MDC Renewal suffer Zuma snub

Zanu PF says the failure by the MDC Renewal Team to convince South African President Jacob Zuma to intervene on the Zimbabwean "crisis" is a massive blow the party leader Tendai Biti's political career.

Zanu PF deputy director of information and publicity Psychology Maziwisa said Biti has become a terribly wounded political animal.

"First he was declared the loser of his parliamentary constituency, with that result only being overturned after a more meticulous look at the votes.

"His party lost the general election and that meant he also lost his prestigious post as finance minister- which he had used the previous 4 years to draw a lot of undeserved attention to himself.

"He would clash with Tsvangirai in the ensuing months, breaking away from the mainstream MDC altogether and starting a party that has struggled to compete even with Kisnot Mkwazhi's ZDP on the popularity scale," said Maziwisa.

"Tendai Biti's latest failure concerns SADC. A few days ago, Biti wrote a long letter to Jacob Zuma mostly to draw Zuma's attention to the internal squabbles within the MDC but partly to remind Mr Zuma that Zimbabwe was still a political 'black spot'.

"Mr Zuma's indirect response to this letter has caused Biti further personal embarrassment and political damage for, just a few hours ago, Mr Zuma made it clear that he had no further business interfering in Zimbabwe because whatever needed external assistance had now been resolved."

Maziwisa said Mr Zuma revealed that eh was happy about the Zimbabwean situation.

"The sad truth now is that, a bit like his mentor Morgan Tsvangirai, Mr Biti is on the verge of political obscurity. His major problem over the years of course has been that he has given himself more credit than his political record justifies," he said.

"He needs to take a chill pill and to realize that being over-zealous isn't always a good trait in political affairs. At times, and as Mr Biti has discovered time and time again, it can actually be politically suicidal."