There's little to be cheerful about regarding that sad country. But maybe, just maybe, things may be coming to a point now...
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Zimbabwe: Crisis Mounts for Cornered Mugabe
As the president orders a violent crackdown on the opposition, some say support for him is slipping in his own ZANU-PF party.
By Frederick Tsotso in Harare (AR No. 101, 14-Mar-07)
Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe is now like a cornered cat. Faced with a fast-imploding economy, growing opposition from within his ZANU-PF party and a more militant opposition, he has thrown caution to the wind and like a desperate feline is lashing out at those around him.
Zimbabwe appears to be degenerating into chaos as unrest simmers in Harare and other parts of the country, sparked by government-sponsored attacks on political opponents and an economic meltdown that is fuelling public anger against Mugabe and his ruling party.
Matters came to a head on March 11 with the arrest of Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, MDC, and other political, civil society and student leaders and human rights activists. They were detained as they were on their way to a prayer meeting in the capital Harare, organised by the pro-democracy Christian Alliance.
After their arrest, leaders including Tsvangirai and Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly, were badly beaten by police while in custody, according to supporters who gained access to them. Tsvangirai and others were initially denied access to lawyers and health care.
Political analysts had long predicted that a surge in police violence could shift the confrontation between the Mugabe government and its opponents up a gear - taking the fight out onto the streets where it could spiral out of control.
Following the March 11 violence, the unrest spread to the streets of Harare, the eastern city of Mutare, and Gweru, the Midlands provincial capital, as activists staged demonstrations demanding the release of the jailed opposition leaders and the ousting of the Mugabe government.
But the ageing president has held out, rejecting the opposition’s demands.
Human rights workers, opposition leaders and international officials argue that the chaos is part of an orchestrated campaign by the Zimbabwean authorities to ensure the re-election of Mugabe, an increasingly unpopular leader who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
“This is a political game that is being played,” said Alois Chaumba, national chairman of the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace. “There is no way we could have free and fair elections because of the amount of intimidation going on at the moment.”
Tevedzerai Marecha, an office worker in the capital, said, “Seven years ago Zimbabwe was a wonderful country. Now we are in hell; we are slowly hurtling towards civil war.”
The MDC, Zimbabwe’s leading opposition party, said trigger-happy police loyal to Mugabe had killed three of its members in recent days, in what it said were politically-motivated attacks.
The authorities in Zimbabwe confirmed only one of the killings - that of Gift Tandare, killed as security forces moved to head off the meeting at Highfield . Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said Tandare was shot dead after attacking police officers on the way to the assembly
Police claimed the meeting - organised by the Save Zimbabwe Coalition, an emerging alliance which brings together all the opposition parties, civic groups and church organisations - was in fact an anti-Mugabe political rally disguised as a prayer meeting so as to circumvent a ban on such events under the draconian Public Order and Security Act.
Lawyers representing the detained opposition and civic leaders had to file an urgent application to the High Court Chamber to gain access to their clients. It took a High Court order from Justice Chinembiri Bhunu for the detained leaders to be allowed to see their lawyers and receive medical attention.
In a serious indictment of the law enforcement agencies, the court conceded that detainees had been tortured. Justice Bhunu later issued an order demanding that they be brought before the courts immediately for an initial remand hearing.
As Tsvangirai appeared with other detainees at the Rotten Row magistrates courts in central Harare on March 13, he could hardly walk and had deep bruising all over his body and a massively swollen face. Several other detainees had to be carried into the court, and some sat on the floor. One wore a bloodstained shirt and all appeared dirty, tired and disheveled .
Disregarding the High Court order that they be formally charged, the state refused to provide a trial magistrate, resulting in the detainees being taken back into police custody for a fourth day.
“These actions are symptomatic of a rogue regime that has lost all semblance of sanity and decency,” Innocent Gonese, legal affairs secretary for the opposition MDC told IWPR.
“Lawyers spent the whole night serving copies of the court order, but the police have simply thumbed their noses at the court and shown total disdain and contempt of due process.”
Countless human rights bodies and key western governments, including the United States administration, have roundly condemned the police action, as has the European Union.
The Zimbabwean government raced to defend its position, saying Tsvangirai and his supporters were trying to court international attention by breaking the laws of the land.
