(Last Updated on August 5, 2013 by Editor)
A MDC supporter holds up his red card in support of MDC’s President Morgan Tsvangirai during the last campaign rally in Harare. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi, AP)
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Special Report
Mugabe ‘doesn’t have the stamina’
Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe might have swept to victory but the grim reality of dealing with a stunted economy and creating jobs are the sternest test for the 89-year-old ruler, a report says.
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Carien du Plessis and Sipho Masondo, City Press
Johannesburg – Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party took part in Zimbabwe’s elections against advice from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which urged him to withdraw from the polls.
A high-level diplomatic source has told City Press that the SADC told Tsvangirai at a summit in Maputo in June not to take part in the elections.
“This was the only way the elections could be delayed so concerns about the reforms of the security sector could be addressed,” said a government aide with close knowledge of the meeting.
But Zuma’s spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, said the proposal was not made at the meeting. “The SADC’s communiqué [discussed in Maputo] wanted the parties to talk about their differences and approach the courts for a postponement of 14 days,” Maharaj said.
“It did not say that one party should withdraw. That wasn’t an option. If any member advised this outside of the meeting, it would be an irresponsible thing to say.â€�
The Maputo meeting was attended by SADC heads, including Zuma, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and Tsvangirai, who served as prime minister of Zimbabwe’s unity government at the time.
The claim was corroborated by a separate source, who was briefed about the meeting.
But the second source said: “The MDC-T didn’t want to [pull out] because they were convinced that they would win the elections.”
Both the AU and the SADC last week expressed concerns about the way the elections had been conducted, but in their preliminary pronouncements said the elections had been free.
– City Press
