South African President Jacob Zumas international relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu has challenged the European Union (EU) to lift all targeted sanctions imposed on senior Zanu PF officials and firms affiliated to them in line with recommendations by the African Union (AU) and Sadc.
Zulu said warring inclusive government partners had made significant progress towards implementation of the Global Political Agreement, but what remained was for the principals to resolve the outstanding issues.
You will recall that the AU and Sadc have said that sanctions are not assisting in the Zimbabwean issue. Our position remains unchanged and we stand by our previous statements demanding the removal of all sanctions, Zulu told NewsDay last week in reference to the lifting of sanctions on the 51 individuals linked to Zanu PF.
What you are seeing is a reflection of the facilitation teams engagement with EU. The Sadc facilitator (Zuma) believes there is progress, admittedly it is slow, but you should understand we are dealing with negotiations and they are slow by nature.
The next step is that Zuma will be coming as soon as the calendars on both sides permit. But, the EU insisted the travel embargo would only be totally lifted after the adoption of a new constitution followed by free and fair elections.
