Citing Zimbabwe as an example, Davidson was raising concern at Speaker of Parliament Max Sisulus visit to Iran last week, despite the country being one of the worlds worst violators of human rights. The visit coincided with Irans execution of two opposition activists, convicted of trying to topple the Islamic establishment after they were linked to protests that took place last June. The two were among 11 people sentenced to death.
The question is: why is the Speaker of South Africas Parliament visiting a country with such an appalling human rights record and, instead of speaking out against the obvious abuses, using it as a platform to attack the West? The answer is: because the ANC, from Zimbabwe through to Iran, has always placed a countrys historic ties with its liberation cause above any other consideration; and so principle has been subverted by political solidarity and our international reputation on human rights, reduced to nothing more than empty rhetoric and meaningless gestures, Davidson told The Zimbabwean.
Davidson accused ANC President Jacob Zuma of carrying on the so-called quiet diplomacy of the Thabo Mbeki era. For many years, former President Thabo Mbeki ensured that South Africas international reputation as a champion of human rights was fundamentally tarnished by its approach to Zimbabwe and its conduct in the United Nations. It appears that Jacob Zumas administration has picked up exactly where Mbeki left off and that, as has been the case for years, party political considerations trump our legislated commitment to human rights, he said
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