SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma has proposed a new deal for Africa that would allow autocratic leaders immunity from prosecution in exchange for their retirement, a move clearly aimed at the 85-year-old Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe.
"The world has changed and we need to do things differently and not emphasise punishment," Mr Zuma said during a televised debate in Cape Town, adding that there was an urgent need to confront the legacy of "Cold War" leaders "frankly and boldly".
Mr Zuma, whose country is playing the key role in Zimbabwe's crisis, warned that the alternative to offering immunity to autocratic leaders was to see them stay in office. Mr Zuma never mentioned Mugabe by name, although analysts said the speech highlighted the Zimbabwean President's tenacious determination to cling to office because he feared prosecution for human rights outrages if he were to step down.
As the South African President was speaking, the need for Mugabe's removal from power in Zimbabwe was again underlined when Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, after meeting President Barack Obama in Washington, found that the US had promised the country $US73million ($90m) only in humanitarian aid "and no development aid".
Defending himself against criticism that he had become an apologist for Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai said he saw his role as similar to that of Nelson Mandela. He was left in no doubt that substantial aid from the US would be forthcoming only after Mugabe was removed from office.
South Africa remains pivotal to all attempts to convince Mugabe that the time has come for him to retire. Mr Zuma's suggestion of "immunity for autocratic leaders" is undoubtedly designed as a major initiative aimed at persuading the Zimbabwean dictator to go.
Mr Zuma is regarded as being less "friendly" than his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki, towards Mugabe. Last year, one of Mr Zuma's daughters, Gugulethu Zuma, married Wesley Ncube, eldest son of Welshman Ncube, a leading member of a faction of the Movement for Democratic Change led by Mr Tsvangirai.
Mr Zuma said Africa's leaders needed to get together and establish a pan-African deal that would remove the threat of prosecution from ageing, autocratic leaders and facilitate their departure from office.
The legacy of such Cold War leaders had to be addressed, he said. "One of the issues will be that that period caused a lot of havoc on the continent and some people might be thinking, 'If I move out, what will happen to me?' I think it is an issue we need to talk about: what do we do in order to remove that fear?
"The world has changed, therefore let us do things differently and not emphasise punishment. If you are saying: 'OK move out, but tomorrow we will deal with you', then you are causing a problem with somebody saying 'why should I leave when I still have power? I had better remain here'."
Studiously avoiding mentioning Mugabe by name, Mr Zuma was asked why he was not naming names. "We mustn't," he replied.
Speaking in Washington, Mr Tsvangirai told London's The Times he saw his role as similar to that of Nelson Mandela in South Africa when he shared power with the country's former white apartheid rulers.
"Nelson Mandela went for two years with the former apartheid leaders in order to create that transition (in South Africa)," he said. "So we are not in a unique position. Transitions of this nature are important because you soft-land a crisis in order to create a better basis for democratic development."
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment