EVELYN Masaiti, the Member of
Parliament for Mutasa, has fled her home and is in
hiding.
Masaiti, a member of the
opposition MDC, yesterday said her life was in danger. She said she had been
paid several visits at her Mabelreign home in Harare by strangers. Masaiti
said she fled her home last Thursday, abandoning her minor
children.
"I am now in hiding, but my
biggest worry as a single parent is the fate of my four children. I do not
know what will happen to them. They are being harassed," she said. The
children are Nomalanga, 16, Siketiwe, 9, and twins Monalisa and Melisa, 6.
Asked whether the people visiting Masaiti's home were State security agents,
Wayne Bvudzijena, the police spokesman, said: "I have heard your story, but I
cannot comment."
Masaiti said it was
ill-advised to report to the police in the absence of her lawyer because of
the rampant abuse against MDC supporters in the aftermath of the mass action
called by her party last week. She had already suffered a lot at the hands of
the police, she said.
"Last year, just
before the presidential election, I was assaulted by soldiers in the charge
office at Hauna Police Station. It is most unwise to place faith in the
police force," she said. Masaiti's latest ordeal started last week when she
found an unknown vehicle with total strangers parked near her gate as she
arrived from town.
"The people in the
vehicle did not talk to me. Frightened, I remained in the car until they
left. Soon after they drove off I hurriedly got into the house," she said.
She then decided to go into hiding as a
precaution.
But the suspicious visits did
not stop. On Sunday evening, her maid, Monica Munodzana, called her at her
hideout and told her that two men were looking for her. "Munodzana said the
two men did not identify themselves or why they were looking for me," the MP
said.
Masaiti added that on Monday two men
arrived at the house, saying they were looking for one Dovi. Later in the
evening another group came and asked for her. "On Tuesday two men in
plainclothes driving a Defender vehicle, who identified themselves as
policemen, came to my place and said they wanted to see Matamisa. When my
children said there was no one by that name, the men then said they were
looking for me," she said.
Masaiti said
she would seek guidance from Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, on her
next course of action. The government has been widely criticised for human
rights abuses against its opponents.
The
United States and the European Union have slapped government and ruling Zanu
PF officials, including President Mugabe, with travel bans over these
violations. They have refused to recognise Mugabe's re-election last year in
a poll seen as unfree and unfair.
STUDENTS at the Harare Institute
of Technology (HIT) face an uncertain future after the government ordered
them to find other colleges next term to complete their
studies.
The move comes in the
wake of government plans to upgrade the institute to a degree-awarding
institution. Isaac Gumiro, the college's acting principal, said in a letter
to students dated 14 March: "In the secretary's minutes dated 13 March 2003,
each student is required as a matter of urgency to indicate the college of
their choice to complete
their programmes.
"This should be
communicated through the Principal of Harare Institute of Technology between
15 and 21 March 2003 at the latest," read part of the circular. Gumiro said
all training programmes would be terminated at the college to facilitate its
transition into a university.
Faith
Chasokera, the ministry's media officer, yesterday said about 300, mostly
third year students, would be inconvenienced by the relocation. She said the
government was not under any obligation to find alternative colleges for the
students despite the inconveniences
caused.
"The college will be offering
bachelor and masters of technology degrees in industrial engineering,
industrial sciences and industrial technology. The ministry has already
identified the college director as Engineer Kanhukamwe," she
said.
Chasokera said Kanhukamwe was
appointed to run the institution with effect from 1 March. "But those who
will be writing their final examinations in April would not be affected by
the relocation to other colleges,"
she said.
Chasokera said a group of
students were going to meet Washington Mbizvo, the permanent secretary in the
Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education to voice their concerns on the
issue. The Zimbabwe National Students' Union (Zinasu) said it would fight the
move and force the ministry to rescind its
decision.
Nkululeko Nyoni, the union's
secretary-general, said the college should not have recruited students for
new programmes if it was aware of the plans to change the focus of the
institution. "The government left the college to enroll students in May last
year for three-year courses when it knew that it would not take long before
the college was changed into a university," Nyoni
said.
"Now it is ordering the same
administration at the college to disrupt on-going training programmes." He
said Zinasu would not stand idly while the HIT administration nurtured
another crisis.
