Dlamini-Zuma arrived in Harare on Wednesday to assess Zimbabwe’s preparedness for the poll. According to the Herald newspaper, the former South African cabinet Minister said there was not yet any cause for alarm.
"Siyayithola imbiko kulaba akade bafika. Okwamanje kukahle imbiko esiyitholayo ayikasenzi ukuthi sibenovalo kodwa sifuna ukuzobona nje nathi ukuthi kuqhubekani. (Those who came earlier said all was well and as of now everything is proceeding well. Nothing gives us any cause for alarm)," she said.
Dlamini-Zuma said the AU was being briefed about the situation in the country by a 10-member observer team that has been in the country since July 15th.
"We are here as the African Union observer mission, but, as you know, our team has been here for quite some time . . . they have been sending us reports, so we are fairly informed, but we felt that it was important to come and see for ourselves before the elections."
The AU chief was set to give a media briefing on Thursday evening, after meeting with Robert Mugabe. But there is concern that Dlamini-Zuma will not speak out against Zimbabwe in any way. Back in 2003, when she was South Africa Foreign Affairs Minister, she blatantly laid out South Africa’s position on Zimbabwe.
“The problem with you (the press), is that you are waiting for one word – condemnation of Zimbabwe. You will never hear that. It is not going to happen as long as this government is in power," she said in March 2003.
Dlamini-Zuma’s visit comes ahead of the expected arrival of the head of the AU observer mission, Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo. He is only set to be in the country a few days before the election, although Dlamini-Zuma cast doubts about him coming to Zimbabwe at all.
"I think he will come if he is allowed," said Dlamini-Zuma without elaborating.
About 600 foreign election observers, mainly from African bodies, have been accredited to observe the polls, while 6,000 local observers will also be watching the vote. Zimbabwe did not invite Western observer missions because of the targeted sanctions still in place against Robert Mugabe and some key members of his regime.
Zimbabwean journalist Mthulisi Mathuthu told SW Radio Africa Thursday that the role of the observers is merely technical, saying they would have played a more influential role if they had been in the country earlier. He said that ZANU PF has been busy planning how to rig the election in Mugabe’s favour, in such a way that it won’t be an obvious plot.
“The problem is that they (the observers) are unlikely to see anything that they will be able to point to and say ‘this is how the election was stolen’. Because there has been a lot of intellectual effort put into rigging, which will leave people flabbergasted and they won’t know what happened,” Mathuthu said.
He added: “If they had arrived three months earlier, they’d understand the system. By this time, they’d be in a position not to just be observers but also investigators. As it is, there’s nothing they can say.” – SW Radio Africa News
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