Looks like Mbeki is taking a bit of heat
July 7th, 2008
This via The Times:
President Mbeki of South Africa endured a rough ride at the G8 summit as major power leaders called him to task for failing to bring Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe to book.
Mr Mbeki was among seven African leaders who joined a session at the Group of Eight summit in Japan, where they were warned clearly that trade and investment on the continent could be hit unless they acted to deal with the “illegitimate” Zimbabwean president.
Several leaders, including President Bush, were said to have directly criticised Mr Mbeki, for his failure, as regional mediator, to rein in Mr Mugabe. Mr Bush calling last month’s election a sham, while Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she would back more sanctions.
The rest of the item is worth reading if, like me, you find Mbeki’s stance on Zimbabwe perplexing and morally dubious in the face of the murder and torture we encounter here everyday.
I am reminded of the ‘Make Poverty History’ year, when the G8 was under huge pressure to take a strong stance on debt relief to help Africa out of its poverty.
At the time, being Zimbabwean, I wondered if Thabo Mbeki and African leaders would be asked about those African nations (like ours) which have become poverty stricken mostly as a result of government ineptitude and corruption. But no one really had the appetite for those questions. I remember sighing at the time at someone saying ‘Let’s not hold all of Africa responsible for what one nation does wrong’. I think it might even have been Bono or Geldof who said it – awkwardly, to be fair – but how bloody inconvenient for them to have a &^%$£ cretin (Geldof’s words for Robert Mugabe, I haven’t forgotten that bit because I roared with laughter) ruining Southern Africa when they were so close to making a difference.
Well, this little sentence in The Times article – “they were warned clearly that trade and investment on the continent could be hit unless they acted to deal with the “illegitimate” Zimbabwean president”- says today what I really think the G8 should have been said to African leaders loudly and forcefully a long time ago and especially when they were seeking to do something about poverty on the continent.
Why be so polite about the obvious bad smell in our midst? Is it because it might upset the African leaders? Or would it upset the activists who have spent years campaigning for debt relief and would rather not talk about the things that flag doubt and cause concern and disturb the pretty pastoral picture of Africans labouring for a fair wage.
Somehow the idea of the hard working African person labouring for a fair wage is ruined if we extend the image to imagine him or her just before their hard-working sweaty brow is penetrated by a bullet from an AK rifle wielded by a youth paid by a monstrous regime. No… I can see why we don’t like to talk too much about that side of things.
But how on earth does the silence (Quiet Diplomacy anyone….?) help Zimbabweans who are very hardworking and smart and clever and who are being murdered in ever increasing numbers.
Debt relief is only one part of the reason why our continent is so downtrodden; and yes, unfair trade is another; and there are other reasons too. But there is no doubt that corruption, bad governance, wars, human rights abuses, and a lack of transparency has something to do with the miserable quality of life so many in Africa have to endure.
NEPAD anyone? Peer review? Accountability? Remember all the nice words that our African leaders trot out when they want something but seem to conveniently forget when it comes time to put some meaning into the rhetoric?
Yes, it’s not the fault of all African nations if Mugabe is a moron intent on destroying his country, and yes, they shouldn’t be penalised for that. But wake up African leaders: no one wants to invest money in a continent where those in charge seem to be turning a blind eye to corruption, electoral fraud, murder and a gross violations of human rights.
The G8 warning about how investment could be affected isn’t a threat (although those with a victim complex will jump up and down and cry unfair very quickly) it’s plain simple common sense.
Would you invest money in a very nice well maintained property if it was flanked on one side by a rundown house inhabited by an unsavoury cretin whose tenants kept climbing over your back garden wall at all hours of the night and banging on your door in terror, begging for money and asking for help?
I wish our African leaders would ‘get it’.
July 7th, 2008 20:51
But African leaders do get it! Here is an excellent quote from one of our senior statesmen:
“An African Renaissance must bring an end to these dictatorships, and to the civil wars that have given Africa the distinction of having the largest number of refugees in the world. This business of television pictures showing Africans fleeing war or repression, or dying of desperate hunger because of instability – that must end.
“We have to address the abuse of the notion of national sovereignty, where terrible things would be going on within the borders of a particular country while the rest of the continent stands paralysed because taking action would be seen as interference. It would be said: “NO! NO!! You are interfering in internal affairs, you are violating national sovereignty”. We’ve got to address that issue”
– Thabo Mbeki, Sowetan, 3rd October 1997.
July 7th, 2008 20:57
@Mike… fantastic quote! Did you have that saved somewhere ready to whip out at the right moment? I laughed almost as much at that as I did at Geldof calling Robert Mugabe a &^%$£ cretin.
July 7th, 2008 21:32
@Sokwanele: I sure did! I’ve been digging it out every year or so and it never ceases to delight.
It’s published in a book called “Mbeki: His Time has Come – an Introduction to South Africa’s New President” which was a compilation of quotes by Mbeki on the African Rennaissance and other matters in 1999.
Author / compiler is Terence Corrigan. Published by the South African Institute of Race Relations as part of the Spotlight series.