LONG-DISTANCE travellers were on
Monday caught up in the fray when the shadowy pro-Zanu PF vigilante unit
called "Chipangano" force-marched them to demonstrate against Elias Mudzuri,
the Harare Executive Mayor, at
Town House.
In separate
interviews, disgruntled travellers on Tuesday said the Zanu PF leadership in
Mbare forcibly convened a meeting on Sunday and instructed them to march on
Town House to oust Mudzuri. A Murehwa woman who refused to be named said the
youths came to Mbare Musika where she was waiting to board a bus to her rural
home.
"I was in the company of my son with
our bags," she said. "The youths drove everyone at the terminus to the Mbare
Musika farmers' section where we were ordered to board the lorries which were
offloading potatoes and cabbages."
She
said: "We were ordered to leave our bags at the terminus. They said Mudzuri
had to be removed by any means possible. By the time we returned, our bags
had been stolen. These Zanu PF youths are mere thugs, posing as political
activists." Tapiwa Chikande of Mbare yesterday said the Sunday meeting was
held amid constant intimidation, harassment and
death threats.
Chikande said they were
force-marched to the meeting where they were told to participate in the
anti-Mudzuri demonstration. Mudzuri was elected to council on an MDC ticket.
Chikande said: "On Monday, the Zanu PF youth chairman, Chrispen Machavira,
and the main wing chairman, a Mr Kaseke, went around the area in the company
of several other Chipangano youths and forcibly closed shops and flea
markets. We were gathered at the farmer's section from where we were driven
to Mudzuri's offices. We were unwilling to demonstrate but had no
choice."
He said all transporters were
barred from leaving Mbare Musika for any other destination besides Town
House. "The grievances against Mudzuri are not in any way linked to him," he
said. "The toilets, hostels, the markets and the roads were established long
before his election as mayor.
The
Chipangano group is a bunch of terrorists." The mayor has accused Zanu PF and
government of planning the demonstration while burying national hero Dr
Swithun Mombeshora, the late Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, last
Friday.
Nathan Shamuyarira, the Zanu PF
secretary for information and publicity, has denied any knowledge of the
plans and the demonstration.
MILK supplies could decline by at
least 50 percent this year, if the grave problems haunting the dairy industry
are not addressed, the National Association of Dairy Farmers (NADF) has
said.
Over the past three years
the raw milk production base has endured major challenges on many fronts.
Farm invasions, macro-economic turbulence and government policy complexities
such as price controls, have all weighed in on the production, processing and
distribution of milk.
Stockfeed price
increases, shortages and consumer price controls had also contributed to the
drop in production and supply levels of milk. Stoff Hawgood, the NADF
chairman, said the net effect of the challenges was a 32 percent slump in
milk supply levels between last year and this
year.
He was speaking at the Dairy Farmer
of the Year awards ceremony. Addressing the same gathering, Antony
Mandiwanza, the Dairibord chief executive, said the national dairy herd
delivering milk to the formal sector had dropped by a "shocking" 54 178 cows.
The drop represented a 51 percent decline since
1995.
The decimation of the dairy herd,
said Mandiwanza, was compounded by the decline in the population of
commercial dairy producers. While 437 producers were registered with the
Commercial Farmers' Union in 1995, only 285 remained by the end of last
year.
Mandiwanza urged the government to
adopt corrective measures such as viable pricing of milk products and the
protection of the few strategic producers and the national dairy
herd.
TWO members of the
Commonwealth secretariat were in Nigeria this week reportedly to discuss with
President Olusegun Obasanjo, among other issues, the abrupt U-turn by South
Africa on Zimbabwe's further suspension from
the group.
Don McKinnon, the
Commonwealth Secretary-General, and Joel Kibazo, the director of information,
flew to Nigeria following claims by South Africa that it was not part of the
Troika's decision to extend Zimbabwe's suspension for another nine
months.
Yesterday, Kibazo confirmed they
met Obasanjo to discuss the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
set for December.Nigeria is hosting the CHOGM.Speaking from London, Kibazo
said: "How can South Africa say they were not aware of the decision? After
the Troika failed to agree on a collective position on Zimbabwe, McKinnon was
mandated to consult the rest of the group.
"Some suggested stiffer measures against Zimbabwe while others, including
South Africa, wanted the suspension lifted. The majority were for the status
quo to remain until a decision is made in December in Abuja. This was
communicated to Presidents Obasanjo and Thabo Mbeki of South Africa a day
before the statement was released."
