Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe looks like he could be entering the final knockout round of his rigged title fight; and it won’t be his opponent who will be knocked out.
I was heartened to receive a long letter of support from a reader after my last blog post on Zimbabwe. I was saying in my last post that I felt very conscious that some of you may stop reading my blog, as I tend to be a bit ‘Zimbabwe-centric’. However, I was encouraged to keep up the pressure, and it seems the international community is finally taking off its blinkers and condeming Mugabe.
Nelson Mandela has even waded into the debate, calling Mugabe’s leadership ‘a tragic failure’, Queen Elizabeth II has taken back the knighthood she gave him in 1994, and the head of the African National Congress in South Africa, Jacob Zuma, stated:
“We cannot agree with ZANU-PF. We cannot agree with them on values,” Zuma said in Johannesburg, South Africa. “We fought for the right of people to vote, we fought for democracy.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/MNNG11ECPM.DTL
And when one hears this sort of talk, you know we are finally heading in the right direction:
South Africa’s Congress of South African Trade Unions, allied to the ANC, said it would campaign for Mugabe’s total isolation. It called on all trade unions in the world “to make sure that they never ever serve Mugabe anywhere, including at airports, restaurants, shops, etc. Further we call on all workers and citizens of the world never to allow Mugabe to set foot in their countries.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/25/MNNG11ECPM.DTL
Total Isolation. This is music to my ears and hopefully to Morgan Tsvangirai’s ears. Finally the world is saying ‘enough.’ It should have said enough a long, long time ago. It had to take Morgan Tsvangirai hiding in the Dutch Embassy for fear of his life for the world to act, and finally see Mugabe for the psychotic dellusional weirdo that he is.
Mugabe seems to have been immune to any pressure, and happily thumbed his nose at anyone who thought they could stop him and convince him to act otherwise. But what I have said over and over is at least starting to show signs of developing. We need to find Mugabe’s Achilles Heel, and everyone needs to put pressure on him and virtually straightjacket him. Trust me, without the main bully, all the other little bullies will run away in fear. Supporters of Mugabe only support him because they fear for their lives or are getting kickbacks and bribes.
Even though the Southern African Development Community sat on their hands for what seemed like an eternity, they are now finally waking up to the fact that the longer this disgusting flagrant display of dictatorial violence goes on, the more it discredits the entire African continent, or at least those countries in the southern half of the continent. It is fast becoming the scenario similar to hanging out with the obnoxious friend. You stick with him or her as long as you can, but there comes a time when you have to turn around and say, “No. You’re out of line, and I’m not taking it anymore.”
Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa, who chairs the Southern African Development Community regional bloc, conceded that “what is happening in Zimbabwe is, of course, of tremendous embarrassment to all of us”.
http://www.nationnews.com/editorial/292010789667201.php
For southern Africa, they are not taking it anymore, and we are seeing a domino effect of southern African leaders now ready to stand side by side, with arms crossed, staring Mugabe down. If South African President Thabo Mbeki doesn’t come to the party soon, he is going to find himself extremely isolated as well. He still has not condemned Mugabe, but he needs to very soon. His country is the only country that can really turn the screws on Mugabe, and make him hurt.
The end is nigh for Robert Gabriel Mugabe. Let’s just hope he has at least some common sense to see the walls closing in on him, and bows out gracefully.
Then we’ll hit him for crimes against humanity.
Enjoy your day.
