In a move that has been described as misguided, the regional organisation shamelessly called for the international community to remove all forms of sanctions on the southern African country. SADC claims that progress has been made in the implementation of the GNU agreement. Preposterous it sounds indeed.
This move by SADC is an embarrassment for the regional body because it not only legitimises the brutal regime of Mugabe the dictator; it all calls into question the credibility of SADC in the face of the international community.
It seems SADC is a loose collection of Southern African heads of state who suffer from a mild form of mental derision.
For them to sit on a round table and come to a decision like this is laughable. For heaven’s sake, these are heads of state of their respective countries and you can only imagine what executive decisions these people have to make in their own country with this background of foolish political gesture to a corrupt regime.
This makes them look corrupt and they have now ultimately become accomplices in the political and economic destruction of the Zimbabwean people.
When you have someone like Joseph Kabila chairing a meeting that will call for an end to Zimbabwe’s sanction, you do have a problem right there. When you have someone like Jacob Zuma endorsing this blatant disregard of the suffering of the people of Zimbabwe you begin to wonder whether he really has the best interest of Zimbabwe at heart.
It seems that Zuma’s only interest for the west to end sanctions on Zimbabwe is to send packing home the thousands of Zimbabwean refugees who are having a toll on the South African economy. This is the primary reason to support this mindless act by SADC. He may have ended up losing the respect of Prime Minister Tsvangirai who got assurances from him that he would call Mugabe to account.
The direction Zimbabwe should take is in the hands of its own people. They cannot rely on SADC anymore to influence much needed change in a country that has suffered enough already.
Yes sanctions must end, but the mechanisms have to be in place to have an effective government machinery to manage what is left of Zimbabwe’s political and economic life. And Mugabe should have no role in that.
Lifting sanctions is one thing, getting Zimbabwe back on its feet is another. And Robert Mugabe has slowly lost the qualifications to do this. Mugabe should give way to a new political and economic atmosphere in Zimbabwe. If he cannot understand that he is the obstacle, then how can he identify the solution?