Rev Frank ChikaneSouth African National Congress chairman and thus uncontestable President designate Jacob Zuma, allegedly despatched Rev Frank Chikane of the SADC mediation team headed by former president Thabo Mbeki to ensure the Harare dialogue between coalition government principals does not implode and give him a baptism of fire as soon as he is sworn in as the President.
And President Mugabe whose leadership credentials the next South African leader respects without equivocation but whose intolerance and superiority complex Zuma abhors to the extreme could not prevent the impromptu visit.
Despite requesting Premier Tsvangirai to allay any fears of a deadlock on issues threatening the coalition union now in charge of Zimbabwe by SADC and AU imposition Jacob Zuma could not be persuaded to leave anything concerning Zimbabwe to chance and promptly despatched his trusted emissary.
The lame excuse that Reverend Chikane was in the country on private business that coincided with the crucial meeting of coalition government principals was meant for the gullible followers of the politics unfolding in the country which events on the ground do not support.
Zuma is reputed for brooking no nonsense from anyone in politics friend or foe it matters not. He is so liberated he is not afraid to call a spade a spade and prevaricate depending on prevailing circumstances and how they will impact on his position.
The unfortunate part for Zimbabwe’s rigid president is that Zuma has an ear for advice from reputed Mugabe critic and ANC Secretary General Gwede Mentashe who at one instance Mugabe slapped with a prohibited immigrant order and bundled back in a flight to South Africa after he attempted to lead a fact finding mission of the powerful Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) after Mugabe had instituted a brutal repression initiative against Zimbabwe congress of trade Unions (ZCTU) leadership in Zimbabwe in 2006.
The Zimbabwe top six meeting to address the outstanding and new threats to the Coalition Government in the country that President in waiting Zuma had so much input in coercing and will not take kindly to its being forced to fail commenced at 14.00 hours and was scheduled to deliberate on threats that include;
1. Unexplained delayed in swearing in of MDC-T nominee for Deputy Minister of Agriculture Roy Bennett.
2. The stagnant reconfiguration of provincial Governors allotment between coalition Parties
3. The disputed appointment of Reserve bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana both of which were done by president Mugabe from his Zanu PF stable without consultation and consensus between the coalition principals.
4. The sporadic upsurge of violence and disruptions on commercial farms
5. The stalled lifting of travel sanctions after the formation of the coalition government
6. The disputed unilateral appointment of permanent Secretaries by President Mugabe
7. The contested reconfiguration of the ICT and Transport and Infrastructure ministries by President Mugabe that reduced the ICT ministry to a shell and overloaded the Transport and Infrastructure Development Ministry with communication responsibilities removed from ICT.
8. Continued persecution of MDC-T and Civic Society Activists by the Attorney General
9. The muted silence on Ambassadorial appointments, and the
10. Squabbling in the Finance Ministry between the Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Finance Minister Tendai Biti that has now been expanded to cover beneficiaries of the Central Bank’s quasi-fiscal initiatives and Legislators’ vehicle procurement scheme.
The Global Political Agreement implementation stage exceptions are threatening the coalition government’s continued existence and are wasting too much of the government’s limited time resources that could be well spent in turning around the country’s battered economy.
Zuma wants to start his term as president of South Africa with these distracting issues in neighbourly Zimbabwe clearly defined in his mind to allow him adequate time to plan for their disposal and leave him ample time to focus on critical South African concerns not least of them the 2010 FIFA World Cup preparations.
He does not want a situation to arise where he will be pressured to announce a dramatic policy shift on foreign relations with Zimbabwe as such a development could create divisions within the ANC that has just been galvanised by the electoral victory recently scored.
There is a lasting bond between Zanu PF and the ANC that is premised on the Liberation struggle history shared by the two parties in their respective countries.
Although President Mugabe was more comfortable with the PAC wing of the South African liberation movements he nonetheless cultivated strong links with ANC leadership and gave the liberation struggle great momentum by hosting its leaders who were in foreign refuge much closer to the South African border.
Whereas Mugabe is pedantic and rigid in pursuing realisation of his beliefs right or wrong, the next South African president is reputed as firm and ruthless in pursuing his objectives but also attentive and accommodative of dissenting views which he exploits at very short notice and makes his own surprising many of his opponents.
He is simply unpredictable.
Views that his ascendancy to power could spell disaster for Mugabe and Zanu PF are ill premised.
Zuma will take some convincing by the MDC to advance its cause. The only advantage the MC can exploit is its close ties with the COSATU which is a key constituency in the ANC whose views about Mugabe and Zanu PF misrule were being drowned by academics fencing former president Thabo Mbeki.
Zuma will still have these advisors around him but will certainly increase attention paid to the labour advisors from COSATU.
Mugabe will have to learn to content with being in the company of a powerful political broker with academic qualifications that are even more inferior to those held by his ignoramus Premier. Jacob Zuma only attended school up to standard 3 (now called grade 5) and did not receive any formal schooling after primary level education.
Mugabe has never hidden his admiration for academics as he deliberately appointed to his successive Cabinets an impressive lineup of Doctors and Professors in all fields of academic excellence.
They however failed to deliver as they were detached from the generality in the population they worked and there were broken links between what government leaders wanted in life and what the generality people aspired for.
Unless Mugabe and his elitists learn how to connect with grassroots which Zuma is perfectly comfortable with, he will be in trouble in dealings with a Jacob Zuma led South Africa.
Any hint that he despises the new South African President either directly or indirectly by labeling Tsvangirai an ignoramus as he has done in the past will trigger South African reactions that Mugabe and Zanu PF will not be able to contain.
The intermarriage relationship between Professor Welshman Ncube and Jacob Zuma seen as a crucial factor in Zimbabwe/South Africa political relations will not have much significance and may actually work in favour of Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Professor Ncube does not have the political clout and acumen he is credited with in the public domain. He commands no following detrimental to political configurations in Zimbabwe and is more detached from the grassroots than Mugabe.
Sure the South African President may go along with Professor Ncube’s MDC faction for a while but that will not change political configurations in Zimbabwe in any significant way other than that Professor Ncube will be guaranteed a visible political role whichever way he decides to go politically.
What is evident is that Jacob Zuma is aware of the political dynamics in Zimbabwe and will use that knowledge to deal decisively with the outstanding Zimbabwe issues.
That is why despite the claim that Reverend Chikane was on a private business mission to the country he was granted meetings with top MDC and Zanu PF leaders to inform them of what is likely to happen if the issues remain unresolved and the new South African President is required to intervene.
No comments:
Post a Comment