“Tsvangirai knew there was a ban on rallies. I think [he] wanted to be arrested, because he wanted more support from London and Washington,” said ZANU-PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira.
Speaking from South Africa, Shamuyarira denied allegations of rights abuses in an interview with the public broadcaster SABC 2.
The police killing of Tandare, which the opposition has described as “cold-blooded murder”, has heightened tension in the capital, touching a raw nerve among an already agitated population, reeling under the unprecedented economic decline that many blame on Mugabe’s misrule.
Mourners at Tandare’s funeral in Glenview, a poor suburb on the outskirts of Harare and a bedrock of opposition to the Mugabe government, vowed to avenge his death. There was a palpable mood of anger at the wake.
At least two opposition activists, Nickson Magondo and Naison Mashambanhaka, were shot by riot police as they tried to lead a procession from the funeral to a police station to demand justice.
Police fired teargas and used water cannons for several hours as they battled protesters at the funeral, who were chanting, “Ndimi makauraya, hazvina mhosva” – “You have murdered him, no sweat”.
Angry mourners said police and security forces in Zimbabwe were waging a campaign of intimidation against opposition leaders in a bid to cripple the Save Zimbabwe Coalition.
Rita Sithole, who sells vegetables at the Machipisa shopping centre in Highfield, the densely-populated suburb where Tandare was shot, said she was shocked at the level of police brutality.
“How can they kill a person for going to a prayer meeting?” she asked. “This is the height of impunity. It goes to show how callous this regime has become.”
“These are the last kicks of a dying horse,” said another woman, requesting anonymity. “God will judge Mugabe and his police harshly for stopping people pray[ing] for their country, which is clearly in crisis.”
Nyasha Moyo, an MDC activist, told IWPR at Tandare’s funeral that Mugabe’s government had created a climate of intimidation and political violence to silence critics of his plan to postpone the next presidential election from a scheduled date of March 2008 to some time in 2010.
“We are not intimidated by these bully-boy tactics,” said Moyo, wearing opposition MDC regalia. “We want elections next year, and we will make this country ungovernable if they try to postpone.”
Mugabe, who marked his 83rd birthday last month amid great pomp and fanfare, announced this week that he would seek another term of office if asked to do so by ZANU-PF party, whether the election was held as planned in 2008 or delayed by two years.
Critics say Mugabe has mismanaged Zimbabwe’s economy and violated human rights, plunging a once-prosperous nation into crisis. Annual inflation last month exceeded the 1,700 per cent mark - the highest rate in the world - unemployment is above 80 per cent, and there are chronic shortages of food, medicines and fuel.
Faced with a rising tide of anger, Mugabe has now fixed his eye firmly on the opposition, especially Tsvangirai.
But analysts say change is likely to come from within his own party, as internal opposition continues to mount. They say different factions within ZANU-PF now see the president as the major impediment to their own futures - political and economic.
Frederick Tsotso is the pseudonym of a journalist in Zimbabwe.
Loic
The opposition leader got roughed up pretty badly. I must say, why isn't the African Union putting its men together to march onto Harare to depose that obese dictator?
Deborah
What does his weight have to do with anything??
Loic
Actually, I wonder how he got so fat despite coming from a country with over 600% inflation rate and subsistence dependant upon the charity of other countries.
I am not besmirching his character, of course. It was actually a cheap shot, I admit. I remembered once mentioning the girth of the former Australian opposition leader Kim Beazley and it provoked the exact same question from Frances, asking me what his weight has got to do with anything.
Well, it has everything to do with his sex appeal and in an increasingly superficial world obsessed with good looks, it matters.
But well, I am being spastic here.
Deborah
Don't stop, loic -- I love the ingenuity of your excuses!
KSa
Recently I watched a report on how white farmers have been treated by Mugabe in Zimbabwe, how many of them lost their properties, were killed or expelled.
I'm surprised that the reaction in the world towards this form of rascism has been so aloof.
I cannot imagine a reverse situation these days (black farmers being killed or deprived of their properties) without international sanctions, condemnations etc.
Loic
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Don't stop, loic -- I love the ingenuity of your excuses!
I aim to please, Ma'am!
