MDC-T tried to force accreditation at the ANC policy conference

The MDC-T tried to force its accreditation at the ANC Policy Conference in South Africa last Tuesday, arguing that it should have been allowed to attend the conference on GPA grounds since Zanu-PF was in attendance, it has been learnt.

It is understood that this "highly unusual, un-diplomat and impolitic" move by the MDC-T was flatly rejected by the ANC, leaving the MDC-T branch in Johannesburg livid.

As if undeterred by this stinging rebuff, it is understood that the MDC-T sponsored one of the delegates in the International Relations Commission at the conference to raise a complaint over its exclusion under the same argument that the party should have been invited because Zimbabwe has a hung Parliament which includes Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations.

Although MDC-T spokesperson Mr Douglas Mwonzora yesterday refuted the claims that his party sought to bulldoze its way into the conference, highly placed MDC-T sources at the Johannesburg branch, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Sunday Mail that the ANC was not amused by the approach and told the MDC-T that it had only invited fellow liberation movements.

The liberation movements that had been invited included Zanu-PF, Frelimo from Mozambique, MPLA from Angola, Swapo from Namibia and Chama cha Mapinduzi from Tanzania.

"The GPA is very clear and there are three political parties in it. There is MDC-T, Zanu-PF and Welshman's (Prof Ncube) little party. Our partner in the GPA, Zanu-PF, was attending the conference and we should have been accredited to attend. We saw nothing wrong with that at all.

"However, our accreditation was turned down on flimsy grounds that the ANC had only invited liberation movements to its conference. So when it sees it fit, the ANC chooses to side with Zanu-PF. We find that very strange because how do we relate now in future," said the MDC-T source on the phone from Johannesburg.

When the MDC-T-sponsored delegate raised the issue in the International Relations Commission, the ANC secretary-general, Cde Gwede Mantashe, rebuked him, adding that the ANC had only invited liberation movements of which the MDC-T was not.

"Mantashe even shot down a complaint that had been raised by one of the delegates regarding the same matter in the International Relations Commission. This shows that the ANC was not united in shutting us out. Clearly we were not happy and we will bring up this matter at an appropriate forum," said the source.

However, Mr Mwonzora said: "An ANC conference is not an MDC-T conference and all our cadres in Zimbabwe and outside are aware of that. The MDC-T respects the sovereignty of other countries and political parties in those countries.

"We have never and will never interfere with the internal processes of any other political party whether in Zimbabwe or outside."

Throughout its troubled tenure in the embattled inclusive Government, the MDC-T has sought to abuse its GPA status by portraying itself as an indispensable party that Zimbabwe's neighbours in particular and Sadc in general must deal with because of its presumed support by America and its Nato allies.

Asked to comment about this incident, the leader of the Zanu-PF delegation to the conference, Professor Jonathan Moyo, said he was not aware of it as he was in the

Economic Transformation Commission and the not the International Relations Commission where Cde Mantashe rebuked the sponsored delegate.

However, he said he was not surprised to hear something like that, adding that "this is very typical of the antics that Tsvangirai's MDC likes playing.

"The record will show that their party is not a people's choice but is an imperialist voice and neo-colonial instrument for regime change in our country.

"As such, the MDC-T is a reactionary movement and not a liberation movement by any stretch of the imagination. The mere fact that it is part of the hung Parliament and is in the inclusive Government does not make it a liberation movement but is only a confirmation of the power and treachery of imperialism and neo-colonialism.

"This is the downside. The upside is that the people's revolutionary momentum against imperialism and neo-colonialism in Zimbabwe is not only on the rebound but is in fact surging and the MDC should stop trying to gatecrash conferences of liberation movements and start counting its costs before the election in which it will be dealt a final blow."

The Zanu-PF delegation, which received a standing ovation as it was being introduced to the conference, also included Deputy Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa.

The ANC conference ended on a high note on Friday with the liberation party adopting a new position on the strategies and tactics which marks a radical shift to the left since the dawn of a new South Africa in 1994 to advance and quicken the pursuit of a national democratic state in that country. The conference also made new and bold decisions on economic transformation, rural development, land reform, communications, gender, education, health, legislature, governance, peace and stability.

These historic decisions are set to be presented as policy decisions at the ANC's 53rd National Congress to be held in Mangaung in December this year.