3rdliberation.com » South Africa

Is Zuma the new Mbeki?

Musavengana Mhuri — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:58:16 +0000

Jacob Zuma

Before Zuma came to power he was a staunch Mugabe critic and we all could not wait for the man to get into office. We could not wait for the burial of “wet towel” Mbeki’s Quiet Diplomacy Policy and the way he was pussyfooting around issues over the border, Mandela had not done much either but more of that some other time……Zuma also criticised Mbeki on how he had handled the whole Zimbabwe issue. Many looked at him as our “savior” from Geriatric but nearly a year on we are still looking for the magic. Don’t get me wrong I know Zuma has got his own domestic issues and the world cup to worry about, I didn’t expect him to swoop into Zimbabwe in his Superman cape but not putting any pressure on Mugabe has not helped matters.

Ian Kharma President of Botswana is the only Leader with a pair in Southern Africa, the Late Zambian President Mwanawasa was another one who did not have a soft spot for Bob and we all thought Zuma was another but it was just farce to feed his campaign. I hope he has one up sleeve because we all feel a bit fooled by him.

JZ once called ZANU PF ministers “adolescent” for a walkout they staged and promised not to follow policies of his predecessor. When his daughter Gugulethu married (MDC-T) Welshman Ncube’s son Wesley I thought for the sake of the inlaws getting along. JZ was going to go in on Mugabe. I think Mugabe was aware of Zuma comming for him but managed to woo him with his charm (didn’t know it still worked). The people of Zimbabwe do not want another Mbeki we do not want another South African President cosy with Mugabe regardless of how long he has been in power. Zuma better act now !

A New Chapter for South Africa

Musavengana Mhuri — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:10:42 +0000

Jacob Zuma was recently inaugurated as the new President of South Africa, I have to be the first to admit that until recently I wasn’t a big fan of the man. Nothing to do with the recent court cases, I had lost support and admiration of anything old (or should i say from the Old School) in African politics as it always results in one thing.
As all Politicians do he has come heavily laden with promises, but what I admired about Mr Zuma is his looking further than his domestic policy as a start and amongst others relaxing immigration laws to allow Zimbabweans more of a free passage allowing them in and out of his country enabling them to work and sustain a living. Hopefully this will benefit both economies and bring an end to human trafficing between the two nations and the ill treatment of Zimbabweans south of the Limpopo.

Besides the smiles, hugs and kisses at his inauguration we all know that Mr Zuma is no fan of the Zimbabwean President and has been openly critical of him and we hope he keeps it that way as Thabo Mbeki only made things worse for Zimbabweans (dont get me started on Mr. Mbeki, previous posts are detailed enough).

Good Luck to Mr Zuma I hope you will do good for those who gave that job and turnout like some African Leaders. The people of South Africa all over the world (yes even those overseas and neighbouring countries were allowed to vote) democratically chose their leader if only this happened in all African countries Africa will be a much better place.

Good Bye Mr Mbeki

3rdliberation.org — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 16:15:39 +0000

My dream has come true, Thabo Mbeki is packing his bags as I write this. Mbeki’s slimy dealings have caught up with him. Many of you will know that I am not his biggest fan as he sold us Zimbabweans for a very long time and only pulled out his finger when it was a bit late. His coward-self is back on the job market rejected by his own people. Now now people I had nothing to do with his departure but I have just chilled the champagne…………This man took a back when all the trouble in Zimbabwe was brewing instead of intervening he decided to let go on. He only got of his arse when things were getting worse and the international community were amazed at his lack of support and intervention the so-called Quiet Diplomacy. He was was more worried about Robert Mugabe’s feelings than the welfare of Zimbabweans even his brother Moeletsi Mbeki does not agree with him.

This is the man who once rejected funds for anti-retrovirals and accused white people of using anti-retrovirals to harm black people. This resulted in millions of premature Aids-related deaths which I am sure the people of South Africa did not agree with. These drugs could have helped millions of people.

