By Blessing Vava
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| SADC Facilitator President Zuma poses for photographs with his wives |
The previous
week’s newspaper headlines screamed with messages that the SADC facilitation
team headed by president Zuma was on its way to this great nationwith some even
suggesting that finally president Zuma will break the so-called impasse that newspapers are claiming exist
between the parties in government. There was too much expectation from most
Zimbabweans, but it turnedout that President Zuma was a busy man.
Coincidentally his troubled ANC was hosting its policy conference ahead of the
heated congress in Mangaung in December this year. A make or break congress
were he is seeking second termre-election and his serious contender being his Deputy president Kgalema Mothlante backed
by the Youth League.
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| Theresa Makone-Chihuri's appointment legal |
So to expect much from Zuma was purely magical
because of the internal dynamics rocking the ANC, the man hasmuch to chew on
his table. Lest we forget that former
president Mbeki was recalled just days after he thought he was a hero after
brokering a unity deal betweenZimbabwe’s political parties. During his 2nd term
of office he had been spending muchtime travelling to Zimbabwe to deal with the
Zimbabwean crisis. Maybe his muchabsence from South Africa and much presents in
Zimbabwe gave his rivals achance to plot and conspire against him. And after
all this President Zuma is now very much aware that he has to put his house in
order first rather than spend valuable
time in dealing with the unending Zimbabwean crisis with crooked politicians.
Charity begins at home and that is why maybe he first had to deal with policy
conference rather than flying to Zimbabwe to deal with insincere leaders. In the same vein I wish to share the same
thought with MDC’s secretary general Priscilla Musihairambwi when she said that
it’s hightime we solve our issues as Zimbabweans rather than placing all our
hopes to president Zuma and his team. She said these remarks at a Quill speak discussion
at the Quill Club last Friday. We are
now tired of unending SADC summits, Troika meetings and unending visits by the
facilitation teams who haven’t brought anything tangible rather than ultimatums
and timelines. Zimbabweans are now tired of this script which has not changed
much since this government was formulated.
Zuma’s team can make several trips to Harare but if there’s no will from
the political leaders in Zimbabwe nothing much will change.
The
politicians in government are just buying time and that is why i have been
arguing that there’s no impasse existing between these parties. Those who are talking of an impasse
are lost; I do not believe there is any impasse in the GNU. They are mere
side-tracks, the impasse is for the public who are made to believe non-existent
things that there is an impasse. The parties in government, seemingly have
found each other, surely if there was an impasse I did not expect people like
Chimanikire to see no anomaly for the army to own a diamond mining company, even
more shocking are the remarks by the controversial Ministerof Home Affairs
MDCTs Theresa Makone who had the guts of saying that ZANU PF apologist
Augustine Chihuri's appointment as commissioner general of police was
legal. We all wonder so who is really
fooling who here? What is now evident is that
people in government seem to have
ran out of ideas to justify their continued stay in 'comfort' and 'luxury' of
thisdysfunctional government.
No one
wants elections, if you can ask what happenedto ZANU PF’s verve of having
elections this year, a message they have beenparroting in the past months. I
however think that no matter how many times the facilitation teams come here
nothing will change as long as we Zimbabweans are failing to deal with some of
these issues on our own. The facilitation
team has had several implementations plans despite the GPA beingan
implementation plan in itself. The solution is in the hands of the political players,
Zuma's role is to listen and advice. It is not president Zuma who hasa solution
but us the people of Zimbabwe and the reason why he didn’t come as many were
expecting was the fact that he had also his domestic issues to deal with, which
are much more important than that of a neighbour who has spent close to five
years negotiating and seemingly failing to find a conclusion to the so-called
crisis. That’s the reason why I’m arguing that the impasse does not exist; the
politicians are just trying to find justification and an excuse to continue
serving in this unpopular government at the expense of millions of Zimbabweans
who seem tired of this creature they did not vote for. We should not expect
much from president Zuma, because he is not a decision maker in solving our
problems, the responsibility lies entirely onus the custodians of this country
and we should seriously think about that. Because it is now appearing that
Zimbabwe is now another province of South Africa, mainly because we have given
Zuma too much mandate and responsibilities to prescribe the course to take for
this country.
We
should be very careful and worry of South Africa colonising us indirectly
because we have given them too much room to do so and dictate the pace for us. Its
like a man who is having sexual problems with his wife and goes to call a neighbour
to mediate, yet the neighbour always looks at the wife with a lustful eye. South
Africa has many interests in this country ranging from mineral claims and other
business interests and the politicians should be wary of that fact and straighten
up and end this bickering and approach the matter of solving the crisis with
utmost patriotism and a sense of belonging bearing in mind that Zimbabwe has to
be preserved for the generations to come. Same goes to
the constitution making process which has dragged three years than anticipated,
they have agreed on the Kariba document and now they continue negotiating and no
one really knows when they will conclude. They have continued misleading us but
we are now aware that they are sailing in the same boat. The
time is now that Zimbabweans demand a conclusion to all this GPA madness. It is
not only about the three parties in government but, the millions of Zimbabweans
whoyearn to see a progressive nation they enjoy its fruits and be proud of. It
can only be us and no one else.
Blessing Vava is a blogger from Chipinge
