By Tichaona Sibanda
5 November 2008
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to take to the streets of Pretoria
in South Africa on Sunday, during the SADC summit on Zimbabwe.
A wide coalition of placard waving Zimbabwean groups will march to the venue
of the summit to hand over a petition to the regional grouping, calling on
the leaders to stop the rot in Zimbabwe.
Leaders from the 15-nation SADC bloc will be meeting to discuss the deadlock
in talks between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe over the formation of a
coalition government.
Nickson Nyikadzino, a pro-democracy activist, told us from Johannesburg that
Zimbabweans in South Africa will register their discontent over Mugabe's
intransigence in forming an inclusive government. Mugabe and Tsvangirai
signed a power-sharing agreement in September, but the establishment of a
unity government has stalled as Mugabe shows that he is not prepared to
fairly allocate important ministries to the MDC. Former South African
President Thabo Mbeki and the SADC have been trying to broker an end to the
dispute.
'We want to send clear message to Mugabe and the SADC leaders that people in
Zimbabwe are dying unnecessarily because ZANU PF does not want to share
power equally with its partners in the tripartite power-sharing deal,'
Nyikadzino said.
He said Sunday's march against the regime is expected to be by far the
largest. Authorities in South Africa have remained tight-lipped over the
summit venue but South African based journalist Brian Latham confirmed the
crisis summit is to be held in Pretoria, although authorities have not said
anything about the exact venue.
Nyikadzano said they have information that authorities are trying to
frustrate them from going ahead with their protest, citing their
unwillingness to disclose the summit venue. He said they are working round
the clock to get that information before Sunday.
'We know they (authorities) become averse when it comes to issues pertaining
to protests against Mugabe whenever he's in the country. But that won't stop
us from registering our disapproval against him and his party,' Nyikadzino
added.
SA growing impatient with Zimbabwe impasse: Zuma
http://www.sabcnews.com
ANC President Jacob Zuma has signalled to Zimbabwean leaders that South
Africa may be getting impatient with the way power-sharing talks are
stalling. Zuma says Zimbabwean leaders should not be allowed to apply
delaying tactics which could derail power-sharing talks.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders will hold an emergency
summit in Pretoria on Sunday aimed at breaking a deadlock in negotiations.
Zuma says the weekend talks are a last opportunity to compromise on
political disagreements. He says he agrees with those calling on SADC to
exert more political pressure on President Robert Mugabe and the MDC to
immediately enforce the September 15 power-sharing deal.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government has also accused Botswana
President Ian Khama of interference. It says his call for fresh elections to
solve Zimbabwe's political crisis was an act of extreme provocation. Khama,
who has emerged as one of Mugabe's staunchest critics in Africa, has told
Botswana's parliament that an election was the only way out of the deadlock
that has thrown a power-sharing deal between Mugabe and the opposition MDC
into doubt.
Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa says Khama has no right under
international law as an individual or country to interfere his country's
domestic affairs. A smaller SADC meeting in Harare last month failed to
break the impasse.
Source: Swradioafrica
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