via Zuma joins Mugabe’s EU boycott | SW Radio Africa by Alex Bell on Monday, March 31, 2014
South African President Jacob Zuma has made a last minute decision not to attend this week’s European Union (EU) – Africa summit, which is facing a boycott led by Robert Mugabe.
The fourth EU – Africa Summit will take place on Wednesday and Thursday this week in Belgium, and plans to bring together African and EU leaders under the theme ‘Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace.’
Some African leaders, including Zambia’s Michael Sata, have already started arriving in Brussels ahead of the meeting. But it was announced this weekend that Zuma would not be joining his counterparts. Instead, Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane will represent South Africa at the meeting.
South Africa’s Presidency has not said if Zuma’s withdrawal from the summit is linked to Mugabe’s boycott threat, with the 90 year old ZANU PF leader lashing out at Europe for ‘dictating’ the makeup of the African delegations. Mugabe was left fuming after his wife Grace was not invited to attend the Brussels gathering and was refused a travel visa.
Mugabe’s boycott threat was last week then echoed by an organ of the AU, which recommended that the entire African bloc not attend the summit. Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi, said a meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council held in Ethiopia Wednesday recommended that Africa boycotts the summit if the EU ‘insisted’ on determining the composition of country delegations.
Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for South Africa’s department of international relations and co-operation, said on Monday that Zuma “has other commitments,” and would not elaborate further.
The South African leader however was quoted by the national SABC broadcaster as saying: “I think that time must pass wherein we are looked as subjects; we are told who must come, who must not come, we have not attempted to decide when we meet Europe; who must come and who must not come. It is wrong and causes this unnecessary unpleasantness.”
Mugabe has reportedly also been angered by the EU’s decision not to invite his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, who faces war crimes and genocide charges before the International Criminal Court. Also left off the invite list is the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, an AU member, with the African bloc accusing the EU of trying to undermine the AU’s authority and sovereignty. Eritrea has also been barred from attending because of its human rights record.
Exiled Zimbabwean journalist Tanonoka Whande said Monday that the EU is again facing a credibility crisis, by bending the rules for some “dictators” and not others. Mugabe himself was originally not set to attend the meeting, because he remains targeted with European restrictive measures. These same measures have prevented his wife from travelling to the EU.
“This shows the inconsistency of the EU. Why are the rules being bent to accommodate Mugabe?” Whande questioned, calling the move “sanctions busting.”
Meanwhile Rose Benton, the coordinator of the London based protest group, the Zimbabwe Vigil, said that a demonstration will be held at the Brussels meeting this week.
“We felt we should be there. We are protesting about the lack of the rule of law in Zimbabwe and Europe’s support of an illegal regime. It seems Europe doesn’t care about Zimbabweans and we need to protest this,” Benton said.
COMMENTS
Obviously the AU cares much more about the individual pride of their heads of state then the lives of their own citizens. This action illustrates once more how backward and unsophisticated these leaders really are. They are the reason African development is lagging behind the rest of the world.
Would you call this a case of “cutting off ones nose to spite their face”.
Silly people.
Wrong headline dude…Zuma is not boycotting the summit, it is because he is just too jolly lazy to get off his rear end and go.
The leaders of Africa are so shallow minded that they let the visa of a woman who has got nothing to do but spend money on gifts for herself to be the deciding factor of their countries investment. Very sick people!
What can we expect from someone like Zuma who doesn’t think there is anything wrong with R 206m being spent on ‘upgrading’ his family homestead? Like most other African countries the majority of the electorate in RSA hasn’t come to realise that he is a corrupt, incompetent clown so they will vote ANC come May 7th!!!
Saddened
You have no shred of evidence that Pres Zuma is corrupt; what evidence do you have? You have to produce the evidence instead of toweing the line of the media and white racists and balck tribalists.
Can you produce even a single document with Pres Zuma’s signature authorising the spending of that money on his Nkandla hometead? Even the Public Protector Thuli Madonsela found no such evidence.
Stop spreading lies and hatred. Stick to facts!!
Zuma is a puppet of other countries. He is told what to do by other countries. China instructed him not to allow the Dalla Rairama and he obeyed. Last month he was instructed by Mugabe not to attend the memorial service of Nelson Mandela in London and he obeyed and instead attended Bona’s wedding. Today is the EU summit. Again taking instructions from Harare. This man is not fit to be president. No wonder why the GNU was not a succes.
Absolutely agree with your comment. Perhaps he will spend another ” working visit ” at Mugabe’s mansion, instead, partying and who can tell maybe three in a bed. We all know that Zuma’s moral compass sits on a magnet and thus he has no idea how to point his arrow in the right direction. Any direction will do as long as it satisfies him in one way or another.
