23 November 2007
President Thabo Mbeki says he is confident that the ongoing dialogue between the Zimbabwean government and opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) will bring a solution to the political crisis in the country.
Addressing journalists soon after meeting President Robert Mugabe at State House in Harare on Thursday, Mbeki said he had come to Zimbabwe to brief President Mugabe and the leaders of the MDC on progress made in the on-going talks between the sides in his capacity as facilitator.
Mbeki had made a stopover in Harare on his way to Kampala, Uganda to attend the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
He was met at Harare International Airport by Mugabe, Vice-President Joyce Mujuru, Information and Publicity Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.
From the airport, Mbeki went directly to State House, where he held talks with Mugabe for almost an hour, after which he went to the South African Embassy where he met the leaders of the two MDC factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara.
Mbeki later returned to State House, where he met with Mugabe for another hour before departing for the airport.
In March this year, an extraordinary summit of Heads of State and Government of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), held in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, tasked Mbeki with facilitating dialogue between the two parties.
Mbeki appointed a three-member team comprising South African Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, Director in the Office of the President Frank Chikane, and Advocate Monjangu Gumbi to help him in the task.
Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party mandated Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche to negotiate on its behalf, while the two MDC factions appointed their secretary generals, Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube.
Earlier this month, SA Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad reiterated South Africa's confidence in the progress being made in Zimbabwe, citing the unanimous acceptance by all the parties of the Constitutional Amendment Bill No 18, which seeks to harmonise presidential, parliamentary and local government elections as from 2008.
"South Africa will continue to facilitate dialogue between the government and opposition parties, including representatives from civil society, in order to resolve the remaining challenges facing Zimbabwe leading up to the 2008 general elections," Pahad said.
Pahad expressed the government's confidence that many of the outstanding issues that were being discussed would be successfully resolved to ensure that free and fair elections took place next year.
"We are focusing on ensuring an outcome that will determine that the free will of the people of Zimbabwe is expressed and that avenues to tackle the socio-economic challenges will be found."
Pahad said the SADC's finance ministers had met in Zambia to review the report by SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Augusto Salomao on the economic situation in Zimbabwe and what SADC could do to help the Zimbabweans emerge from that crisis.
Source: BuaNews
