Posted on 08/16/2005 9:42:27 AM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
South Africa is trying to avoid Zimbabwe becoming a "failed state", its deputy foreign minister has said. Aziz Pahad said South Africa did not want Zimbabwe's government and opposition to form a government of national unity to solve its problems.
He said South Africa wanted Zimbabwe to change its economic policies, in return for a loan, which is being negotiated.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's government has again ruled out the idea of holding talks with the main opposition party.
Zimbabwe is going through an economic crisis, with shortages of food, fuel and foreign currency, and rampant unemployment and inflation.
'Fundamental changes'
It has asked South Africa for an emergency loan so it can repay its debts to the IMF and avoid expulsion.
There had been reports that South Africa was insisting the government hold talks with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), or even that they form a coalition government.
There will be no talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC
Chen Chimutengwende Acting information minister
"We are negotiating in the... broad context that we need fundamental economic changes, and how do we minimise the political tensions of Zimbabwe without necessarily talking about governments of national unity," Mr Pahad said.
He said the conditions of the loan had not been finalised.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has denied responsibility for the economic problems - blaming them on a Western plot to remove him from power.
The South African government has been criticised at home and abroad for not taking a tougher line with Mr Mugabe over alleged human rights and electoral fraud.
But Mr Pahad defended South Africa's policy of "quiet diplomacy".
"All our interventions on the Zimbabwean issue have been to prevent a failed state on our doorstep," he said.
Envoy snubbed
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's acting information minister has dismissed the appointment of an African Union envoy for Zimbabwe.
Chen Chimutengwende said there was no point in naming former Mozambique President Joaquim Chissano, according to the state-owned Herald newspaper.
"This is because there will be no talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC," he said.
Southern African leaders are meeting in Botswana this week but Mr Mugabe's officials have denied reports that they would be discussing Zimbabwe's problems.
Hey Tony...time to do something about Sir Robert Mugabe's title?
...and South Africa better be careful or it will follow the same path, ie. a failed government in an otherwise very viable state.
Does anyone really wonder why all the able bodied youth have been conscripted in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)...The Exiled Ethiopian leader is giving Uncle Bob some "sage" advice...When things get bad enough I'd expect them to run the kiddy conscripts into the Northern region of SA, Botswana or Mozambique...It'll be a hell of a mess...
http://www.suncape.com/graphics/map-of-south-africa-large.png
The real question is "How do we get rid of whitey without destroying the economy/state?"
And how to get more money and NOT admit they don't know what they are doing. Better to have starvation than admit the truth.
Mugabe is an honorary knight and is not entitled to use the word "Sir."
Wouldn't it be up to the Queen, and not Tony, to strip a title? She is the only one who can bestow them.
A failed state on the African continent? You're joking, right?
"It was a mini-Partition," said N K Wagle, director, Centre for South Asian Studies at the University of Toronto, who chaired the conference, referring to the division of India in 1947.
Amin had issued a decree allocating "shops, factories and properties of Indians to political favourites without considering the capacity of the persons to carry on business", said Mumtaz Kassam, advocate and solicitor in Kampala, who was the keynote speaker at the reunion.
"Consequently, factories closed down and businesses came to a standstill by 1978. The unskilled Africans did not know how to run these assets," she remembered. "Most properties were placed in the hands of the Departed Asians(Indians) Properties Custodian Board and many were rented out at nominal rates," she added.
Isn't it time for war in Zimbabwe? Isn't war the solution to a tryrant causing starvation? Enough with loans to prop up this mad-man. How about guns, training, insurgents in the mountains, ex-mercs training the dispossessed and letting loose the dogs of war? Tis well past time in my opinion.
Have no fear. South Africa is well on it's way to follow in the footsteps of Ro...excuse me, Z-land.
They do have a political rebel, by the name Tsangarai or something like that. What happened to him?
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