Good Luck in your next job Mr Mbeki (Which I am sure will NOT be on along the lines of Adviser, Moderator,or Leader)

Quiet Diplomacy

Zimbabweans Learn a Lesson

3rdliberation.org — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:21:48 +0000

You can’t a blame a man for trying, Thabo Mbeki saw this coming, Zuma amidst all the chaos ,corruption charges and a HIV story so ridiculous no self respecting man would have said out loud after thinking it, has come out tops. This was not a close, 60% voted for Zuma even after he told people he had washed AIDS off him after he had relations with a carrier. Mbeki, in my opinion, is one of those people born to be a deputy and that is just what he was meant to be, imagine if Nelson Mandela was greedy for power like you know who, then he would still be in his shadow. I almost feel sorry for him because he has to start looking in the classifieds or collect that pension but on the other hand, everything was handed to him and his main job was to look like he knew what he was doing and make a few changes here and there but he couldn’t even achieve that. People in South Africa have realized that despite being free, some of them still suffer in an economically progressing country. One of the main reasons Jacob Zuma is a favorite among the people is because of his charisma and the key role he played in the fight against apartheid. Poverty is still rife in South Africa hence the rise in crime and the AIDs figures, the gap between rich and poor is more evident than ever. The people need someone who can make this right not someone who just turns up at the office. My main problem with Mr. Mbeki as head of the most powerful Southern African State is his Policy on Zimbabwe or lack of. For many years he sat back and watched the neighboring country go down the drain despite the fact a man in his position could have helped the situation. Not too long ago Mr. Mbeki told BBC’s Hardtalk programme that time was running out for Zimbabwe and admitted that President Robert Mugabe had not listened to him during their repeated meetings his words were “We’ve got to find a way of getting out of this crisis, it is critical”. Thabo Mbeki was the only politician who could have prevented further tragedy in Zimbabwe but he let the situation deteriorate whilst preventing countries willing to help provide this much needed help, don’t get me wrong I’m sure there were/are areas he is very good at but I can tell you that it was not foreign policy.

There are 3 main reasons why Thabo Mbeki has adopted his quiet policy when it comes to Zimbabwe.

The main one being skilled labour force, He is getting the cream of skilled and professional labour force from across the borders doctors, professors, lectures, teachers, engineers, business people etc without the hassle of educating and training them. His Universities are packed with Zimbabwean students who will eventually add to the growing wealth of human resources in South Africa. To be fair though who would give this away? he has been a bit selfish for the benefit of his own economy.

Empty shelves have forced thousands (who are not politically connected) to flock to neighboring South Africa to shop for basic commodities. According to South African economists Zimbabwean shoppers are pumping billions into their economy and have not been deterred by the new heavy Customs and Excise, now ask yourself if Zimbabwe’s economy was stable would SA be benefiting from this. There has been talk about illegal immigrants crossing over from Zimbabwe and settling in the bordering towns of South Africa but this is a small problem compared to the benefits South Africa is currently enjoying due to the chaos and the unstable economy.

The 3rd reason why Thabo Mbeki is so soft when it comes to the Zimbabwe issue is because he is soft, he does not have the balls to tell Robert Mugabe and his government that they have crippled the country and are making Africa look bad. Trust me it’s easy Thabo next time you meet tell him, “Bob you are getting on now and you are no longer fit to run the country give someone else a chance, maybe someone younger, a fresh mind that will restore Zimbabwe to the Great African Nation it used to be”. And don’t just say it do something about it, the international community has looked upon you to make a difference but we are yet to see you pull your finger out. Well, the lesson Zimbabweans should learn from the Mbeki/Zuma saga is that change is possible. Leaders come and go, if they are not up to the task, get them out .Mr. Mbeki was out of touch with his people and now he is on his way out. Robert should have left a long time ago and someone else should have stepped in to do the job, that my people is how democracy does and should work.