5. IMPACT AND PROBLEMS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL UNITY
5.26. New Unilateral Threats And MDC Capitulation
In remarks published in The Herald on 5 December 2009, President Mugabe told the ZANU-PF Politburo that “if the arrangement fails to work in the next one and a half to two years”, there would be an early election. On 13 December 2008, the draft constitutional amendment was published in the government gazette. According to Motlanthe, the amendment marked a “major step towards the formation of an inclusive government in Zimbabwe”, and he expressed his hope that Tsvangirai would be sworn in immediately; it was believed that Mugabe was authorised to swear in Tsvangirai as Prime Minister without waiting for parliamentary approval of the amendment. Chamisa stressed that the outstanding issues of cabinet portfolios and provincial governors still needed to be resolved, while Chinamasa echoed President Mugabe’s earlier warning that he would call a new election if power-sharing was not successful.
On 4 January 2008, President Mugabe fired 12 ministers and deputy ministers who had lost their seats in Parliament from the cabinet:
Chen Chimutengwende (Public and Interactive Affairs)
Rugare Gumbo (Agriculture)
Amos Midzi (Mines and Mining Development)
OpaMuchinguri (Women's Affairs and Community Development)
Samuel Mumbengegwi (Finance)
MunachoMutezo (Water Resources and Infrastructure Development)
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu (Information and Publicity)
Michael Nyambuya (Energy and Power Development)
Sithembiso Nyoni (Small and Medium Enterprises)
David Chapfika (deputy minister for Agriculture)
Edwin Muguti (deputy minister for Health)
Kenneth Mutiwekuziva (deputy minister for Small and Medium Enterprises)
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On 15 January 2009, President Mugabe announced that he would hold talks with Tsvangirai again within a week. On 18 January 2009, President Mugabe issued an ultimatum, calling on Tsvangirai to join the unity government or “break from it”, refusing to concede on any points of contention.
After another SADC meeting on 26 January 2009, there were conflicting reports. The SADC and ZANU-PF claimed that it had been agreed that the Constitutional Amendment would be adopted on 5 February 2009 and the new government, including Tsvangirai, sworn in on 11 February 2009, while the MDC stated that there had been no agreement on key issues. However, on 29 January 2009 the MDC confirmed that it would join the Inclusive Government and that the MDC’s national council would vote on the issue on 30 January 2009; it approved the deal. South African President Motlanthe pledged to assist Zimbabwe in the rebuilding process once the unity government was in place.
The news of the MDC’s entry into government was followed by outbreaks of last-minute farm raids by war veterans, who feared that the coalition government would rein in the land reforms as a liberalising measure for the economy. On 5 February, both houses of Parliament passed the unity government bill unanimously. Motlanthe expressed optimism on 8 February, saying that President Mugabe and Tsvangirai “seem to be getting along fairly well.”
On 10 February 2009, the law creating a National Security Council, which would include President Mugabe and Tsvangirai, was passed by Parliament. Tsvangirai designated the MDC’s choices for cabinet positions on the same day; these included Tendai Biti as minister of Finance and Giles Mutseyekwa as co-minister of Home Affairs. President Mugabe’s ministerial appointees for ZANU-PF were subsequently announced; this list was dominated by members of the ZANU-PF old guard.
Tsvangirai and the deputy prime ministers were sworn in on 11 February 2009 as planned. On 13 February 2009, shortly before the planned swearing-in ceremony of the government, the MDC's nominee for deputy agriculture minister, Roy Bennett, was arrested at the Harare airport.
127 5.27. Conclusion
The signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) in September 2008 and the instalment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) in February 2009 after the controversial presidential elections of March 2008 and the inter-party negotiations supervised by South African President Thabo Mbeki have heralded a new era in Zimbabwe. For the first time since the country’s independence in 1980, the leading party, Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), is sharing power with two opposition parties, the Movement for Democratic Change-T (MDC-T) and the Movement for Democratic Change-M (MDC-M). ZANU-PF’s Robert Mugabe has kept his position as President of the country, but MDC-T’s leader Morgan Tsvangirai has been sworn in as Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity.
The international community expected South Africa to assume the lead role in dealing decisively with President Mugabe, given its vast moral authority and its considerable economic power in the region. This expectation is warranted, given that President Mbeki has espoused good governance and democracy as imperatives in the African Renaissance. However, this expectation was perhaps overly optimistic, since President Mbeki’s policy of quiet diplomacy with Zimbabwe has so far proved ineffective. In an application of the quiet diplomacy indicators, the following became evident: President Mbeki has met personally with President Mugabe several times. However, most of these meetings have proved fruitless, with Mugabe either reneging on his promises, or denying that they had been made in the first place.
Mbeki’s choice of actors has also been questionable. He seems to have surrounded himself with policymakers who were unable to overcome President Mugabe’s assistance to the liberation struggle during apartheid and who choose not to see what is really taking place in Zimbabwe. He has ignored views from respected public figures such as Desmond Tutu and former President Mandela. The South African government has followed a policy of constructive engagement, which President Mbeki insists is working, although there are no results to back up this claim.
Mbeki also continues to assert that Africa has to solve its own problems and must be left to do so by the rest of the international community. However, since South Africa is unwilling to step on
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any toes it is evident that even in African multilateral forums; the Zimbabwean crisis remains unresolved.
Evidently, South Africa’s humiliation in its unilateral dealings with Nigeria in 1995 has influenced its subsequent foreign policy choices. South Africa cannot afford to be shunned by the rest of Africa. Consequently, African solidarity has once again been given more weight than respect for good governance principles. Moreover, South Africa does not regard any alternative to quiet diplomacy as being viable. President Mbeki has warned against using any sanctions, which he insists will be detrimental to the ordinary people of Zimbabwe. He maintains that such harsh action will exacerbate the situation in Zimbabwe even further.
Mbeki’s quiet diplomacy towards Zimbabwe has not affected purposeful change in that country.
The result has simply been that South Africa appears to have, once again, chosen pragmatism over principle, sacrificing its high ideals of African renewal to appease its fellow Africans.
Chapter Six concludes the study and suggests the way forward.
129 CHAPTER 6