Apr
20
Relics of liberation are becoming the isolated men of Africa
April 20, 2008 | | 3 Comments
By Penny (10)
Their countries sit side by side in Southern Africa. Their Presidents enjoy a close political relationship and ideology, yet in their own lands and within the African continent and around the world Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa are increasingly being seen as relics of Africa’s liberation struggle.
It’s ironic that two close political friends should have such opposite views on how to end their legacies as presidents. Mbeki will step down in 2009 in line with a constitution that only allows him two terms of office, while Mugabe, who led his country to independence 28 years ago, desperately clings to office, despite an election result that seems to favour the opposition party.
However today’s Daily Telegraph reports that Mugabe is planning to step down from power within 18 months if he wins the bitterly contested election. Long-time ally, Emmerson Mnangagwa is thought to be his eventual successor.
Mugabe’s foibles are well documented. While ranting against Britain wearing expensive suits tailored in London and his wife known for extravagant European shopping trips, Mugabe has turned a once prosperous agricultural nation to one of the poorest in Africa and the world.
Once viewed as southern Africa’s bread basket, Zimbabwe’s economy is now in ruins with a staggering inflation rate of 165,000 per cent and 80 per cent unemployment and millions living below the poverty line. That’s in addition to his genocide of 20,000 Ndebele people and decreasing the life expectancy for a man from 63 years old in 1990 to 37.
In the eyes of many, both men have fallen short of their mandates. In Mbeki’s case, Nelson Mandela, his predecessor was always going to be a hard act to follow as pointed out in recent editorials in the British press.
Writing about Mbeki, in England’s The Observer newspaper, journalist Chris McCreal said: “He views politics and much else besides through a racial prism in a way that Nelson Mandela does not. Rainbow nation man had given way to Zebra man.” He goes on to say: “To Mbeki, the pipe-smoking, urbane intellectual, the dignity of an African leader is more important than the indignity of Africans scrabbling on rubbish dumps for food, dying in hospitals for want of drugs, or forced to crawl through barbed wire into a foreign country to find work.”
England’s Daily Telegraph added: “South Africa, the country best placed to put pressure on Mugabe, is unfortunately reluctant to do so. Thabo Mbeki is no Nelson Mandela, willing to stand up for democracy: the South African president appears content to let Mugabe remain in power.”
Strong criticism of Mbeki also appeared in the The Washington Post, under the headline of “Rogue Democrat.” The editorial commented: “The government of President Thabo Mbeki has consistently allied itself with the world’s rogue states and against the Western democracies. It has defended Iran’s nuclear program and resisted sanctions against it; shielded Sudan and Burma from the sort of pressure the United Nations once directed at the apartheid regime … Now Mr Mbeki’s perverse and immoral policy is reaching its nadir – in South Africa’s neighbour, Zimbabwe.”
Unfortunately for Mbeki’s his conduct is also being slammed by the South African media. Last week South African columnist Lucky Mazibuko delivered a stinging attack in The Sowetan saying: “Our outgoing president, Thabo Mbeki, has set the lowest standards for our country and our people, and yet he is dismally failing to meet them. I think the less of a public role he plays in the few months left in office, the better for all of us. President Mbeki has become a menace to our society, he is like a fly in the pudding.”
South Africa’s Mail and Guardian newspaper added this criticism: “But Mbeki has again done himself no favours. African peace-keeping is a very important matter, which needs to be addressed. By concentrating on it at a moment of supreme crisis in Zimbabwe -and arguing against all logic that Zimbabwe poses no threat to Southern Africa’s peace and stability – he has completed his isolation from almost every other world player on the issue.”
In terms of news versus editorial opinion pieces, The Times newspaper in South Africa reported that the African National Congress (ANC) has decided to sidestep President Mbeki and deal directly with President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
The ANC strongly questioned Mbeki’s impartiality as an “honest” mediator following MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s request to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) for Mbeki to be replaced as the regional body’s mediator. The ANC press statement on the issue appeared to question Mbeki’s impartiality, saying he “needs to observe a neutral position in this matter”.
Significantly last week, members of the South African cabinet broke ranks and issued a statement condemning Harare’s withholding of presidential election results. In an unusual step, government spokesman Themba Maseko, described the situation as “dire”.
Adding to the comments about Mbeki’s ineffectiveness, ANC spokesperson Jesse Duarte said: “It (the ANC) is concerned with the state of crisis that Zimbabwe is in and perceives this as negative for the entire SADC region.”
Since declaring that there was “no crisis” in Zimbabwe, Mbeki’s “honest” mediation was in the spotlight again last week following news that as chairman of the UN Security Council meeting, he had resisted pressure from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Western powers to discuss Zimbabwe. This action earned a rebuke from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon who expressed “deep concern” over the delay in publishing Zimbabwe’s election results and noted that “the credibility of the democratic process in Africa could be at stake here.” Mbeki was later forced to include Zimbabwe in discussions by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
While Mbeki can perhaps shrug off overseas criticism, at home in South Africa the situation has enabled his rival Jacob Zuma to improve his international image. Zuma is due to go on trial for corruption and as the frontrunner in next year’s South African presidential elections, local and international communities are concerned about the future direction of the country. Zuma has already ousted Mbeki as the leader of the ruling African National Congress.
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More isolation for Mugabe and Mbeki. On Monday Zambia’s president, Levy Mwanawasa, urged regional African nations to bar the Chinese ship carrying arms destined for Zimbabwe from entering their waters, saying the shipment could deepen the country’s election crisis.
Interesting story and an encouraging thought that they might both become isolated in their own continent. It’s tragic that neither of them grasped the opportunities they have had to make effective change in Africa.
Thanks for this insightful article. When will people learn from Mandela’s lead…forgiveness is the pnly way forward. Fear craetes suppression, wars, misery, famine etc. Such a brilliant start for Sth Africa and now your artcile reveals its complicit role in different apartheids.