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Time
to Rein in Mugabe
Editorial, Sunday
Times (conservative), Johannesburg, Aug. 12, 2001.
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| Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe (L), President Bakili Muluzi of
Malawi (C), and Namibian President Sam Nujoma (R) pose
at the opening of the three-day summit in Blantyre, Malawi,
Aug. 12, 2001. |
Today
[Aug. 12], the region's leaders gather in Blantyre, Malawi,
for what should be a critical summit in the Southern African
Development Community's life.
Having finalized most of the protocols aimed at turning the
SADC into a vibrant economic bloc, their task now is to turn
these intentions into reality.
They will deliberate on how to foster greater trade within the
region, how to prevent conflicts, how to engender good governance,
and how to coordinate economic and social policies.
In their midst will be one Robert Mugabe, the president of Malawi's
neighbor Zimbabwe. When he arrives, his peers will give him
warm, brotherly hugs.
When other leaders speak of the need to create stability, entrench
democracy, and create a climate conducive to economic growth
in Southern Africa, Mugabe will nod accordingly. When protocols
committing the region's leaders to achieving the above are signed,
he will enthusiastically attach his signature.
In doing so, Mugabe will be performing a most cynical act of
deceit. For the Zimbabwe that he will have left behind is in
the throes of a crisis—one he himself has created.
It is a crisis that his own Minister of Finance, Simba Makoni,
candidly accepted during an address to his country's Parliament
this week.
Announcing that the Zimbabwean economy was likely to perform
badly this year, Makoni painted a bleak picture of a country
facing a poor crop harvest, a foreign currency crisis, fuel
shortages, a dramatic drop in tourist numbers, massive job losses,
and spiraling inflation.
While he hinted that the government would have to import wheat
and maize, Makoni failed to speak frankly about the fear in
the minds of Zimbabweans and international aid organizations:
that the country may soon face an acute food shortage.
This is the most immediate crisis facing Zimbabwe now, and it
is one that will be felt throughout the region.
An economic meltdown in Zimbabwe will deal a blow to all efforts
for regional integration. Political instability in one of the
region's powerhouses will inevitably have a knock-on effect
on neighbors.
And when gruesome scenes of violence and lawlessness in that
country are aired on international television networks, the
entire region is tainted.
Zimbabwe's crisis is Southern Africa's crisis. That should be
incentive enough for SADC leaders to rein in Mugabe.
But it is primarily for the people of Zimbabwe that the SADC
hierarchy should act. It was, after all, on their behalf that
Southern Africa helped Mugabe overthrow Ian Smith's racist regime.
The same people are now appealing to the region to free them
from the erstwhile liberation hero, who seems set on emulating
the Smith regime when it comes to brutality and disregard for
basic human rights. These people have seen their standards of
living eroded by a government stubbornly intent on ignoring
logic and constructive advice.
To their credit, there are SADC leaders who have gone some way
toward exerting a positive influence on Mugabe. These efforts—as
South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki said this week—have
come to naught.
It is now time to turn up the heat. As we have argued previously,
there are ways of exerting pressure without yelling senselessly,
as some Western powers have done.
Within the ambit of the SADC, the region's leaders can let Mugabe
know that he is the unacceptable face of African leadership.
They can begin to wield the stick of travel restrictions and
other limited sanctions that will harm Zimbabwe's rulers while
having a limited impact on its populace. Such sanctions will
begin to undermine Mugabe's hold on his inner circle by making
the lives of his cabinet ministers a bit more uncomfortable.
It is this tougher line that will nudge the Mugabe regime away
from the precipice. 
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