Ksa: Actually, sanctions have been imposed but they are rather mild and more of a slap on the wrist than anything else. Zimbabwe is a rather sensitive case study in race relations. It was ruled by a white minority much like apartheid South Africa until 1984. The illegitimate government was recognised by no other country with the possible exception of their fellow isolated neighbour South Africa. Zimbabwe or Southern Rhodesia as it was then known, was nominally a British colony until 1984.
In the eyes of Robert Mugabe, 'white' democracies do not have the moral licence to criticise his treatment of white farmers. In fact, any sanctions imposed usually ended up embolding an embittered Mugabe. In the end, it is his countrymen who are paying the ultimate price for his incompetence.
The Zimbabwe cricket side used to have men of talent but many have since fled the country. The parlous decline of their cricket is a sorry reflection of the direction which the blighted country has taken.
André in Zuid-Afrika
loic wrote:
Actually, I wonder how he got so fat despite coming from a country with over 600% inflation rate and subsistence dependant upon the charity of other countries.
I am not besmirching his character, of course. It was actually a cheap shot, I admit. I remembered once mentioning the girth of the former Australian opposition leader Kim Beazley and it provoked the exact same question from Frances, asking me what his weight has got to do with anything.
Well, it has everything to do with his sex appeal and in an increasingly superficial world obsessed with good looks, it matters.
But well, I am being spastic here.
Oh, besmirch his character as much as you want, Loic, he deserves it!! Fact is, he got fat while most of his countrymen are starving... so his weight is actually relevant.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Zimbabwe: From school teacher to sexworker
May 22, 2007 09:43 AM
By IRIN
HARARE - Surviving the world's highest inflation rate is resulting in people ditching their professions and embarking on work, which they had never previously considered.
Mavis, a qualified nursery teacher, has swapped her life as an educator for that of a sexworker and now cruises for clients in the up market hotels of the capital Harare.
"I am a professionally trained infant teacher, but last year I decided to quit the profession as the money that I was earning was not adequate to sustain myself," she told IRIN. "The odd tourist is always good for business because they pay in foreign currency and they are always very generous with their money."
Although foreign tourism has dropped off considerably in the last few years because of the country's political and economic woes, Mavis said there was still a class of people in Zimbabwe who were able to afford her services and the best place to proposition them remained the hotels.
"If I was still working as a school teacher, I would be earning just over Z$300,000 (US$7.5 at the parallel exchange rate of Z$40,000 to US$1) a month, but now, I can charge as much as Z$500,000 (US$12.5) per night regardless of whether the client wants my services for a short while or for the whole night."
Mavis said that the majority of her clients were married men, who had to get home to their wives. "When clients cannot be with me for a long time, I can double my earnings in a single night," she said.
Her new work carries with it the risk of AIDS, as one in five Zimbabweans aged between 15 and 49 are infected with HIV. "I would not do anything as reckless as unprotected sex. I am an educated person and I know the hazards. There are some clients who demand to have unsafe sex and even offer to pay more but I insist on the use of condoms or cancel the transaction," Mavis said.
More than 5,000 teachers failed to report for duty when schools opened for the new term two weeks ago.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions estimates in its latest economic review that hyperinflation had reduced wages and salaries to remuneration received in 1965. An average public servant earns about Z$300,000 (US$7.5) a month, while the cost of living for a family of six for the most basic requirements, such as rent, food and school fees, is estimated at about Z$2 million (US$50) a month.
Independent economists contend that the official annual inflation rate of
3 713 percent is less than half of the real rate of inflation. In a recent weekly newspaper column, economist, Eric Bloch said "With inflation having soared, based on the Consumer Price Index (it's) in practice exceeding 8 000 percent." The Consumer Price Index is a measure of price rises affecting a specific basket of goods.
"The hyperinflation is so pronounced that an estimated 85 percent or more of the population is striving to survive with insignificant incomes, far below the Poverty Datum Line and more than half of Zimbabwe's people are suffering at levels below the Food Datum Line, being the minimum resources needed to avoid malnutrition," Bloch said.
Sarudzai works as a domestic helper for three young female journalists, doing their laundry at the weekends and general house-cleaning one day a week. The journalists were initially perplexed by their maid, as she seemed "too intelligent" for such menial work, and became a good source for news story, particularly regarding the police.
