SA to act on UN's Zim report
Shaun Benton
26 July 2005
President Thabo Mbeki says South Africa will be acting on the recommendations of a United Nations report on a Zimbabwe government campaign that has left thousands of Zimbabweans homeless.
The head of UN Habitat Anna Tibaijuka released the report last week, condemning the Zimbabwe government's "Operation Restore Order".
The approach of the UN, which argues for increasing its involvement in Zimbabwe, is correct, Mbeki said in Pretoria on Sunday.
Briefing journalists on the Cabinet's latest meeting, Mbeki said the UN had not merely condemned the situation in Zimbabwe, but had engaged Zimbabweans to help them deal with the situation, including a growing number of human rights abuses.
Mbeki said South Africa would also increasingly engage Zimbabwe opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in assisting its northern neighbour with its problems.
The President said he had met several times with MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai, who had asked the South African government to engage with the issues that are confronting Zimbabwe, where the economy is near collapse.
Mbeki said he had agreed to work with the MDC on addressing Zimbabwe's problems, saying it was important to work with the leadership of Zimbabwe to produce an outcome that addressed the concerns of all Zimbabweans.
Without having made a final decision on extending a loan to Zimbabwe to enable it to meet its financial obligations to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Mbeki said a solution might be for South Africa to offer to settle a portion of Zimbabwe's IMF debt.
He said it would be preferable for the IMF to continue to work with the crisis-stricken country.
"It would be counter-productive to have Zimbabwe's membership of the IMF terminated because of these arrears," the President said, while not mentioning any exact figures.
Zimbabwe has requested a loan facility to help it to address a litany of
economic problems.
"We don't want Zimbabwe collapsing here next door," Mbeki said. "South Africa would inherit all of the consequences."
Source: BuaNews
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