Indictment of Mbeki; the man Zimbabwe will not miss

With a legacy of a presidency replete with episodes of controversy, sometimes utter buffoonery and lunacy, Thabo Mbeki’s collapse is well merited.  From his irritating brotherly solidarity with dictators of Zimbabwe and Sudan to deliberately misunderstanding Aids and HIV given its trail of horrors on the African continent, more so in South Africa, the people of Africa will not miss him.

Mbeki has left office at a time when Zimbabwe is at the crossroads and in a complete mess, a mess he helped to create by his collusion with Mugabe in entrenching the Zimbabwean dictatorship. Going forward, his role as mediator is completely diminished especially considering that the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC never trusted him in the first place.

His loyalty to Mugabe, who has caused untold suffering to his people, has been a huge source of depression and annoyance to many Zimbabweans. The true barometer of the success of his so-called ‘quiet diplomacy’ and “African solutions” should have resulted in the long-overdue departure of the octogenarian dictator.

Mbeki also shielded another mass murderer, al Bashir, the butcher of Khartoum, by fiercely calling for the suspension of al Bashir’s warrant of arrest by the International Criminal Court. Over 300 000 black Sudanese have been murdered by Sudan’s ruling Arabs and another 2.5 million displaced. I have my own misgivings about Arab racism dotted throughout history and more glaring during slavery era.

I am rattled by the mere mention of Arab dictators like Libya’s Gaddafi getting involved in black Africa issues. Mbeki and Gaddafi, backed by veto-wielding Russia and China, successfully pushed for a U.N. Security council resolution to hold off for another year any efforts to get al-Bashir prosecuted. Now that Mbeki is out of the way, that leaves Gaddafi alone for now.

The advent of the Zuma/Motlanthe administration is what Zimbabwe really needs given Zuma’s uncompromising stance on Mugabe’s dictatorship. On several occasions, Zuma has gone on record denouncing Mugabe to the extent of branding Mugabe a ‘monster’.  Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph(November 28, 2006) Zuma assured critics asserting that “as a member and a leader of the ANC all I do is carry out ANC policies,” he said.  “How could you have an individual who would become such a monster? The ANC system does not allow for that kind of thing.”

Mbeki, dubbed an ‘Aids denialist’ notoriously burnt candles throughout the night surfing the internet for any obscure sources that buttressed his views that questioned aids orthodoxy and science of the disease. On April 3 2002, Mbeki ‘s Health Minister (a devout member of his inner circle), went to a constitutional court seeking to overturn a judge’s order that had ruled in favor of immediately providing anti-HIV drugs to pregnant women.

As far as Aids and HIV is concerned, this is no time for apprentices to intellectualism like Thabo Mbeki, who have the luxury of behaving like retired philosophers sitting under a tree trying to figure out the meaning of life while people are dying. Sothern Africa has an emergency at hand and this is time for action.

Mbeki’s final years in power have all the footprints of political hooliganism exhibited by his troublesome compatriot up north of the Limpopo.  I have no doubt that Mugabe was Mbeki’s political brain. How  and when Mbeki was convinced to depart from the Mandela legacy remains a mystery. Mbeki could not resist acting in dictatorial solidarity and in unison with Mugabe. Remember last December, Mbeki futilely tried to sneak in a third term for himself at the ANC conference at Polokwane. What happened in South Africa should have happened in Zimbabwe if Zanu PF had not been privatized by Mugabe. No one in that party can dare say no to Mugabe, because the consequences are lethal.

We have also witnessed the glaring privatization of institutions meant to safeguard national interests such as th Central  Intelligence Organization in Zimbabwe and the National Intelligence Agency in South Africa. These organizations lost public trust and credibility after they were reduced to mere spying apparatus on opposition/opponents. At a time the country is reeling from gangsters and violent crime, Mbeki could not even use the security apparatus to bring the country to order. It seems Mbeki never wanted to address crime in South Africa for whatever reason.

The two men also share another disturbing characteristic, that of abusing criminal justice system to disable opposition or perceived threats to their thrones. After the 2002 elections in Zimbabwe, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai found himself facing concocted treason charges stemming from a carefully choreographed plot to kill Mugabe. Such an approach served its purpose as it distracted the opposition from fighting the outcome of the 2002 election and challenging Mugabe as an illegitimate ruler.

South Africa also finds itself in a political mess, largely a product of Mbeki’s creation, its architect. The same applies to Zimbabwe where the mess was carefully created by Mugabe. The philosophy is that you create a problem and then throw in the indispensability dimension. For instance you throw the party into chaos and then pretend to be the unifier, or that middle guy who can bring everybody together. It is loosely similar to the colonial divide and rule phenomenon. Mugabe considers himself to be the only man who can unite the country/party.

The two leaders’ excessive pre-occupation with power-schemes can help explain why the common man has been left unattended to. It is a fact that the average South African has been left worse-off since Mbeki assumed presidency in 1999 just like in Zimbabwe where the story cannot be hidden. Mass starvation is looming and has already started claiming lives in Zimbabwe. Instead a few of their henchmen and close allies have looted for themselves vast wealth aided by these leaders most notably through self-serving economic empowerment programs.

