We need someone to talk to Robert Mugabe

South Africa is sticking to its policy of “quiet diplomacy” as it tries to persuade Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to respond to the country’s political and economic turmoil, even after the push by the European Union to have the 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)to take firmer action on Robert Mugabe over the desputed March 28 Presidential election.

Emerging from an extraordinary session of SADC, Zambian president Levy Mwanawasa failed to affirm SADC’s position on Zimbabwe. Indeed, the meeting in Lusaka reached a deadlock over how todeal with Zimbabwe’s president Robert Mugabe, South Africa President Thabo Mbeki who held a separate meeting with Robert Mugabe has warned aganist external interferance into the internal affairs of Zimbabwe.

After the meeting in Harare, President Mbeki said: “on the question of Zimbabwe, it’s an internal problem which requires patience and time. Lets give them more time to resolve the despute.” In diplomatic terms, that terse line in the lengthy statement clearly indicating how deep the differences between South Africa and SADC over Zimbabwe really stands. Both regional and international powers led by AU, EU and the US wants the SADC to act firmly against the Mugabe government, which it they say has clung to power through fraudulent elections.

The world powers also fear that the Zimbabwean regime is blocking food aids to the regions of the country dominated by supports the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Zimbabwe has been hard hit by famine, caused by drought and the disruption of the country’s agricultural sector by controversial land reform program which has seen mainly white farmers being driven off their farms, with minimum compensation.

The land was to be distributed to Zimbabwe’s peasants but instead only supporters of the government were allocated. The division between South Africa and its patners in SADC has calledinto question whether South Africa President has the leadership required in mitigating the Zimbabwe crisis.

The EU and the US has barred Zimbabwean government officials to enter member states of the union; it has imposed travel sanctions, among others restriction. South Africa has failed to act as international mediator to assist the people of Zimbabwe in their endeavour to find national reconciliation,economic reconstruction and sustainable development. Now, South Africa is in an awkward position.

It lacks the support of the AU, EU and its SADC partners. The program to build political stability and kick start social and economic development in Zimbabwe is on a head spin to disaster. The other set back is the failure id the NEPAD initiative which is actively promoted by South African President Thabo Mbeki and promises better political and economic governance by African countries in return for better trade and aid deals from the advance economies: and for better or worse the international community sees Mugabe as a test case for both Africa’s leaders.

While south African officials have been quietly been making it clear that Mbeki is opposes to the way land reforms were carried out in Zimbabwe and the way the government is holding onto power.

The South African president has avoided getting in slanging match with the Zimbabwean government. After his meeting with Robert Mugabe, Mbeki expressed optimism in the political future in Zimbabwe underlining the fact that the results of the desputed presidential elections are a ‘small set back’ in the Zimbabwe transition. Speaking in Ghana after meeting UN Secretary General Moon, Zimbabwe’s opposition leaders warned of looming political crisis in Zimbabwe.

The MDC leader said that Zimbabwe needed assistance from the UN to deal with some of the challenges that had arisen following the delay in releasing the results of presidential elections. The MDC leader said that the UN should work towards the normalization of democracy in Zimbabwe and persuade president Robert Mugabe to concede defeat.