Chamunorwa
When Pres Zuma insisted on the implementation of the Global Agreement, you were all praise for him because it suited you. He did and said things that you wanted to hear, neeh? How silly.
Zuma is a president of South Africa, not of the gukurahundi Republic, accept it!!
Thick as thieves I believe the saying is
Lets face it, the real reason the Mad Bob is not going is because he can’t trust the ‘Fist’ Lady being alone, footloose and unfettered.
As at the last count, Zuma has 6 similar reasons to keep a close vigil on the home front.
Zuma must be forgiven. He probably didn’t know which wife to take to the summit or the wives were fighting amonsgt themselves so the best thing was just to cancel!!!
The ANC was too embarassed to send a man with a shower fitment strapped to his head and therefore Bob had no free flight courtesy SAA Airforce 1 so he used the Grace excuse.Some men always hide behind the skirts of their wives.
Having seen most of Zuma’s wives, I dont think he has much to worry about in that regard. It would take a brave man!! Grace of course is fairly presentable, but knowing of her behaviour over the years, one would again have to be brave taking into account the uncontrolled and rampant STD’s in Zimbabwe!!
This is a misleading headline. Zuma is not going but is sending Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. Its not like Zimbabwe where the country will not be represented by anyone because Grace was not invited.
Not every leader is attending this summit. Some leaders are sending representatives like Zuma is doing but in Zimbabwe Mugabe wants to attend every meeting even though he just goes there and sleeps.
Zuma is standing knee deep in the pit latrine. Now is not a good time for him leave SA. He has a tad of explaining to do. But he will be voted in because this is how we work in Africa.
NBS
You are lying – all you are saying is mere wishful thinking. There is no explaining to be done by Zuma. He has already stated his poition. Today, he is merely following proceedure by writing to parliament.
In a week or two all this hoolaballoo about Nkandla will die a natural death. It has happened before, the E-tolls are history; the spy tapes are history; the arms deal is history; the Mbeki recall is history.
Each time the Zulu boy from Nkandla, has truimphed. Its gonna happen again this time around.
The ANC is on a winning streak, come May 7, you will all swallow your words.
We talking of Msholozi here, the ten-year Robben Islander. We talking the AFICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS here, the 102 year old People’s Movement.The oldest Liberation Movement on planet Earth.
They have been around, been there; done this and done that and thoroughly seasoned, tried and tested!!
I hear the EU did not send the visa to 700 wives and 300 concubines. A bloated delegation of one man and his wives. Besides, Zuma has Nkandla, election compaign etc to worry about
if truth be told, Zuma would not contribute anything to this summit. Someone needs to write the ideas down before Zuma even struggles to read them. The rwo will not be missed. Who would be missed to be attacked by the dog that you feed
the topic of discussion in Brussels “‘Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace.’is hardly something these two would like. What they are doing in their own countries does not point to such human values. They are self aggrandisers.This is a deliberate ploy to avoid embarrassment because they will be the bad examples at Brussels. Zuma ruled SA for some years yet SA citizens still do not have housing, yet He extended his harem village. About Zim the meat speaks for itself. They are afraid of being booed for anti-development and pro-corruption policies. If you were them, would you have gone there? How Brave could that be?
Zuma is not going to the summit because he has to appear before parliament before wednesday to clarify on his side of story of the Prosecutor general finds on Nkandla, How cn you go to the summit when your house is burning
Zuma wants to stay home to check out his new gym and have a dip in the pool. Bob is too broke to go anywhere after the wedding bills started arriving. Twats.
Ever since just before the July 2013 elections, there was a definite shift in the Zuma administration’s stance towards Mugabe, including that failure to support Mugabe’s insults of Ms Zulu.
The Mbeki administration did not want to see an MDC victory on ideological grounds. But even taking into consideration that the ANC functions somewhat as a collective, what is behind Zuma’s shift from a more an initially more balanced stance back to Mbekiism?
Is the return of ex-wife (and Mbekiist) Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma back into the sphere of foreign affairs, via the AU (after her stint in Home Affairs) responsible in any way?
We well remember her days as a very close counterpart to Stan Mudenge.
My SA husband tells me that Dlamini Zuma stuffed up Home Affairs good and proper and then went on to do the same with the other portfolios she held.
Rwendo
All of you political immature and ignorant people should try to understand South Africa’s foreign policy position towards the rest of Africa.
SA has time and again explained that, unlike the Apartheid regime of yesteryear, they as the government of the ANC will always act within the confines of regional bodies.
They may as a country probably hold a different view, but will always take the position of regional bodies – that is the SADC and the AU.South Africa has been consistent along this line.