The conundrum of their maid's life was exposed when the three journalists were stopped at a police roadblock and among their number was a police officer who looked vaguely familiar: then it dawned on them the policewoman was their domestic helper.
After some initial embarrassment and a mumbled apology from the policewoman, the coincidence was to change Sarudzai's life. She resigned from the police force five months ago, after her unmasking had led to options for better-paid work.
"When I came out in the open with the journalists, they introduced me to a lot of their friends who I now do part time work for. I am very grateful for the break which they gave me because while I would have been earning Z$400,000 (US$10) as a sergeant in the police, I now make Z$3 million (US$75) a month from doing laundry and cleaning for young professionals in Harare," she told IRIN.
The government has said 15,000 public servants have resigned in the past 12 months and half of all government posts were vacant.
Robert Chimedza was at one time a manager at a Harare hotel, but because of the dwindling number of foreign tourists visiting Zimbabwe, his employers told him and his colleagues that their salaries would be reduced in line with the slump in tourism.
Instead of accepting the lower wages, Chimedza resigned, took his six-month redundancy cheque and cashed in his pension. "I pooled my pension and requested the salaries in advance and raided the foreign currency black market and bought as much foreign exchange as I could," he told IRIN and then he left for neighbouring South Africa.
"I had done my research and established that a lot of companies and government departments did not have foreign currency to buy supplies in South Africa. I made arrangements with pharmacies to import basic medical supplies," he said.
"After selling my products at the prevailing black market rate, I raid the illegal foreign currency market, go and buy some goods in South Africa and supply local companies because the manufacturing sector has all but collapsed and is now dependent on people like ourselves to import basic products," Chimedza said.
He has no regrets about his decision to resign from his hotel job and said his entrepreneurial talents had rewarded him handsomely, as he now owns a house in one of the township suburbs and drives a car imported from Japan.
Loic
Zimbabwe strikes me as a country which is undergoing massive turmoil. Its living standards are really no different from those of countries at war.
I think many African leaders are too lenient on Robert Mugabe. His track record as an independence hero means nothing if he does not translate the trust invested in him back then into tangible improvements in the quality of life.
Some people have proposed imposing a sporting ban on Zimbabwe. I am not sure if that'd be effective. The sporting ban hit apartheid South Africa hard because the sporting public of South Africa were rather influential and resented the enforced isolation. Besides, South Africa were -and remain- good in cricket and rugby and being denied a chance to flourish on the world stage must have hurt.
Zimbabwe is not a contender for any sporting accolade for the time being.
But do people in Zimbabwe even have any interest in sport?
I think an enforced regime change in Zimbabwe would not be a bad thing. I seriously cannot imagine anyone saying 'no' to the international community marching onto Harare and forcibly deposing Mugabe.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Inflation in Zimbabwe now an impressive 150 000% per month. By the end of March, it's expected to be 200 000%. The "election" going on there, will almost certainly end in a civic war. And of course, the world doesn't care.... After all, it's not as if oil or diamonds or anything valuable is at stake, merely people's lives... I'm sure not Obama or Clinton or McCain are losing any sleep over this.... They'll make an appropriate speech at the right venue with the right audience... and of course the right media present... and everything will be fine! For the US, of course!! And Europe! After all. they've done their bit, the US and European govts, giving loads of money to Mugabe without caring whether the people who needed it, actually got it! (No, they didn't)
Perhaps you guys in the US and Europe should start asking the question: Is your money spent in Africa to improve people's lives, or is it merely spent to finance the obscene lives of vicious dictators? And the answer to the latter part of the question is.... YES!!!!!
And whatever you do, don't give money to Zimbabwe... It's more than likely a Mugabe agent asking you...there are some of them around in the US and Europe now.... make sure of his credentials!
Tiffany
I'm so sorry, what can I do?
André in Zuid-Afrika
Tiffany wrote:
I'm so sorry, what can I do?
You can make your voice heard. Write to your local media, your local political representative. Start asking how your money is spent in Africa. Can your governments account for what is being done with your tax money in Africa?
