Open letter to the Canadian High Commissioner to South Africa (Re: South Africa, Nepad and Zimbabwe)

ZWNEWS ^ | June 17, 2002

[Clive]

Open letter to the Canadian High Commissioner to South Africa

High Commissioner Lucie Edwards
The Canadian High Commission
Private Bag X13
Hatfield 0028
Pretoria

Email: pret@dfait-maeci.gc.ca

Dear High Commissioner:

South Africa, Nepad and Zimbabwe

In reply to complaints about your unfortunate remarks that suspending Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth councils was a “sign of real political will” by African leaders to apply principles of good governance, your office has been sending out copies of your response to criticism in the Mail and Guardian.

This reply is both disingenuous and totally unsatisfactory. As a senior diplomat in Southern Africa, you must know that President Mbeki did his best to try to stop Zimbabwe being suspended. In addition, you will know that President Mbeki now continues, at huge cost to his own country, to prop up the Mugabe regime, whose gross violations of human rights have been even worse since rigged presidential elections in March. If further proof were needed of President Mbeki’s attitude to Mugabe, it was the observer mission he despatched to the elections. The mission’s mandate - embarrassing even to some of its carefully chosen members - was clearly to give the poll some kind of legitimacy despite the violence, ballot-box stuffing and denials of votes to hundreds of thousands of urban dwellers.

It thus seems inexplicable that you should claim that the suspension of Zimbabwe was some kind of first test for Nepad - the proposed billions of dollars of Western aid to Africa while African leaders, as part of the deal, peer review each other. We at the Zimbabwe Democracy Trust, which works to try to restore good governance to that country, should be grateful for an explanation.

At the recent African Economic Summit in Durban, President Mbeki went even further with talk designed to get Nepad funds – and talk that bears no relation to his actions. With representatives present from Zimbabwe, one of the world’s most odious regimes, he said that an African Union summit would decide “what sort of steps should be taken’’ against African governments that do not match up to standards of human rights, good governance etc.

Even to mention good governance while Mugabe’s reign of terror and brutality continues is a travesty. This is a regime that murders and harasses political opponents, denies freedom of the press, installs party cronies as judges, withholds food aid from opposition areas, seizes private property, and has reduced the country to misery. And this is the regime that President Mbeki, literally, supports.

With the G-8 summit looming in your country, this is no time for seeking a quiet life or diplomatic niceties. It should be made clear to President Mbeki that as long as he continues to prop up Mugabe there will be no Nepad money. If Zimbabwe is not a test of Nepad, then what is?

We look forward to receiving your comments, and of course posting them on our website, www.zwnews.com

[Clive]

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[Clive]

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[Byron_the_Aussie]

Great letter, Clive.

Why oh why have two wonderful countries like ours got such PC fools in high places?