Its you people who refuse to hear or listen, because you want the SA government to do or follow only those policy positions that please you, or suit you.
There has been no shift on South Africa’s views towards Zimbabwe, but instead there has been a shift in SADC’s and the AU’s position towards Zimbabwe.
The ANC still believes some of gukurahundi ZANU PF policies are a disaster, and Gwede Mantashe, the Secretary General has said this again and again.
He recently said they dont want to destroy SA’s economy by following ZANU PF policies on land and they have stuck to that. However, I am sure you are aware government and the ANC are not really one and the same thing. Govt takes SADC positions all the time.
Remember, SA is not like Botswana, they are a power broker economically and politically on the African continent, hence can not afford to alienate other African countries, given their huge investments on the continent and the paternalistic, colonialist history of the Partheid past. They try to be different from their Apartheid predecessors.
Botswana can afford differing with everybody because they are a small economy and not really dependent on the whole continent.
Botswana is basically dependent on one country, South Africa. Its the only country they need to please, not the rest of Africa.
I am not aware of any major investments by Botswana on the continent, that is why they can afford annoying or irritating everybody.
SA has MTN, Eskom, Transnet, Pick ‘n Pay, ARM, and numerous other companies doing business on the African continent – so they have to be much more careful in how they handle political developments on the rest of the continent.
Announced on news today that Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as the country in Africa with the top economy! Zuma is no longer king of the continent!
Zuma has some building works to attend to…
I was under the impression she received good reviews from many South Africans for upgrading technology, reducing turn around times and tackling corruption on BCs, National IDs, passports etc.
Whichever way, as Foreign Affairs minister during Mbeki’s time she was very much aligned to the Mugabe regime – to the extent that at one time rumours were started about her and Mudenge.
I wonder if Zuma has not started too heavily relying on her for African and Zimbabwe foreign policy direction, following her recent appointment as Chairperson of the AU Commission.
If she did do a good job then well done to her. I will tell my other half to check his facts.
And Home Affairs was her last appointment until 2012 and before the AU, NBS, so if your husband says she “then went on” to other portfolios, I’m not sure he has the right person in mind.
Yes maybe. I will check with SA.
Like dealing with children.
NBS
You are lying – all you are saying is mere wishful thinking. There is no explaining to be done by Zuma. He has already stated his poition. Today, he is merely following proceedure by writing to parliament.
In a week or two all this hoolaballoo about Nkandla will die a natural death. It has happened before, the E-tolls are history; the spy tapes are history; the arms deal is history; the Mbeki recall is history.
Each time the Zulu boy from Nkandla, has truimphed. Its gonna happen again this time around.
The ANC is on a winning streak, come May 7, you will all swallow your words.
We talking of Msholozi here, the ten-year Robben Islander. We talking the AFICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS here, the 102 year old People’s Movement.The oldest Liberation Movement on planet Earth.
They have been around, been there; done this and done that and thoroughly seasoned, tried and tested!!
Rwendo
All of you political immature and ignorant people should try to understand South Africa’s foreign policy position towards the rest of Africa.
SA has time and again explained that, unlike the Apartheid regime of yesteryear, they as the government of the ANC will always act within the confines of regional bodies.
They may as a country probably hold a different view, but will always take the position of regional bodies – that is the SADC and the AU.South Africa has been consistent along this line.
Its you people who refuse to hear or listen, because you want the SA government to do or follow only those policy positions that please you, or suit you.
There has been no shift on South Africa’s views towards Zimbabwe, but instead there has been a shift in SADC’s and the AU’s position towards Zimbabwe.
The ANC still believes some of gukurahundi ZANU PF policies are a disaster, and Gwede Mantashe, the Secretary General has said this again and again.
He recently said they dont want to destroy SA’s economy by following ZANU PF policies on land and they have stuck to that. However, I am sure you are aware government and the ANC are not really one and the same thing. Govt takes SADC positions all the time.
Remember, SA is not like Botswana, they are a power broker economically and politically on the African continent, hence can not afford to alienate other African countries, given their huge investments on the continent and the paternalistic, colonialist history of the Partheid past. They try to be different from their Apartheid predecessors.
Botswana can afford differing with everybody because they are a small economy and not really dependent on the whole continent.
Botswana is basically dependent on one country, South Africa. Its the only country they need to please, not the rest of Africa.
I am not aware of any major investments by Botswana on the continent, that is why they can afford annoying or irritating everybody.
SA has MTN, Eskom, Transnet, Pick ‘n Pay, ARM, and numerous other companies doing business on the African continent – so they have to be much more careful in how they handle political developments on the rest of the continent.