This man is killing people. There are now roughly 2 million Zimbabweans in SA (out of a total Zim population of 11 million) , all people who have fled Mugabe's vicious regime. Africa's Hitler...
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This weekend President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe is expected once again to rig elections in order to hold onto power while neighboring Botswana, Africa's oasis of peace and good governance, will celebrate the retirement of President Festus Mogae after two productive terms. The contrast between Botswana and Zimbabwe could not be more stark, or more illustrative of good and evil in Africa.
Botswana, one of Africa's wealthiest countries per capita thanks to diamonds, tourism and sensible management, has enjoyed more than four decades of honest, practical government under three popular presidents. On Monday, Mogae will give way to Vice President Ian Khama.
Guided by Mogae and two other democratic presidents, the small country has flourished and become the envy of all of Africa. Despite high HIV numbers, its hospitals and clinics provide retroviral drugs to all sufferers. Its schools and universities provide increasing numbers of local and neighboring peoples with instruction.
Rule of law is observed and corruption hardly exists. Botswana's secret is high quality leadership, broad levels of political participation, and extensive accountability.
Across the Shashe River, Botswana's border with Zimbabwe, all is tragedy. Where Botswana's presidents made their desert bloom, Mugabe - president since Zimbabwe's independence in 1980 - has turned his once lush, prosperous nation into a desperate, desiccated despotism, with hunger and bitterness everywhere.
Zimbabwe's hospitals have no medicines or sutures, its schools no textbooks or teachers. Life expectancy is the lowest in the world, age 34 for women. Electricity and water are available only occasionally. The difference again is leadership.
Mugabe, 84, falsified the parliamentary elections in 2000 and 2005 in order to prevent a victory of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, led by trade unionist Morgan Tsvangirai, 56. Mugabe blatantly rigged the presidential election of 2002 to prevent another victory by Tsvangirai. On Saturday Zimbabwe's beleaguered voters again go to the polls to cast ballots for president and for parliament.
This time Mugabe is running against Tsvangirai and Simba Makoni, 58, Mugabe's one-time minister of finance. Throughout Zimbabwe, Tsvangirai is drawing large crowds to meetings that, too often, are broken up by the country's police. Wherever the meetings can be held, there are spontaneous shouts of "chinja" - "change." Makoni's rallies are much less well attended, and Mugabe's listeners are trucked in from distant villages, escorted by police. A nationwide opinion poll taken last week in a country where polling is dangerous reported 28 percent for Tsvangirai, 20 percent for Mugabe, 8 percent for Makoni, and the rest undecided or "too scared to vote."
Although Mugabe promised the African Union that the elections would be fair, it has been clear for months that Mugabe intends to win, by fair means or foul. No independent foreign observers will be allowed to watch the election or the centralized counting at a "command center" controlled by Mugabe. Police are being sent into each polling station to question potential voters. There are no independent safeguards for ballot boxes, or for the count.
There are other ominous signs. More than 9 million paper ballots have been printed for about 6 million registered voters. Zimbabweans in neighboring countries cannot vote, but 600,000 ballots have been printed for the 20,000 Zimbabwean diplomats and soldiers abroad.
Intimidation is rife. In Bulawayo, officers of the Central Intelligence Organization arrested MDC supporters and made them eat an MDC poster that they were affixing to a wall. Human Rights Watch reported that teachers distributing flyers were assaulted with iron bars and pieces of furniture by ruling party thugs. In areas where hunger is prevalent, the ruling party distributes corn meal only to persons promising to vote for Mugabe.
The commander of the Zimbabwean army says that he will not permit Mugabe to lose, and will stage a coup if there is an adverse vote. The commissioner of police, not to be outdone, promises to fire live ammunition at anyone who protests the conduct or result of Saturday's poll.
Zimbabweans will have to brave heavy odds and the veritable horsemen of the apocalypse to oust Mugabe and turn their once proud country into a reborn Botswana
André in Zuid-Afrika
Where Mugabe lives...
Yes, really...
André in Zuid-Afrika
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Harare - Zimbabwe's general election was a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people, a team of observers from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said in a report ON Sunday.
Angolan Sports Minister Jose Marcos Barrica, the head of the mission from the 14-nation regional bloc, said that observers had some concerns about access to the state media, voter education and comments by security chiefs.
