SADC leaders have been left frustrated by President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration following his decision to block former South African president Thabo Mbeki (pictured) from mediating in the proposed dialogue with his fierce rival, opposition MDC leader Nelson Chamisa, government and diplomatic sources revealed this week.
Sadc countries — in particular economic powerhouse, South Africa, and Botswana — are unhappy with Zimbabwe’s ongoing social, economic and political crisis, bad investment environment, state interference in public institutions, lack of respect for trade agreements and lack of competition in business.
Mbeki visited Zimbabwe mid-December last year on a Sadc-initiated mission to nudge Zanu PF and MDC into negotiations. This was after regional leaders realised Harare’s problems were caused more by a political crisis than the so-called Western sanctions.
During his visit, Mbeki — famed for brokering the 2009 Global Political Agreement, which brought together Zanu PF and MDC into a unity government — also met political leaders who are part of the Political Actors Dialogue (Polad) and civil society organisations.
The former South African president promised to return to Harare by December 30, 2019, to continue with the preliminary talks, but has not done so, amid reports Mnangagwa has been ignoring calls from the respected African elder.
Before Mbeki’s visit, sources said, regional leaders had the view that Chamisa did not want dialogue, but they later realised through discussions with him and other senior MDC party officials that he was just against the idea of participating in a dialogue being held under the discredited Polad platform, which many have dismissed as Mnangagwa’s political fan club.
Sadc leaders publicly supported Mnangagwa’s rise to power on the back of a military coup against the then president Robert Mugabe in November 2017, although they privately urged him to hastily undertake political and economic reforms to legitimise his reign.
Sources told the Zimbabwe Independent this week that Sadc leaders are frustrated by Mnangagwa’s refusal to allow the Mbeki mediation to take shape. They are also frustrated by his failure to turn around the country’s political and economic fortunes, which they are convinced makes Zimbabwe the albatross on the regional grouping’s neck.
“There is growing frustration in the Sadc region about Mnangagwa’s failure to give Mbeki the chance to mediate in the political impasse. They now think that Zimbabwe is not serious about transforming its economy. There is huge disgruntlement over this issue in the diplomatic circles and the entire region,” a Sadc diplomat accredited to Harare said.
“Basically, the concerns are coming from the fact that there are many South African and Botswana companies investing in Zimbabwe and they are feeling the heat from the economic meltdown as they cannot repatriate their profits.