In an
interview with The Daily News on Monday, Bheki Khumalo, President Mbeki's
spokesman said: "Our position has never changed. We never said Zimbabwe's
suspension should be extended. As the Troika meeting, we were mandated to
deal with the Zimbabwean crisis for a year and that time lapsed on 19 March."
Asked whether he discussed the Zimbabwean crisis with Obasanjo, Kibazo said:
"I'll not comment at this stage on the details but we did and the discussion
was fruitful." Last week, McKinnon issued a statement saying the Troika,
comprising Australia, Nigeria and South Africa, extended Zimbabwe's
suspension until December.
McKinnon said
the decision was arrived at in consultation with other members of the
Commonwealth. Following an earlier stand-off among the Troika on Zimbabwe and
subsequent meetings, McKinnon said: "The members of the Troika have now
concluded that the most appropriate approach in the circumstances is for
Zimbabwe's suspension from the councils of the Commonwealth to remain in
place until Commonwealth heads of government decide upon a way forward at the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in December
2003."
Cash-strapped Air Zimbabwe has been
prejudiced of billions of dollars in scarce foreign currency as it forges
ahead with its plans to acquire two 50-seater aircraft from Air Littoral
Industrie SA of France. The money has been lost through the payment of bonus
fees to intermediaries, travel allowances and kick-backs to
management.
Sources familiar with
the contract strongly feel that the airline's management has to be
investigated for illegal foreign currency dealings as a matter of urgency or
the airline could collapse. Documents made available to this reporter show
that Air Zimbabwe entered into an agreement with two organisations to act on
its behalf in order to hire two ATR 42-500 MSN 484 aircraft. The aircraft
will service central and southern African
routes.
The lease agreement is subordinate
to, and consistent with the terms of a sub-lease agreement between Maela
Finance BV of Canada and Air Littoral as sub-lessee as per agreement struck
on 28 June 1996. Aviation experts described
the agreement as a "contract within a contract". Air Zimbabwe will pay Air
Littoral US$147 000 (Z$8 million) for each of the planes every month for the
next three years.
Efforts to get a copy of
the memorandum of understanding between the airline and the French company on
Monday failed. But sources said the management had committed the airline for
the next three years and millions in scarce foreign currency will be paid to
the French in travel allowances, monthly rentals and maintenance work. Rambai
Chingwena, the airline's managing director, refused to discuss
the deal saying it was premature for him to
disclose it.
He said: "It (comment) will
come at the appropriate time. It's at a stage not for public disclosure." An
e-mail to Chingwena by Lionel Sineux, the head of fleet management at Air
Littoral Industries dated 12 March, shows that Air Zimbabwe has already paid
US$357 881,09 (Z$286 304 872) as part of US$450 000 (Z$360 million) security
deposit before the plane is delivered.
A source said: "This ATR business has been Chingwena's preserve. He has flown
outside Zimbabwe on several occasions and claims large amounts in foreign
currency. "The airline has lost substantial amounts through this secretive
deal. The money that Cornwell Muleya, an aviation consultant and the former
acting general manager for Air Botswana was paid, should have been used to
rehabilitate the British Aerospace 146 which has been lying idle in the
hangar since 1999.
"The money should have
been paid directly to Air Littoral Industrie without engaging private
individuals and consultants. "The delegation that travelled to France should
have done that in the first place than wait to lose millions in foreign
currency. Air Zimbabwe paid for Muleya's travels at US$350 each day he
travelled on Air Littoral business."
Another US$170 000 (Z$136 million) was paid as commitment fee . An additional
US$102 086 was paid but Sineux was unsure what that amount was for, saying he
only knew that that transaction was initiated by the Commercial Bank of
Frankfurt (CBF). The contract was signed despite resistance from government
and advice from Air Botswana which once dealt with Air Littoral. Air Zimbabwe
first entered into an agreement to engage Muleya as their consultant, to
source the planes .Muleya wrote to Dennis Maravanyika, Air Zimbabwe's former
senior marketing manager, on 17 October 2002 expressing his satisfaction with
the contract.
Muleya was said to have been
paid US$25 000 (Z$20 million) as success fee for each of the ATR planes and
will receive an additional US$10 000 (Z$8 million) as bonus fee for each of
the planes once the aircraft are delivered to
Harare.