"Notwithstanding the concerns highlighted, the elections have been a peaceful and credible expression of the will of the people of Zimbabwe," he told journalists in Harare, reading from the report.
While there have been no figures so far on turn-out levels, the Angolan minister said that the mission had been impressed by the number of people who had voted as well as the atmosphere.
Bloodshed
"We saw a much better turn-out than we ever imagined," he said.
"People were predicting that there would be violence on polling day, that there would be bloodshed and that no-one would go to the polls, but I must say that we all witnessed people going peacefully to vote. There was no violence."
In the run-up to the poll, the head of the armed forces said he would not take orders from Western "puppets", a clear reference to main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and former finance minister Simba Makoni.
Both are running against veteran President Robert Mugabe.
The head of the prison service also instructed his staff to vote for Mugabe.
While criticising the statements, the SADC said they were merely the views of individuals.
"Those statements were individual statements, they were not institiutional they were not made in the name of the government."
A free and fair election...
André in Zuid-Afrika
Although I've had no access to the Zim election results, I can confidantly say that Mugabe has "won". Of course, this has nothing at all to do with how people have actually voted...
KSa
André, what are the official relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe?
André in Zuid-Afrika
KSa wrote:
André, what are the official relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe?
The official relations are quite good. The SA government has been followed what they call a "silent diplomacy" policy towards Zim, meaning that they don't critisise the Mugabe govt in public. This policy has little support amongst South Africans, and in general the SA public is strongly opposed to Mugabe. The fact that there are now an estimated 2 million Zim refugees in SA adds to this.
Latest news...
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Harare - Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe is ready to step down after he accepted he failed to win the country's presidential election, a senior source in his ruling party and diplomats told AFP on Tuesday.
An official in Mugabe's Zanu-PF party said the long-ruling president was prepared to step down but was still trying to win agreement from the army's chief of staff, Constantine Chiwenga.
"He is prepared to step down because he doesn't want to embarrass himself by going to a run-off," the source said on condition of anonymity.
"There is only one person still blocking him, the army chief of staff."
Two senior diplomats in the capital Harare meanwhile confirmed that a deal had been done for Mugabe to step aside in favour of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
"Everything indicates that Mugabe will leave power smoothly," said one of the sources.
The second European diplomat said that Tsvangirai had called a news conference for later in the evening.
Exit strategy
"It (the news conference) indicates at least that Tsvangirai feels secure and that he has something to say."
Various sources had earlier confirmed that senior members of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party and aides to Mugabe had been holding negotiations about an exit strategy since Monday.
The talks opened after it became clear that Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, had been beaten in the first-round of the presidential election which was held simultaneously with parliamentary elections on Saturday.
The ruling party source said that it now appeared that Tsvangirai had won around 48% of the vote - not enough for an outright majority - but that Mugabe did not want to suffer the indignity of going through a second round run-off with Tsvangirai later this month.
The MDC is confident that it has won both the presidential and parliamentary elections and is already slightly ahead of Zanu-PF in the legislative count with two-thirds of the results declared.
However there has still been no official results from the presidential contest, prompting MDC accusations that the authorities were desperately trying to cook up a way to keep Mugabe in power.
Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has admitted to his family and advisers that he has lost the most important election of his 28-year rule, South African financial daily Business Day reported on Thursday.
Mugabe lost control of parliament for the first time since independence in 1980 and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said he had also been defeated in a presidential election last Saturday and should concede defeat.
Business Day said Mugabe had privately conceded defeat and was deciding if he should contest a run-off vote needed because MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai failed to secure a clear majority.
"Mugabe has conceded to his closest advisers, the army, police and intelligence chiefs. He has also told his family and personal advisers that he has lost the election," Business Day quoted an unidentified source as saying.
Not seen in public
The newspaper said hardliners in Mugabe's government wanted him to see the contest through to the bitter end, but that personal advisers and his family want Mugabe to quit.
The ruling Zanu-PF and Mugabe's spokespeople were not immediately available for comment.
Mugabe, known for his fierce and defiant rhetoric, has not been seen in public since the vote.
In final results of the election for parliament's lower house, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won 99 seats, while Mugabe's Zanu-PF won 97 seats and a breakaway MDC faction won 10. One independent candidate won a seat.
