20 March 2008
South Africa is to send an observer team to Zimbabwe on Thursday to monitor elections due to begin in that country on 29 March.
The South African team, which will be responsible for contributing to a smooth and credible election, forms part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer mission.
"Our duty is to make sure that in the pre-election phase we are guided by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), based on the Constitutional and legal rights of the citizens of Zimbabwe," said Kingsley Mamabolo, who will be leading the South African delegation.
Ambassador Mamabolo was also South Africa's special envoy to Burundi and helped with peace mediation in that country earlier this year.
"As [South Africa] we are part of the SADC observer mission. We will ensure a conducive environment for smooth voting, non-discriminatory behaviour and an accessible voter's roll," Mamabolo said during a briefing in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The ambassador said that while Angola would lead the SADC observer mission, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana would form part of its core leadership.
"We will be in a position to observe the election process and the acceptance of elections by Zimbabweans. We will reveal our report before we depart," Mamabolo added.
He said that if Zimbabwe carried out a democratic and fair election, it would benefit not only the Zimbabwean people but the continent as a whole.
President Thabo Mbeki was earlier mandated by the SADC to facilitate talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in the run-up to the elections.
Presidential candidates include Simba Makoni and Langton Towungana, both independents, Morgan Tsvangirai for the MDC, and Robert Mugabe from Zanu-PF.
Source: BuaNews