Going by Judge Chris Nicholson’s ruling that dismissed Mbeki’s sponsored charges on Zuma, it is clear that he (Mbeki) hoped to lock Zuma away in order to paralyze any chances of him ever becoming president despite the victory he had scored in Polokwane, which made him the de facto president of South Africa beginning next year. Maybe the ANC deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe , the man taking over the reigns from Mbeki will unify the party in the meantime.

On June 26 2008, as the African Union Summit in Egypt was gathering momentum, Mugabe threatened African leaders to stay out of the Zimbabwe crisis stating that “I know some people are gearing themselves for an attack on Zimbabwe. I want to see any country which will raise its finger in the AU, our elections have been free.” But it was the same Mugabe who said that a ‘mere X’ was not significant to get him to accept the outcome of the election.

It is inconceivable folly to think that Mbeki could ever defy the orders of Mugabe. Mbeki simply acted as Mugabe’s mouth-piece on numerous occasions. It comes as no surprise that the GNU deal which Mbeki helped to create is heavily skewed towards Mugabe. Mugabe is chairing national security and cabinet. If Mbeki was a true leader, he should never have aligned himself with Mugabe who has tirelessly worked to undermine democratic values in Africa.

The government of national unity deal is drawing closer to a collapse each day that passes. I sense an awful hullabaloo in the air given the suspicion with which the two camps have for each other.  Mugabe could not fathom missing an opportunity to visit the West (under the auspices of attending a UN summit) which he has been denied over the years.

The UN summit comes at an opportune time for Mugabe, now that the GNU deal came out nearly as perfect as he wanted it to be. The man’s incorrigible vanity comes before country. His priorities are so misplaced that he would rather gallivant around the world shopping and pontificating on African democracy and renaissance instead of solving the country’s bleeding problems he created. I wish Zimbabweans had the spine to recall Mugabe just like what happened to Mbeki.

We also received news that the MDC National Chairman and recently elected Speaker of Parliament, Lovemore Moyo got a standing ovation and went on to thank British Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying, “You spoke for us…It is not easy to fight a dictatorship through democratic means. I dare to hope we have prevailed… We thank you for that.” My teacher taught me an important lesson: not to sing when you are still in the forest.

Whilst what he said is important, I do not think it was urgent. What is happening is a precursor to what we are about to see, a rupture of the deal culminating in a total pullout by the MDC from the unity government unless Zanu PF gets serious about solving the nation’s crisis. It will be very interesting to see how Mugabe and his men will receive this news going forward. In any case the daggers have drawn from day one starting with Mugabe’s perennial West-bashing followed by a deadlock over ministerial posts. As recent as June 26 2008, Mugabe scolded Brown as a ‘Demon’.

Zanu PF will not change its ways any time soon, given its traditional power-mongering. Its ridiculous demands to have Defense, Finance, Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Ministry must be ignored. MDC must pull out if at least Finance and Home Affairs cannot come its way. The control of Home Affairs by MDC will partly restore our freedoms and inject accountability in the nation’s  financial transactions.

The crisis that has unfolded in Zimbabwe under Mbeki’s watchful eye has made Africans a laughing stock of the world. With a frightening catastrophic social and economic meltdown, there is no doubt that South Africa is importing instability, made in Zimbabwe. It is estimated that 3 million Zimbabweans have found refuge in South Africa having fled political violence unleashed on perceived enemies of Mugabe. Others simply escaped the economic misery brought about by Mugabe and his men. Consequently, xenophobia (resoundingly the hatred of Zimbabweans) is on the rise. A few months ago a spate of xenophobic attacks left more than 60 people dead in the streets of South Africa.

Mbeki ‘s resume is not completely hollow, he has some positives. For instance his grandiose vision of African Renaissance saw him championing NEPAD initiative. He is also credited for brokering peace deals in Rwanda, Burundi, Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The South African economy has largely remained stable with evidence of economic growth, though ‘main street’ did not partake in those gains as indicated by high rates of poverty.

We should have no illusions that the Zuma presidency will come without its own set of problems given Zuma’s sometimes weird naivety. His infamous statement in court during his trial for allegedly raping a 31-year old HIV-positive aids activist left the world ’in stitches’. Zuma admitted that he took a shower in order to “minimize the risk of contracting the disease [HIV]“ and that ‘his cows were ready’ to marry the victim arguing that the so-called rape was in fact consensual unprotected sex. Both men (Mbeki and Zuma) have shown a lack of seriousness about the Aids menace.

If Zuma can exploit his populism and ability to connect with the ordinary men and women for greater good, he might very well extricate South Africa from the precariously uncertain times that lie ahead. Now that Mugabe’s last standing minion has departed, for Zimbabwe, Mbeki’s well-deserved collapse is good riddance.

Dr Paul Mutuzu is the CEO of the National Vision Institute: An independent economic and political strategy think tank focusing on Zimbabwe and the Southern Africa Region. You can visit his blog on http://nationalvision.wordpress.com/