This money is meant to thank
Muleya for not exceeding the target rental of US$100 000 which Air Zimbabwe
was prepared to pay for the aircraft. The aircraft were sourced at a rental
of US$90 000 each. Sources said since the
memorandum of understanding between Air Zimbabwe and Air Littoral was signed
about four months ago, Chingwena has undertaken several business trips to
London, France and Canada, pursuing the deal and claiming millions of dollars
in foreign currency.
For example,
Chingwena last Wednesday travelled from Harare on the pretext that he was
going to Montpellier in France to seal the deal with Air Littoral but instead
stayed in London because his visa to France
was invalid.
He later proceeded to
Canada on unspecified business. He will return on 6 April. According to
sources who travelled to France last week, Chingwena received US$10 800 (Z$8
6 40 000) at the rate of US$600
daily allowance.
Five senior managers
who travelled to Montpellier returned to Harare last Sunday. Each was paid a
daily allowance of US$350 for the one week they stayed in France although Air
Littoral paid for their accommodation and
flight expenses.
Meanwhile, when Muleya's
relationship with Air Zimbabwe reportedly soured, Air Zimbabwe approached
Beaumont and Son of the United Kingdom to assist them complete the Air
Littoral deal. Patsy Barnes of Beaumont and Son, according to documents at
hand, faxed Air Zimbabwe on 18 March, acknowledging receipt of the airline's
accounts and a copy of the memorandum of
agreement.
Chingwena immediately faxed
Cathy Oatridge at their London office concerning the legal fees. He said:
"Please can payment be made immediately to Beaumont and Son in terms of the
attached." He directed that the money be deposited in the Beaumont and Son
Sterling client account 0996602 sort code 18 00 02T on the same
day.
On 19 March,
James Edmunds, a partner in Beaumont and Son,
wrote to Air Zimbabwe confirming Chingwena's flight schedule and said he was
looking forward to meeting him in France. Air Zimbabwe workers said the swift
manner in which Chingwena responded to the request to deposit the $44 million
in foreign currency into the Beaumont and Son account, had shocked
them.
The same management has refused to
release foreign currency to carry out modifications on three Boeing 737
planes. The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe has reportedly threatened to
ground the planes by 31 March unless the modifications were carried
out.
MORGAN Tsvangirai, the MDC
president, has said the opposition party will not back down on its ultimatum
to the government in which, among other things, it demanded the release of
political prisoners.
Speaking at a
Press conference in Harare yesterday, Tsvangirai said the 31 March deadline
was fast approaching and the MDC would continue its consultation process
until its demands were met.
"So far Mugabe
has ignored the people's 15 demands released through the MDC on 19 March," he
said. "We are not retreating from those demands and the ultimatum still
stands. Mind you, the deadline is fast approaching. It is only 6 days to go."
Tsvangirai accused President Mugabe of continuously brutalising innocent
people for demanding a legitimate and democratic government ever since he
"stole" victory in last year's presidential election. He said Mugabe had made
it an offence under the draconian Public Order and Security Act to demand an
accountable government.
Tsvangirai said
the overwhelming response to the MDC's call for the mass action last week
showed that the opposition party was a legitimate authority in the country at
the moment. "The current situation has reached unacceptable levels with more
than a thousand innocent people being hounded from their homes, arrested and
detained as political prisoners when their only crime is to demand their
right to a legitimate and democratic government," he
said.
He said the only programme Mugabe's
government had consistently implemented since the stolen elections has been
to wage a relentless war against the people of Zimbabwe. "Hospitals and
police stations are teeming with men, women and children, with serious
injuries arising from the wave of retribution directed at the opposition
countrywide," he said. "As a result, families are being destroyed in a
calculated plan to burn down Zimbabwe in Mugabe's quest to hold onto power at
any cost.
"We remain the largest political
party in Zimbabwe that represents the sovereign wishes of the people of
Zimbabwe and new members continue to swell our ranks every day, mainly from
Zanu PF," he said. The MDC leader said since
Mugabe robbed him of poll victory last year, the crisis of governance had
continued to deepen. Tsvangirai said it was sad that Mugabe was now taking
advantage of funerals to unveil threats and launch pot shots at the
MDC.
