President Motlanthe to remove the Mbeki team, believed to be pro-Zanu (PF), but Motlanthe refused.
Masiyiwa said, “The South Africans are not committed to a negotiated resolution to the crisis but merely want to stage the inauguration of Tsvangirai as prime minister as a media event they can use to declare, prematurely, that they have solved the Zimbabwe political crisis.”
The business mogul added that MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai had decided to focus his energy on cementing the MDC’s relationships with friendly governments, including Botswana, Tanzania, Senegal, and Kenya to build a pro-MDC consensus in the AU.
Frazer urged Tsvangirai to return to Zimbabwe as soon as possible or seek alternatives to demonstrate leadership and mobilize MDC supporters.
Long-time ANC insider Tokyo Sexwale, meeting with Frazer on December 20, highlighted a recent radio interview with ANC President Jacob Zuma in which Zuma had said, “Mugabe is no longer my comrade,” as a breakthrough, signifying that the liberation struggle-era bond between the Zanu (PF) and the ANC is unraveling.
“I have just come from an ANC National Executive Committee meeting wherein we agreed to step up efforts to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe.
“Motlanthe is “too close” to Mbeki and like Mbeki is inclined to soft-pedal SADC facilitation, but we plan to call for the removal of Mbeki as facilitator, but removing the former president should be in a manner that preserved his dignity,” said Sexwale. In response to Frazer’s call for tougher action on the part of South Africa, Sexwale observed that it is very difficult to know when the time is right to close pipelines and cut electrical transmission lines.
He commented that South Africans are very uneasy about “pulling out the tablecloth” from under their Zimbabwean neighbours.
Post published in: News