Our president has blood on his hands

South Africa’s continued inaction on Zimbabwe is a disgrace. Mbeki’s “quiet diplomacy” is merely a euphemism for his cowardly indifference. He continues to turn a blind eye while the Mugabe regime systematically rages war on its people, avenging them for daring to exercise their democratic will at the ballot box.

“No crisis.” Yes, that is what Zanu-PF’s continued stranglehold on Zimbabwe amounts to for our president. It’s no crisis that an election is being held hostage; that the result has been ignored; and that there’s a farcical — and illegal — partial ballot recount.

Under the iron grip of its murderous dictator, Zimbabwe, a once-prosperous nation, has slid slowly towards the abyss. Millions are starving. The army and bureaucracy are in shambles. Lively informal settlements have become flattened moonscapes. The political opposition is quashed. Ordinary people are mercilessly persecuted. There is near-total press censorship, illegal farm expropriation and exponential inflation.

Silence about this criminal autocracy equates to a tacit approval of it. Thus, our president is complicit in the Zimbabwean catastrophe. South Africa, as Africa’s economic and military powerhouse, has been in the unique position of being able to pressurise Zimbabwe into reforming, yet Mbeki has done nothing. He has passively watched our beleaguered neighbour and the way its citizenry, both black and white, have been — and continue to be — shockingly abused in ways that bear a palpable resemblance to the sufferings of blacks during South Africa’s apartheid.

The two presidents may share a history of resistance against the subjugation of the majority. They may also share a few character traits. But this is no excuse for Mbeki to regard the friendship and approval of a megalomaniac comrade such as Mugabe as more important than the democratic votes, the fundamental rights and — most importantly — the lives of millions of Zimbabweans.

Had Mbeki and the South African government stepped in several years ago, Zimbabwe wouldn’t be imploding into the tragic mess of chaos and unimaginable suffering that it is now. Countless lives would have been saved and the economy would have remained intact. The Zimbabwean tragedy could have been avoided. It could have been avoided if South Africa, led by its president, had acted on its moral obligation — as a young democracy and a close neighbour — to champion democracy and uphold human rights.

It is only too clear that President Mbeki has blood on his hands. His chilling silence and continued attempts to give this tragedy a veneer of legitimacy means he may never be able to wash it off.