Paul Nyathi|The late tough Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, in 2008 told then South Africa’s president, Thabo Mbeki, that he was not fit to serve as the region’s mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis owing to a “lack of neutrality”, and that “there will be no country left” if Mbeki continued to side with President Robert Mugabe.
And indeed since then there is no country left to talk about.
The warning came in a letter from the MDC leader to Mbeki made public just days after it was revealed that the then South African president had written a four-page letter to George Bush demanding that the US president stop criticising Mugabe.
In his letter, Tsvangirai accused Mbeki of colluding with Mugabe to play down the deepening political crisis, of blocking UN security council discussions on Zimbabwe and of trying to facilitate a controversial weapons delivery from China to the Zimbabwean military.
The strongest criticism by Tsvangirai was over Mbeki’s reaction to the escalating state-sponsored campaign of murder, violence and arrests against the opposition in the run up to the run-off presidential election between him and Mugabe in 2008.
At least 150 people were killed and thousands beaten and/or displaced.
The letter, dated May 13, 2008, accused Mbeki of ignoring evidence that Mugabe was planning the violence, including a leaked Zimbabwean military document outlining the strategy that Tsvangirai personally handed to Mbeki.
“When you started mediating, Zimbabwe still had a functioning economy, millions of our citizens had not fled to other countries to escape political and economic crisis, and tens of thousands had not yet died from impoverishment and disease. In fact, since the March 29 election, Zimbabwe has plunged into horrendous violence while you have been mediating. With respect, if we continue like this, there will be no country left,” wrote Tsvangirai.
“As you know, when MDC attempted to appeal to the UN security council to investigate and help stop the carnage, it was you, the so-called ‘neutral’ mediator, who blocked a possible road to resolution of the crisis.”
Tsvangirai said Mbeki continued to act as if everything was normal, even after the Zimbabwean government blocked the release of poll results showing that Mugabe and his Zanu-PF party had lost.
“Your lack of neutrality became increasingly evident when I arrived to the Lusaka summit to see you and Mr Mugabe on television together proclaiming there is ‘no crisis’ in Zimbabwe,” the letter says.
Tsvangirai also accused the South African government of facilitating the delivery of weapons via Durban from a Chinese ship that was eventually turned away by dock workers and legal action.
“Not only have you been unable to denounce the well-documented post-election attacks on our people, but your government even played a role in Zimbabwean government procurement of weapons of repression … and agree to allow passage of arms of war purchased by the same government through South African territory during the troubled post-election period,” he wrote.
The letter demanded Mbeki step down as the Southern African Development Community mediator on Zimbabwe, as the MDC no longer had confidence in him.
Mbeki denied knowledge of the letter even though the MDC said it had a receipt showing it was delivered to Mbeki’s office.
Responding to a question in the National Assembly, he declined to make a statement on the matter “because we don’t have the letter”.