Zimbabwe: Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war

When Mugabe and his henchmen start spouting on about treason and fictitious requests for invasion, purportedly made by the MDC and ridiculed by the British government, then their intent is all too clear.

What the electorate of Zimbabwe has taken away, Mugabe and his now illegal regime will reclaim over the dead bodies of “his people”. The senescent tyrant has now clearly demonstrated that he is ready to sacrifice anything and anyone in order to cling to power.

The 84-year-old, having lived twice the life expectancy of the rest of the citizens of that country, is not quite ready to hand over the reigns of power to the MDC — to allow foreign aid to pour in and the rebuilding to start. There is still an ounce of blood he hasn’t drained from his countrymen.

The warnings issued by the Zimbabwean police, war veterans flexing their muscle and arms arriving from China means that unless something is done soon, Africa will give birth to another one of its neverending wars.

The EU, the United States and many others in the international community are screaming for action. The South African president is at the United Nations defending “quiet diplomacy”. It is indefensible. It has resulted in the worst economy in the world, destabilised a region, caused starvation and brought the knowledge that at 18 years of age, a citizen of that country has reached middle age.

It is so unpopular and misguided that between three and five million exiles have arrived at our door asking to be put up for a night or two. The ANC itself has now started to ask serious questions about it; the opposition parties are at a loss to understand why it was ever adopted in the first place.

The largest trade union in Zimbabwe, the ZCTU, has politely adjudged the president as perhaps not the man for the job.

What is staggering is that Mbeki was at the Security Council for the purpose of addressing the problems of Africa — all very noble — all the while trying to keep Zimbabwe off the agenda. That is not mere shoddy statesmanship; it’s an embarrassment to our country.

A regional power, on the Security Council and neighbour to the worst meltdown in Southern Africa in many years, and we have our president trying to explain why we are assisting Mugabe to retard the handover of power.

For that is what this form of “quiet diplomacy” is — the support and/or ignoring of wholesale butchery.

The international community, in the interests of avoiding a conflict in Zimbabwe, must issue a clear and unequivocal ultimatum to Mugabe and Zanu-PF: get out now — before we throw you out. If the tyrant believes that this is negotiable, he will simply keep turning the screws until the people buckle.

If it is war — and right now the shares for that proposition are right up — then the thank-you that this country has given the people of Zimbabwe for the shelter that was given to South Africans during apartheid is total onslaught by Mugabe and his hordes.

Lest we forget, it was the people of Zimbabwe who helped the ANC in exile — not Mugabe