Results for parliament's upper house, the senate, will be issued next.
No official results have emerged in the presidential vote.
The opposition and international observers said Mugabe rigged the last presidential election in 2002. But some analysts say discontent over daily hardships is too great for him to fix the result this time without risking major unrest.
The mainstream MDC faction said its Tsvangirai had won 50.3% of the presidential vote and Mugabe 43.8% according to its own tallies.
Loic
It is high time for him to go. He has been a massive disappointment. To think that so much hopes were invested in him in 1980.
Is Pretoria doing anything to bump him or is he being mollycoddled by Thabo Mbeki? Angola also exerts considerable influence over Mugabe's fortunes. It is essential that Zimbabwe's neighbours act in concert to endorse change in the cesspool of mismanagement that is Zimbabwe.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Loic wrote:
It is high time for him to go. He has been a massive disappointment. To think that so much hopes were invested in him in 1980.
Is Pretoria doing anything to bump him or is he being mollycoddled by Thabo Mbeki? Angola also exerts considerable influence over Mugabe's fortunes. It is essential that Zimbabwe's neighbours act in concert to endorse change in the cesspool of mismanagement that is Zimbabwe.
Of course it's high time for him to go! As for Pretoria, we have Thabo Mbeki... And as for the rest of the world....
Elaine
Why oh why does the African Union continue to handle this mad hatter with kid gloves? And what is "go hang" supposed to mean?
Loic
Zimbabwe is a blighted country. The latest humanitarian disaster to befall on this wretched nation is an epidemic of cholera. The health-care system has collapsed. The water and sewerage system has broken down. Sick Zimbabweans are either dying like flies or streaming into neighbouring South Africa.
I wonder why negotiations between the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF are progessing at such a snail's pace. This is only proof of Mugabe's intransigence to agree to any meaningful sharing of power. It doesn't help that the SADC (South African Development Committee) is overtly biased towards the despotic incumbent: Thabo Mbeki is trying to browbeat Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC into agreeing to Mugabe's terms.
Andre, do you think Jacob Zuma would take a harder stand?
Elaine: I believe "go hang" simply means "go and die". I really hope Mugabe and his stooges will do just that.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Loic wrote:
Zimbabwe is a blighted country. The latest humanitarian disaster to befall on this wretched nation is an epidemic of cholera. The health-care system has collapsed. The water and sewerage system has broken down. Sick Zimbabweans are either dying like flies or streaming into neighbouring South Africa.
I wonder why negotiations between the MDC and Mugabe's ZANU-PF are progessing at such a snail's pace. This is only proof of Mugabe's intransigence to agree to any meaningful sharing of power. It doesn't help that the SADC (South African Development Committee) is overtly biased towards the despotic incumbent: Thabo Mbeki is trying to browbeat Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC into agreeing to Mugabe's terms.
Andre, do you think Jacob Zuma would take a harder stand?
Elaine: I believe "go hang" simply means "go and die". I really hope Mugabe and his stooges will do just that.
Hi Loic, good to see you again!
Yes, things are going from bad to worse in Zim. The reason why negotiations are going so slow, is because Mugabe is restraining it. It's difficult to say whether Zuma will take a harder stand. He has critisised Mbeki in the past for the way he has handled Zim, but the new president, who is little more than a Zuma stooge, hasn't done much better.
Of course, at the moment it's a good question whether Zuma will become president. Firstly, he still has that little matter of the charges against him to deal with, secondly, with the recent split in the ANC and the launch of a new party, there is a good change that the ANC will not win next year's election, and that a coalition could take over. Such a coalition will certainly take a much stronger stand against Mugabe.
Loic
Hullo, Andre! I am very glad you're still around.
With regards to Zuma being President, I'd always assumed that it is a foregone conclusion. He enjoys widespread support among the rank and file of the ANC. The ANC is the only serious political force in South Africa at the moment, a party that has the necessary grassroots support to form the government.
I must admit that I don't quite like the look of him. I am sorry to say, but he looks like one of those faceless thugs one often sees in Hollywood films. The sort of baddie who gets killed in a shoot-out with the cops and whose name only rolls up at the bottom of the credits. It doesn't help his cause that his past is less than pristine white. I am sure South Africa deserves a better candidate for the top job of the country.
