SA must fight against Mugabes abusesSouth Africa was itself heading towards the same fate because President Robert Mugabe had many friends within the neighbouring countrys ruling elite, said Bloemfontein-based Justice Azhar Cachalia, an appeal Judge in the Supreme Court, who is the also Secretary for Safety and Security.
He has been monitoring human rights cases in Zimbabwe for the International Commission of Jurists.
We have already seen and regretted the duplicity of the regional SADC bloc when it comes to dealing with the violence and suppression of democracy in Zimbabwe, said the judge.
Instead of forcing Mugabe to step down after he had lost elections in 2008, the SADC came up with the inclusive government idea, which has given him (Mugabe) a new lease on life and is not helping the situation in Zimbabwe. I would therefore warn South Africans against being complicit in this duplicity, but to fight to see Mugabe being held to account for what he has done and what he continues to do in Zimbabwe.
South Africans should draw lessons of their own from what has happened in the country, especially the impunity that has prevailed over human rights abuses and political violence during the past decade. Zimbabweans are no longer getting protection from their state or the judiciary, he added.
South African opposition parties and human rights organisations have accused President Jacob Zuma and his ruling African National Congress (ANC) party of supporting Zanu (PF) because the two share a liberation war history, thereby compromising the fight for democracy in Zimbabwe. Although Zuma and his party have publicly denied that, the partys youth wing has proclaimed support for Mugabes party, through its president, Julius Malema,
The ANC Youth Leagues spokesman Floyd Shivambu declared during an interview with The Zimbabwean in Johannesburg last year that Zanu (PF) should prepare to rule Zimbabwe forever.
Post published in: News