Why Mugabe, Zuma let migrants down

President Robert Mugabe and his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma let down immigrants in South Africa- including millions of Zimbabweans- during their crucial meetings last week when Mugabe visited Pretoria for talks on a wide range of issues including trade and migration.

Latest information from sources who attended the meetings shows that Mugabe and Zuma did not privately discuss the wave of xenophobic violence and killings sweeping across South Africa.

Even though Mugabe, who is chairperson of Sadc and the AU, arrived in South Africa when the current attacks had just begun, he failed to muster the courage to raise the issue with Zuma so that the leaders could tackle the matter head-on.

Zimbabwean and South African officials who attended the meetings said Mugabe and Zuma found themselves in an awkward position and took the easy way out by avoiding the issue altogether.

The official said for Zuma it would have been embarrassing as leader of one of the supposedly leading democratic countries in Africa to explain such violent attacks on fellow African migrants.

What also constrained Zuma from raising the issue is the fact the attacks have largely been linked to a statement by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini.

In Zulu tradition, the king takes precedence over the national president when he arrives in the kingdom of Kwa-Zulu Natal.