LAST Monday's phony
demonstration against the Executive Mayor of Harare was another instructive
lesson for those who believe the rule of law is alive and well in
Zimbabwe.
Hardly a week earlier,
there had been violence on a large scale in Highfield and Kuwadzana as the
MDC tried to hold rallies to prepare for the two by-elections due this week
in the constituencies. There were beatings and at least two Members of
Parliament said they had to run for their lives as gunshots were fired at
their vehicle. One of them said they escaped death "by the grace of
God".
Accusations of police partisanship
in the disturbances in Highfield and Kuwadzana flew hither and thither - not
for the first time either. The police have been accused of turning themselves
into an active appendage of Zanu PF. The Police Commissioner, Augustine
Chihuri, made a famous statement of his partisanship a long time
ago.
He was neither officially rebuked by
the government, nor did the Ministry of Home Affairs order an inquiry into
his inflammatory utterances - which they ought to have done, as the Police
Commissioner is not paid out of taxpayers' hard-earned cash to protect and
promote the interests of one political
party.
The demonstration against Elias
Mudzuri outside Town House was, by contrast, incident-free. Yet, according to
all the available evidence, the demonstration was neither spontaneous nor
focused on any specific issue, except a vague and general discontent with the
council, in office for a year.
Reports
that most of the demonstrators were virtually coerced to take part in the
protest ought to be investigated, if not by the police, then certainly by an
independent organisation, such as the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association
(ZimRights).
And what is this amorphous
organisation called "Chipangano", allegedly originating in or affiliated to
the Zanu PF branch in Mbare? It seems obvious that the alleged protest
against the mayor was stage-managed from beginning to end by Zanu
PF.
So far, the police have not announced
an investigation into allegations that innocent Mbare residents were forced
to join the protest, or that the leaders of the "Chipangano" commandeered
commuter omnibuses and other transport to ferry the reluctant protesters to
Town House.
If detractors of the police
force now conclude that there are similarities between them and Adolf
Hitler's brutal Gestapo, their argument will be bolstered by President
Mugabe's seemingly glowing references to the Nazi dictator at Heroes' Acre at
the burial of Swithun Mombeshora.
People
who have spoken well of the Nazi dictator since he committed suicide in his
Berlin bunker in 1945 have themselves been identified as power-hungry,
bloodthirsty autocrats, despots, megalomaniacs plagued with xenophobia and
people with little regard for the sanctity of human
life.
If Mugabe is openly siding with
Adolf Hitler, then all his followers would be well-advised to launch a
concerted effort to counsel him against this dangerous adulation. A few years
ago, he spoke disparagingly of the Jewish people and earned himself the tag
of an anti-Semitic fanatic.
Apart from
this, there is the real danger of Mugabe challenging the people to confront
his police force and his own declared intention to "crush" the
opposition. This is not the first time he has spoken so dangerously of using
unconventional methods to neutralise the
opposition.
There are people who have
always doubted Mugabe's commitment to democracy, but if his overall plan is
to physically confront the opposition, then he is raising the political
stakes to a perilous level. The nation may
have to pay dearly for this political recklessness.
SA
has taken issue with the Zimbabwean government's treatment of
opposition protesters during last week's stayaway, telling Harare that it
does not agree with actions that deprive people of the right to peaceful
protest.
In reply to a parliamentary question from Democratic Alliance
leader Tony Leon, President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday that Foreign Minister
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had been in contact with her counterpart in Zimbabwe
following reports of police excesses during the stayaway.
Mbeki and
his government have regularly been criticised for failing to take action when
there have been reports of human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
His
statement yesterday is the clearest indication yet that government
has engaged its Zimbabwe counterparts on issues of this nature in the
past.
But despite taking the matter up with Harare, the crackdown has
continued, with Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe ordering security forces
to take strong action against the opposition.
Mbeki said Dlamini-Zuma
had "given instructions to our high commissioner in Zimbabwe to look into all
these matters. We are dealing with that question with the Zimbabwe government
and indeed have said to them that we do not agree with actions which deny the
right of Zimbabweans to protest peacefully."
"We are therefore dealing
with this particular matter directly with the Zimbabwe government and will
continue to do so. We will see what the outcome is."
Leon asked Mbeki
to comment on the progress towards democratisation in Zimbabwe, pointing out
that over the past weekend, "250 members of the opposition were hospitalised,
400 arrested, 260 in detention without being charged because of a work
stoppage which in any other democratic country would be perfectly
legal".
