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Zimbabwe still on SADC agenda says SA
14 Aug 2013 at 19:21hrs | Views
South Africa on Wednesday denied media reports that President Jacob Zuma is set to tell the SADC Head of States summit at the weekend that its mediation role in Zimbabwe has ended with the election victory of President Robert Mugabe.
"The presidency has noted inaccurate media reports to the effect that President Jacob Zuma is expected to tell his fellow regional leaders at a summit in Malawi this weekend that he has accomplished his mission in Zimbabwe," the South African presidential office said.
"The story goes on to speculate that President Zuma would tell regional leaders at the SADC summit that they should relieve him of his job as facilitator and they are likely to agree with him," it said in a statement.
South Africa was appointed the facilitator by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2007 after Zimbabwe police beat up opposition and civic society leaders who wanted to hold a prayer meeting in Harare. Mr Zuma took over the facilitation role between the main political parties in Zimbabwe, replacing former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Mr Zuma and his facilitation team have held several discussions in recent years with President Mugabe's ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T party to come up with an election roadmap for free and fair elections that would not be disputed.
But key disagreements between ZANU-PF and the MDC led to the Global Political Agreement (GPA), the unity pact that was effectively disregarded by Mr Mugabe when he unilaterally called this year's election without the concurrence of Mr Tsvangirai.
"We wish to clarify that should President Zuma or the South African government have any position on Zimbabwe, such information is communicated directly through to the Southern African Development Community, SADC, or publicly when necessary," South Africa's presidency said.
"The presidency distances itself from this rumour and rejects the utilisation of gossip and rumour to communicate as serious a matter as South Africa's mediation role in neighbouring Zimbabwe."
Mr Mugabe was declared the winner of the July 31 elections with 61 percent of the vote, while Mr Tsvangirai got 34 percent.
Mr Tsvangirai rejected the results as a "farce" saying the election was manipulated in favour of Mr Mugabe.
"The presidency has noted inaccurate media reports to the effect that President Jacob Zuma is expected to tell his fellow regional leaders at a summit in Malawi this weekend that he has accomplished his mission in Zimbabwe," the South African presidential office said.
"The story goes on to speculate that President Zuma would tell regional leaders at the SADC summit that they should relieve him of his job as facilitator and they are likely to agree with him," it said in a statement.
South Africa was appointed the facilitator by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 2007 after Zimbabwe police beat up opposition and civic society leaders who wanted to hold a prayer meeting in Harare. Mr Zuma took over the facilitation role between the main political parties in Zimbabwe, replacing former South African President Thabo Mbeki.
Mr Zuma and his facilitation team have held several discussions in recent years with President Mugabe's ZANU-PF and Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T party to come up with an election roadmap for free and fair elections that would not be disputed.
But key disagreements between ZANU-PF and the MDC led to the Global Political Agreement (GPA), the unity pact that was effectively disregarded by Mr Mugabe when he unilaterally called this year's election without the concurrence of Mr Tsvangirai.
"We wish to clarify that should President Zuma or the South African government have any position on Zimbabwe, such information is communicated directly through to the Southern African Development Community, SADC, or publicly when necessary," South Africa's presidency said.
"The presidency distances itself from this rumour and rejects the utilisation of gossip and rumour to communicate as serious a matter as South Africa's mediation role in neighbouring Zimbabwe."
Mr Mugabe was declared the winner of the July 31 elections with 61 percent of the vote, while Mr Tsvangirai got 34 percent.
Mr Tsvangirai rejected the results as a "farce" saying the election was manipulated in favour of Mr Mugabe.
Source - zimbabweelection.com
