Courtesy of allAfrica.com
South African President Thabo Mbeki headed to Zimbabwe on Wednesday to hold talks with Robert Mugabe ahead of next week's presidential run-off poll. Mbeki also met with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangerai as well as United Nations envoy Haile Menkerios before setting out to Bulawayo to meet Mugabe.
South Africa's Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement the meeting between Mbeki and Mugabe would be a 'continuation of his SADC-mandated facilitation process,' while Zimbabwe's government-mouthpiece Herald newspaper said they would discuss the election and campaigns.
Mbeki has led regional mediation efforts in Zimbabwe and has found himself at the centre of global criticism for his policy of 'quiet diplomacy' that has failed to end the crisis. He has also been accused of bias in favour of Mugabe who is widely known to be a longtime friend of the South African president.
Last week, Mbeki said that levels of violence in Zimbabwe were a cause for 'serious concern and should be addressed with all urgency.' But his reluctance to publicly criticise Mugabe infuriated Tsvangirai, who called for him to be stripped of his role as mediator.
Wednesday's meeting comes as MPs in South Africa launched a scathing attack on Mbeki's Zimbabwean policy in parliament on Tuesday. The series of attacks were made as MPs voted on the various budgets allocated to the different ministerial departments. Budgets for the presidency and the foreign affairs department were among those hotly debated, with opposition parties drawing on the Zimbabwean crisis as ammunition.
African Christian Democratic Party leader, Kenneth Meshoe, opposed the budget of the presidency blaming a failure of the president's policy of quiet diplomacy for the fact that Zimbabweans were being 'tortured and burned alive.' He called President Robert Mugabe 'an old man initiating war in his own country.'
Meanwhile, Joe Seremane of the Democratic Alliance opposed the budget of Foreign Affairs for failing to live up to its human rights commitment in Zimbabwe. Seremane told Newsreel the department did not deserve to be allocated a budget if it was not acting according to its promises. He said the government's approach to Zimbabwe is 'contrary to what should be done,' and that the lack of action has caused irreparable damage.
Seremane said Mbeki's role as mediator in the crisis has been ineffective, and called on other African leaders to step in before the situation becomes 'irretrievably insolvable.'
Big Al - Support Advisory for www.MensForte.com
(Email your questions to me at bigal@mensforte.com)
"Top Penile Enhancement Products Tested & Reviewed!"
|
 |
