South Africa's Democratic Alliance Outlines Zimbabwe Crisis Resolution Plan

South African parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said President Jacob Zuma has pursued the 'silent diplomacy' in Harare for which his predecessor as president and mediator, Thabo Mbeki, was so often criticized
South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, has proposed a five-step plan to resolve the crisis in Zimbabwe, including lobbying the International Criminal Court to bring human rights and torture charges against President Robert Mugabe.
The Democratic Alliance says it will campaign for a so-called democratic dispensation in Zimbabwe. It said that where appropriate, it will exert legal and political pressure on Zimbabwe and seek an ICC indictment of Mr. Mugabe for alleged rights abuses.
The party said it will seek to promote coverage of key issues pertaining to Zimbabwe in the media to pressure the African Union, the Southern African Development Community, the United States and the European Union to take stronger action on Zimbabwe while maintaining support for Western targeted sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and aides.
The DA said it will aggressively seek to engage South African President Jacob Zuma, who is also SADC's mediator in Zimbabwe.South African parliamentary leader Athol Trollip told VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo that Mr. Zuma has pursued 'silent diplomacy' in Harare, a strategy for which his predecessor as president and regional mediator, Thabo Mbeki, was often criticized.
The lawmaker acknowledged it will not be be easy to bring international charges against Mr. Mugabe, but said his party will pursue the other steps energetically.
Elsewhere, academics and human rights activists who met recently to discuss ways to break the political impasse in Harare concluded that elections in 2011 were the best hope for SADC and South Africa to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis once and for all.