Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Fantasists misunderstood Zuma

Fantasists misunderstood Zuma
TSM
Sun, 30 Aug 2009 14:30:00 +0000

THE fantasists are at it again, but this time around no one is willing to listen to their drivel. Ahead of President Jacob Zuma’s visit to Zimbabwe last week, the doomsayers maliciously speculated that the South African leader was coming here “to condemn President Mugabe’s deviant behaviour”.

They excitedly proclaimed that President Zuma was coming to “rebuke Zanu PF for blatantly violating the Global Political Agreement”. “Zuma does not believe in quiet diplomacy,” they repeatedly told us.

In weaving this web of lies, the merchants of doom failed to understand one simple fact: President Zuma has no authority to change the GPA — he can only counsel its full implementation. Msholozi, who also happens to be the current Sadc chair, can do little more than advise the three parties to the coalition Government to fully implement the GPA.

It is vitally important to emphasise this point: President Zuma can only advise Zanu PF and the two MDC formations to implement what the three parties agreed in the GPA. There is no way he can assist parties to the GPA to smuggle in fresh demands that were not in the original agreement. His straightforward message to the inclusive Government would have been very clear: “Please implement what you agreed.”

We reiterate this point because there have been brazen attempts, of late, by the MDC formations to smuggle into the GPA agenda several questionable issues that are not contained in the original pact.

To his credit, President Zuma has refused to be swayed by imperialism’s delusional apologists. He will pay a heavy price for upholding Africa’s dignity, of course, as shown by the anti-Zuma thread running through most stories churned out by Western-aligned media houses in the aftermath of his two-day visit.

President Zuma is being vilified for telling the truth. Nothing new there. He is being attacked by the same people who used to label him “a controversial polygamist populist”.

Msholozi, on his first visit to Zimbabwe as South African president, told a State banquet in Harare on Thursday: “It is indeed very encouraging to note the significant progress that has been made under the auspices of the inclusive Government.” He added: “The remaining issues are not insurmountable and can be overcome. The most difficult path has already been travelled.”

This is not what the anti-Zimbabwe gang wanted to hear. Their thinking — or lack thereof — is that if President Zuma does not throw stones at Zimbabwean leaders, then there must be something wrong with him in the first place.

To any level-headed observer, at times it becomes difficult to believe that the anti-Zimbabwe loudmouths are as naive as they sound. Why would they expect President Zuma to transform into a willing tool of imperialism? Do they really know the man and his history?

Jacob Zuma spent 10 precious years of his life in an apartheid prison. Arrested with a group of 45 recruits near Zeerust in North West Province in 1963, he was convicted for conspiring to overthrow the racist government and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on Robben Island.

Upon release, he continued working tirelessly for the liberation of South Africa, rising through the ranks in the African National Congress to his current position as leader of Africa’s biggest economy.

President Zuma is not the kind of leader who dances to the tune of misguided Western governments. As Sadc chair, he cannot jet into Zimbabwe, take sides and start shouting from the rooftops. Such cheap drama would be splendid for CNN ratings but catastrophic for African dignity.

We have not forgotten how former president Thabo Mbeki was routinely subjected to unfair criticism by people who did not appreciate his vision of a stable and united Zimbabwe.

When Mbeki’s efforts directly led to the signing of the GPA on September 15 last year, they sought to deny him his moment of glory by claiming that he had short-changed the MDC. Unless you had been living under a rock prior to the signing of the GPA, you would not have believed that claptrap.

People should not confuse issues here. Any discerning watcher of Zimbabwean politics would know for a fact that although the inclusive Government does indeed have its hiccups from time to time, such hitches are to be expected from a power-sharing arrangement of this nature. Instead of wasting time focusing on these fairly predictable challenges, perhaps the nation should be asking serious questions over the fierce internal party-political fights that are now threatening to tear apart MDC-T.

There is intense feuding within MDC-T, with the two centres of power constantly trying to outsmart each other. These hostilities have implications for the general stability of the inclusive Government.

It is now a public secret that some so-called hardliners in MDC-T are accusing party leader Morgan Tsvangirai of “selling out”. By “selling out” they supposedly mean he should not work amicably with President Mugabe. The time has come for Zimbabweans to ask: whose interests are these so-called MDC-T hardliners serving?

The GPA is not a perfect arrangement; nothing under the sun ever is. But it gives Zimbabweans an opportunity to stabilise this beloved nation, pick up the pieces and get on with their lives.

President Zuma has done well to resist the urge to take sides. He has spoken to the coalition Government’s principals in person and now knows the situation on the ground. As Zuma heads for Kinshasa next week, he is armed with all the information he needs to comprehensively apprise the regional leaders on the health of Zimbabwe’s inclusive Government. — TSM

Labels: JACOB ZUMA, MUGABE

posted by MrK @ 3:27 PM