What has happened with the 2013 harmonised elections is a throwback to the 2002 presidential election when the people’s will was stolen. NewsDay Editorial
It was so blatant and scandalous that South Africa had to send its own army generals to investigate. Their findings have not be published up to now because they were so damning of the conduct of the Zanu PF government. Nothing that we know was done to put a stop to this conduct.
This was to culminate in the tragic farce of March 2008 when presidential poll results were withheld for about five weeks, only to emerge with the narrowest of victories for MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai, necessitating a runoff with Zanu PF’s President Robert Mugabe in June of that year.
It does not take rocket science to deduce that had Mugabe won, that would not have happened. It is not far-fetched to surmise that they could not release the results as they were because Mugabe had lost outrightly and would have been obliged to immediately step down. They then sprung their Plan B for the runoff, making it practically impossible for Tsvangirai to participate and win. All the evidence was there on the ground that the opposition had made great strides to win the election fair and square. People had expressed their will through the legal and legitimate way, but this was tossed out.
We have just had the child’s play of an election without a voters’ roll. This is indefensible. Because of this and other shortcomings, Tsvangirai has raised allegations of rigging. Under such circumstances, it is natural for people to be angry. But Zimbabweans, to their great credit, have been calm and peaceful.
However, the reaction of South African President Jacob Zuma challenging Tsvangirai to produce evidence of rigging is quite puzzling and startling. Said Zuma: “Tsvangirai says there is rigging, he has to produce evidence to prove it. For us, the worry was violence and the election was not violent. Once you make a case, you’ve got to prove it.”
Zuma knows that the MDCs have not been let into the intimate workings of the government, especially as it pertains to State security and intelligence, under which rigging would be done, and their sources would risk retribution if they came out to testify and produce evidence. Zuma knows this is so because State security reforms — one of the preconditions in the roadmap to the elections — have not been implemented.
But Zuma, as the incumbent South African President, still has at his disposal South African security and intelligence to establish the fact or non-fact of rigging rather than place the burden of proof on Tsvangirai. There is a precedent from 2002. It goes without saying that he knows the contents of that report and, based on that, Tsvangirai’s accusations justify grounds for investigation.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
If Zuma has washed his hands of Zimbabwe in deference to Mugabe, he should say so than dismiss such serious allegations which impinge on his role as Sadc facilitator in the still unresolved Zimbabwe political crisis.
