SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma has urged the inclusive government to realign the security sector ahead of elections expected later this year.
Report by Moses Matenga
Zuma, who is the Sadc-appointed mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis, made the recommendations at the recent meeting of the regional body’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security held in Pretoria.
He also called for the strengthening of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic) to deal with cases of political violence.
The South African leader’s latest calls are a direct challenge to President Robert Mugabe who has rejected security sector reforms since the formation of the inclusive government in 2009.
“Security sector realignment cannot be postponed any longer,” Zuma told the meeting, according to a report of the March 9 meeting seen by NewsDay yesterday.
“In this regard Jomic needs to be activated as a matter of priority. “The facilitation team supplemented by the representatives of Tanzania and Zambia must be enabled to participate actively in Jomic. “Namibia as a member and incoming chair of troika should now be included..
“Without the above two points it will be difficult to ensure that there is no intimidation and that violence is not allowed to escalate, if and when it occurs.”
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Zuma said issues relating to cleaning up of the voters’ roll needed urgent attention.
He added that all agreed issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) should be speedily implemented to prepare for a level playing field ahead of harmonised elections.
“A roadmap with time frame needs to be put in place within a month after the referendum,” Zuma said.
He also reported on the meetings his team had with the political parties where different positions were communicated by Zanu PF and the two MDC formations.
Zuma cited incidents where MDC supporters were being denied the right to register as voters and various cases of harassment of non-governmental organisations.
“It is very clear colleagues that Sadc through myself as facilitator have to be more robust in engaging the situation as Zimbabwe moves to the referendum and more the elections,” he said.
