South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team has demanded that bodies created by the GPA, such as the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic), should stamp their authority and do the work they were established to do.
The facilitation team has been in the country since Wednesday to meet representatives of the parties in the inclusive government and critical players in the country’s politics such as Jomic, Human Rights Commission (HRC), Zimbabwe Media Commission and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec).
The facilitation team wants to get a first-hand impression of the developments in the country, on behalf of Zuma, ahead of the Sadc summit in Angola next month while also pushing the parties to move fast in implementing agreed items.
“Basically, the facilitation team wants the structures which were created through the GPA to stamp their authority.
They want Jomic to have teeth and from their attitude you can read that they are saying there is no need for negotiators to continue sitting and negotiating if what they agree on is not implemented,” said a negotiator who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“They are also very keen to establish realistic time frames by which the country can hold elections as well as evaluate the preparedness of critical bodies such as Zec and HRC. The facilitators want these bodies to be empowered to do their work.”