It’s well worth a read if you can get hold of it. ISBN 0-86982-461-9
July 7th, 2008 22:44
Mike, that really does show up Mbeki for the hypocrite that he is. I cannot understand the man. He is supposed to have sent a letter to the MDC after the weekend meeting with Mugabe saying that he proposes that Mugabe remains as a titular head of state, a president with no executive power, and that Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister and head of government. whatever the MDC thinks of this, the G8 in the meantime have apparently rejected this as presumably non-workable.
If Mbeki is to achieve any real breakthrough in the Zimbabwean crisis he has got first and foremost to place the rule of law and civil liberty above some airy-fairy devotion to sovereignty, and realise that those struggling in Zimbabwe against the regime clearly reject the idea that disloyalty to the dictator equals a loss of sovereignty.
July 8th, 2008 11:53
Hi Sokwanele
@ Mike, that says it all. I think statements like that got him the role of “mediator” people probably expected him to live up to it. Pity he has not. One wonders why?
I was wondering if you guys had seen this http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7494842.stm
It appears African leaders are afraid sanctions will lead to civil war in Zimbabwe.
I am wondering what they call the situation in Zimbabwe now, with an illigitimate government, an economy comparable to that of a country at war and militias running around terrorising people relentlessly.
Nana
July 8th, 2008 12:44
Nicely said. I too wonder what is going on in Mbeki’s head as this disaster continues in his midst. Duplicitousness seems to be a qualification for office and Thabo Mbeki has that skill set. That’s not to say that we don’t have oodles of that sort of talent here in the U.S. It’s just glaring in southern Africa right now.
July 8th, 2008 13:09
@ Nana: You are right, what is happening now is a war; in fact it’s the very same war that Mugabe and his people promised if they were ever to lose a vote.
Nonetheless I’m afraid I agree with Kikwete on this one – he said we all agree about the problem but differ on the way forward. Disagreeing with someone’s proposed solution (e.g. sanctions) does not mean you disagree about the problem. Sanctions made Smith stronger and made people unite behind him despite what he was doing to the country. I wish the EU and US had thought of another word for these personal limitations that are placed on individuals, but right now they help Mugabe give an alternative reason for the state of the economy, and they make less involved parties think this is a power struggle with “The West”.
Apart from arms trading and money laundering (which should be covered by existing laws anyway), what do these personal limitations achieve? They make the West feel they are doing something when there is so little they can do. But wouldn’t it be so much better if Mugabe and co. were allowed to set foot in any country but didn’t dare for fear of being arrested?
I think Western governments have got into the habit of wanting to send “messages” instead of doing stuff. If they want to be effective they should simply remind Africa that they are waiting to see if they live up to their side of the Gleneagles agreement, and make it clear that they are treating them like adults who can decide either way. The signs are that the AU will live up to this, but the West needs to stop sending “messages” and simply pledge their support for an African solution.
July 9th, 2008 01:48
Regional leaders criticizing Mugabe:
Tanzania’s Kikwete – http://allafrica.com/stories/200806200336.html
Rwanda’s Kagame – http://allafrica.com/stories/200806190003.html
Kenya’s Odinga – http://allafrica.com/stories/200806190949.html
Uganda’s Museveni – http://allafrica.com/stories/200806120016.html
Botswana’s Merafhe – http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL01238885.html
Zambia’s Mwanawasa – http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/23/content_8419741.htm
July 9th, 2008 16:14
It’s unfortunate that Mbeki/South Africa has been given the job of mediator. That job requires neutrality, not taking sides, and not pressurising anyone (all the things that Mbeki has been accused of).
It would be far better if the mediator was someone like Kofi Annan – this would at least make it possible for Mbeki/South Africa to take a firmer stance against Mugabe, like Zambia has.
The best chance of getting South Africa to do something constructive in Zimbabwe may be to take away it’s role as mediator.
July 9th, 2008 23:36
Here is another excellent quote from one of our senior statesmen where he stongly affirms the concerns of his superior:
Pivotal to all the efforts of the international community to maintain peace and stability is the fundamental prerequisite to promote and consolidate democracy throughout the world.
President Mandela has correctly said: ‘Our common humanity transcends the oceans and all national boundaries. It binds us together in a common cause against tyranny, to act together in defence of our very humanity. Let it never be asked of any one of us: What did we do when we knew that another was oppressed?’
Thabo Mbeki
In an address to the University of Melborne, Australia, 28th April 1995 to celebrate 50 years of the United Nations.
(As quoted in “Africa ~ the time has come” by Thabo Mbeki. Printed by Tafelberg, Mafube ISBN 0624037339 Page 236)
July 10th, 2008 17:45
He’s always been a man who delights in juggling with words to please audiences. When it comes to the crunch he has proved himself to be mute.
He must have enjoyed reading Shakespear too forgetting that in those plays there are fools and heroes and heroines. What’s difficult in admitting that he can not play a part rather than wearing a wrong mask.
No offence to the South Africans but this man admitted to take on the task of mediator. What can we do but criticise him.
July 10th, 2008 18:27
He has always delighted in quoting Shakespeare and pleasing audiences. What he has overlooked is that when it comes to the crunch he falters.
He should know that there are heroes, fools, and heroines. He also should understand tragedies.
If this is difficult for him then why not admit it and let go. There’s no point in wearing the wrong mask and acting otherwise.
No offence to the people of SA but your man offered to mediate and we expect action.