond to any reports of violence, arbitrary arrests of opposition officials and supporters, threats and intimidation. The regional observers will also be witnesses if Mugabe supporters carry out their threats to assassinate the premier before the poll or to topple him if he wins.
“This is not something that Zanu (PF) wanted or thought would happen so quickly,” said a political analyst who requested anonymity.
“Mugabe had effectively banned all foreigners from monitoring Zimbabwe's transition to democracy. Now they have found a way in.” The analyst added: “You also have to realise that South Africans in particular are very angry about the shameful manner in which President Zuma has been treated by Mugabe.
“Now what they are after is to use their own unlimited resources to gather hard evidence that Mugabe is in serious breach of the GPA, especially on security reforms. They can now easily get that evidence through JOMIC. This could be the end for Mugabe because the presence of SADC makes it very difficult for him to rig the next election.”
Post published in: News