Mbeki calls for support of
talks in Zimbabwe March 27,
2003
By Jeremy Michaels and John
Battersby
Zimbabwean opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai has given the green light for reopening stalled talks with
President Robert Mugabe's government.
Tsvangirai confirmed the change of heart after President Thabo
Mbeki yesterday welcomed the MDC leader's decision to return to
talks.
In the most upbeat remarks he has
made on Zimbabwe in many months, Mbeki said every effort had to be made to
encourage the MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF to find a negotiated settlement to the
country's problems.
"The leader of the MDC
is now saying 'please let us go back to these negotiations' - I agree with
that and we'll try to do our best to help them achieve that objective," Mbeki
told parliament yesterday.
Responding to
Mbeki's assessment of his comments in the media, Tsvangirai said: "It is a
correct interpretation.
"Dialogue is the
only solution, but it has to be principled. That it is the only way to
resolve the country's problems without Zimbabwe degenerating into chaos and
anarchy."
He emphasised that he was not
suggesting that the MDC would withdraw its court challenge to the
controversial outcome of last year's presidential election, which Mugabe won
by a slim but disputed margin.
"I'm not
saying that we are withdrawing our court case, but the talks should resume -
there is already an agreed agenda for those
talks.
"We are not going to suspend our
court action, just like we are not stopping the government from prosecuting
us for so-called treason."
He was
referring to the ongoing court case in which he is a co-accused in a treason
trial stemming from an alleged plot to assassinate
Mugabe.
Asked if he was saying the talks
should resume regardless of the court cases, Tsvangirai responded with a
resounding "yes".
Asked whether he saw the
possibility of a trade-off on the court cases in a bid to get the stalled
talks back on track, he said: "If there is any trade-off, that should be part
of discussions, so yes, we want ... an open-ended
discussion."
Mbeki urged the Zimbabweans
to go back to negotiations, pointing out that the talks initiated by himself
and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo had stalled because of the MDC court
challenge.
Responding to questions from
MPs, Mbeki said he would be "quite happy" for South Africa to host the
talks.
"The problem is to get them to sit
down to sort out their problems," he
added.
Mbeki echoed comments earlier in
the day by Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma objecting to a
violent state crackdown against opposition supporters after a two-day strike
last week.
Pretoria could never "agree
with actions that deny the right of Zimbabweans to protest peacefully,
democratically".
"We'll deal with it in a
manner that seeks actually to produce results. We're not going to deal with
it in a manner that makes good headlines and does not produce results," he
said.
Mbeki also emphasised that he had
openly criticised the violent nature of the land redistribution programme and
insisted on a return to the rule of law in
Zimbabwe.
But he berated those in the
opposition benches who were calling for "smart" sanctions against Mugabe,
citing the need to co-operate on practical matters such as the recent
outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in Zimbabwe, which led the European Union
to consider a ban an beef imports from the entire Southern African
region.
"It's okay to say that if you are
in Canberra or London ... but here, across the border from Zim, there is no
possibility whatsoever, that the South African government will impose smart
sanctions."
Earlier, the government
cautiously welcomed the mediation by Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane
in Zimbabwe, but warned that present circumstances were not conducive to an
early breakthrough.
"Anything that will
bring about reconciliation and establish a proper political dialogue between
the parties is to be welcomed,"
Dlamini-Zuma said.
Deputy Foreign
Affairs Minister Aziz Pahad said Ndungane's initiative had not "come out of
the blue".
Presidential spokesperson Bheki
Khumalo said Mbeki and the archbishop would meet next week to discuss the
mediation effort.
The meeting would also
give the archbishop an opportunity to report back on his recent talks with
both Zanu-PF and the MDC, as well as with trade unionists, non-governmental
organisations, and other members of religious and civil society, Khumalo
said.
Mugabe gave the archbishop the green
light to proceed with his mediation effort. But he also said the question of
a political dialogue between Zanu-PF and the MDC should be handled within the
framework of the initiative led by Mbeki and
Obasanjo.
Dlamini-Zuma confirmed after a
parliamentary discussion on her budget that she would soon travel to Harare
as part of a Southern African Development Community delegation of ministers
led by Angola, which currently chairs Sadc. - Political
Bureau