WHAT’S GOING ON?
Introduction
President Mbeki has once again been putting the quiet into ‘quiet diplomacy’ by making a concerted effort to keep the public, but more specifically the media, out of his SADC mandated mediation between Zimbabwe’s opposition MDC and Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF.
Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa put it like this:
“The view of the mediation team is that South Africa has been mandated by SADC, any report will be made to SADC rather than us splashing it all over the show before SADC knows what we are doing.”
President Mbeki himself has stated that he will brief members of SADC and the African Union before he gives South Africa’s parliament an update seeing as he is fulfilling their mandate and not South Africa’s.
His approach has its advantages and disadvantages.
On the up side, it is no doubt a little easier to negotiate with Zanu-PF in private. The media is massively hostile towards the ruling party (with good reason) and Robert Mugabe probably feels it is a little easier to put his conditions on the table – whatever they may be – without having to answer to the public or the press.
On the down side, the MDC is probably at a disadvantage, seeing as public opinion is one of its greatest weapons.
(And, of course, it suits President Mbeki down to a tee, because if no one knows what he is up to, how can they measure the success or failure of the negotiations?)
This is all of little concern to the media mind you, who are more interested in reporting the news. The problem is, when your official access has been cut off, you are forced to rely on second hand sources and inside information – and who knows what agenda is being driven when your information is not verifiable.
The result is that it becomes next to impossible for the public to work out what’s going on, because, depending on which story you read, there are any one of several different things happening and no one seems to know quite where anyone else stands or what the truth is.
For example, if you do a Google news search today for the phrase ‘Zimbabwe’ three different stories on this issue will come up: one from SW Radio titled “Mbeki led mediation talks to resume” (4 July); one from Zim Daily titled “Mbeki to visit Zimbabwe” (5 July) and one from The Zimbabwean titled “Mbeki plans to delay 2008 vote” (5 July).
They all say completely different things.
The SW Radio story
If you choose to believe the SW Radio story, the news is this: The talks will resume next week. Mbeki has recently briefed SADC leaders. The talks were adjourned last month after the MDC and Zanu-PF finally agreed on an agenda. Zanu-PF has, however, been “dragging its feet” and critics aren’t holding out much faith for Mbeki’s negotiations.
The key quote from that story:
“Some observers say that SADC leaders would prefer an outcome that is led by a reformed ZANU PF, containing certain elements from the opposition, and they have also expressed skepticism over whether Mbeki is really interested in establishing conditions for free and fair elections. There are suggestions that he is more concerned about a whitewash of the situation for Robert Mugabe.”
The Zim Daily story
If, however, it’s the Zim Daily story you find most believable, well then the news is this: In the third week of July, after SADC leaders meet in Lusaka, President Mbeki will visit Zimbabwe. The MDC believes that, because Mbeki has a SADC mandate, the talk
| Posted on 5/7/2007
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