[There are comments below from some people who are close to the Zimbabwe situation. I have remarked on it before. President Mbeki’s “confidence” that Zimbabwe’s elections in March 2008 will be “free and fair” is because Mbeki is confident that Mugabe can, through depopulation as well as bussing in people from the rural areas to the cities – RIG THE 2008 ELECTIONS ENOUGH THAT THEY WILL SEEM TO BE SUPERFICIALLY FAIR. Meanwhile… most of the opposition will have FLED!

The collusion between Mbeki and Mugabe is disgusting.

The friend who comments is right: THIS STINKS TO HIGH HEAVEN.

Sometimes the MDC seem to be stupid enough to fall for half of the despicable tricks Mugabe and Mbeki come up with. It all just makes my blood boil. It brings me back to my original assertion about Mugabe. The only way forward is to SHOOT THAT BASTARD OUT OF OFFICE! Jan]

Hi XXX,
This stinks “ even from far away!

It is exactly what you warned Eddie Cross about! If the MDC fall for it then there will be no recourse and Mugabe will be laughing all the way to China with the SADC Head of States scrambling over one another to be the first to congratulate him!

As cynical as it may sound, Mugabe has done a fine job of influencing the situation to his benefit.

My mouth hangs open as I try to assimilate how he has done it! Are we the only ones who can see through the Mugabe charade?

Regards,
XXX

SOUTH AFRICA
Thu, 23 Aug 2007

The South African government expressed confidence on Thursday in free and fair elections in neighbouring Zimbabwe even as the ruling party and opposition there remained at loggerheads.

The South African cabinet accepted a report by President Thabo Mbeki that his attempts to broker a stalemate between Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were “on track”.

“The report … was confident these talks will deliver an agreement that will lay the foundation for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,” government spokesman Themba Maseko told journalists after a fortnightly cabinet meeting.

Southern African leaders failed last week to heed calls for strong action against the embattled Zimbabwean government, saying at the conclusion of a two-day summit in Lusaka, Zambia, the country’s problems were “exaggerated”.

Zimbabwe is in the throes of an economic crisis with inflation past the 7000 percent mark, four in five people jobless and 80 percent of the population living below the poverty threshold.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who got a rousing welcome to the summit, told Zambia’s state ZNBC television that sanctions were to blame for his country’s economic woes, adding things were getting better. “It is going well, relatively,” he said.

On the sidelines of the summit, Mugabe’s Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told journalists no political reforms were necessary in his country, while the MDC Wednesday denounced a two-month voter registration programme as a sham to boost Mugabe’s chances of victory in elections set down for March.

Maseko said Thursday that despite their public sparring, the Zimbabwean government and opposition remained committed to talks the Sadc mandated Mbeki to facilitate.

“The president (Mbeki) did indicate that he informed the SADAC heads of state that both parties were united in the resolve that the talks will proceed.

“Yes there will be hiccups as the talks unfold, but the overall assessment … was that the talks were indeed progressing and that an agreement or a settlement will be reached soon to make sure that there will be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,” said Maseko.

“The president in his capacity as the facilitator of the talks is confident that in fact progress is being made on a number of fundamental issues.”

Maseko rejected media reports that SADAC heads of state were divided on how to deal with the Zimbabwean issue, and said there had been no discussion on delaying elections.

AFP