Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai Expected to Meet Zuma Over the Weekend

SW Radio Africa (London)

Lance Guma

25 March 2011

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to meet South African President Jacob Zuma in Durban on Saturday, as part of his regional tour of SADC states. The MDC leader has been briefing SADC leaders about the collapsing coalition government, asking them for help in constructing a roadmap towards free and fair elections.

Tsvangirai is expected to brief Zuma on the worsening situation including the arbitrary arrests of MDC-T cabinet ministers and MP’s and the state sponsored violence and intimidation targeting his supporters. The trip is also part of a diplomatic offensive ahead of the SADC Troika Organ on Politics, Defence and Security meeting next week in Zambia.

Last week Tsvangirai met the head of that SADC Troika, Zambian President Rupiah Banda. The MDC leader later travelled to the Mozambican capital Maputo, where he met President Armando Guebuza whose country is also a member of the Troika. Tsvangirai later met King Mswati of Swaziland and President Ian Khama of Botswana.

A senior party official told us the PM is trying to get leaders in the SADC region to establish an election roadmap, amid signs the marriage of convenience with ZANU PF has all but collapsed. “It’s clear Zuma has failed to exert any influence on Mugabe to implement the power sharing deal so the least we can try and get from him is a credible roadmap for free and fair elections,” the official told us.

Tsvangirai is said to want a clearly laid out role for SADC in the elections and has targeted further trips to Angola, Namibia, the DRC and Tanzania before the crucial Troika meeting in Livingstone, Zambia.

Last week Tsvangirai said SADC should not stand back and watch events in Zimbabwe develop into full fledged chaos. “The people of Zimbabwe want a guarantee that they will be allowed to vote for parties and leaders of their choice in a free environment,” he said.

Several quarters have already urged the MDC to broaden the scope of intervention and try and get the United Nations to play a key role in resolving the crisis. SADC and the African Union were accused of being timid in their approach to Mugabe’s intransigence.

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