With respect to Zimbabwe's situation, it reminds me of a cynical saying that Africa is the continent of the future and always will be. In many respects, having a racist Ian Smithesque regime in the country would be infinitely better than an incompetent and dictatorial regime with scant regard for ameliorating the poverty of the country.
My heart always aches when I think of how Robert Mugabe singlehandedly allowed the national cricket side to become a mere shadow of its former self.
André in Zuid-Afrika
Loic wrote:
Hullo, Andre! I am very glad you're still around.
With regards to Zuma being President, I'd always assumed that it is a foregone conclusion. He enjoys widespread support among the rank and file of the ANC. The ANC is the only serious political force in South Africa at the moment, a party that has the necessary grassroots support to form the government.
I must admit that I don't quite like the look of him. I am sorry to say, but he looks like one of those faceless thugs one often sees in Hollywood films. The sort of baddie who gets killed in a shoot-out with the cops and whose name only rolls up at the bottom of the credits. It doesn't help his cause that his past is less than pristine white. I am sure South Africa deserves a better candidate for the top job of the country.
Hm, you've been neglecting your studies of current South African politics again, haven't you? There has been a huge breakaway recently from the ANC, and a new party has been formed by the dissidents, called the Congress of the People (Cope). All indications are that they have strong support, and, together with other opposisition parties, will not only substantially reduce the ANC's majority, but even defeat the ANC in at least three provinces, perhaps more, in next year's lections. A survey done just before the breakaway, showed that the ANC has, at that time, already lost 15% of the support it had in the 2004 elections. Observers are predicting more splits to come. While victory for the ANC in next year's elections seemed like a foregone conclusion three months ago, the situation has dramatically changed now.
Hehe, loved your description of Zuma!
Quote:
The fledgling Congress of the People already has 40 000 members, interim provincial co-ordinator Leonard Ramatlakane told 330 delegates at the party's policy conference.
Some of the issues grappled with included ensuring food security, enhancing the education system, building a strong and effective criminal justice system, building stronger families, and changing the electoral system.
The conference was held at the Manzomthombo Senior Secondary School in Mfuleni on Saturday and attracted delegates from across the Western Cape.
Ramatlakane said the party, due to be formally launched in Bloemfontein on December 16, had thousands of volunteers offering their time and using their own money as they went about recruiting people.
Quote:
With respect to Zimbabwe's situation, it reminds me of a cynical saying that Africa is the continent of the future and always will be. In many respects, having a racist Ian Smithesque regime in the country would be infinitely better than an incompetent and dictatorial regime with scant regard for ameliorating the poverty of the country.
My heart always aches when I think of how Robert Mugabe singlehandedly allowed the national cricket side to become a mere shadow of its former self.
The end for Mugabe seems near. SA newspapers today predicted his fall within the next two weeks. Let's hope...
Elaine
Quote:
"I will never, never, never never surrender. Zimbabwe is mine. I am a Zimbabwean. Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. Zimbabwe never for the British, Britain for the British," Mugabe told his party's annual conference.
Fact is, he got fat while most of his countrymen are starving... so his weight is actually relevant.
After all, it's not as if oil or diamonds or anything valuable is at stake, merely people's lives... I'm sure not Obama or Clinton or McCain are losing any sleep over this.... They'll make an appropriate speech at the right venue with the right audience... and of course the right media present... and everything will be fine! For the US, of course!! And Europe! After all. they've done their bit, the US and European govts, giving loads of money to Mugabe without caring whether the people who needed it, actually got it! (No, they didn't)
There has been a huge breakaway recently from the ANC, and a new party has been formed by the dissidents, called the Congress of the People (Cope). All indications are that they have strong support, and, together with other opposisition parties, will not only substantially reduce the ANC's majority, but even defeat the ANC in at least three provinces, perhaps more, in next year's lections. A survey done just before the breakaway, showed that the ANC has, at that time, already lost 15% of the support it had in the 2004 elections. Observers are predicting more splits to come. While victory for the ANC in next year's elections seemed like a foregone conclusion three months ago, the situation has dramatically changed now.