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(NEWZIMBABWE) Zuma to continue Zimbabwe role: SADC

Zuma to continue Zimbabwe role: SADC
04/08/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

A TOP SADC official says attempts by Zanu PF hardliners to sideline South African President Jacob Zuma from his mediation role in Zimbabwe are likely to fail.

Zuma assumes the chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation at the 31st Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Angola later this month, a scenario which Zanu PF officials claim would mean he would be “reporting to himself”. But Tomaz Salamao, the SADC executive secretary, said he was mystified by suggestions that Zuma would be “wearing two hats”.

“In 2008, former South African President Thabo Mbeki chaired SADC while he was still the mediator in the Zimbabwean problem,” Salamao said on Wednesday. “Why does it have to change now? The fact that President Zuma will chair the organ is a mere coincidence; it does not change anything at all.”

Salamao, meanwhile, said any objections Zanu PF has to Zuma’s continued role in the Zimbabwean political dialogue can be formally brought up and be addressed at the summit set for August 17.

Zuma has been publicly attacked by President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF officials who accuse him of giving the MDC factions a wide berth in his reviews of the political process in Zimbabwe, while painting Zanu PF as an impediment to progress.

Zuma’s aides, meanwhile, maintain that his only concern is a free and fair election in Zimbabwe which will bring an end to an uneasy coalition government formed in 2009 following disputed elections.

Labels: JACOB ZUMA, SADC, TOMAZ SALOMAO

posted by MrK @ 4:23 PM