Mbeki can never again speak of Human Rights

As someone remarked to me yesterday, may Mbeki never ever speak about Human Right again, considering what we are all watching happen in Zimbabwe right now.

He now is an accomplice to murder and to human rights violations.

Because, in not speaking out against Mugabe, he now is showing support for Mugabe’s current actions and attitude.

The process of a national election is not being respected by the ruling party. People who rejoiced when they heard the MDC had won, went into hiding, but still were hunted down and beaten or murdered. People are fleeing their homes and even their country in extreme fear. The opposition leader is based in South Africa because it is safer than being in his own country. The national media is being manipulated. Weapons are heading towards Zimbabwe when it supposedly is not at war… so what is it for, President Mbeki.

And our president says FUCK ALL against any of this.

And it is breaking my heart. As a citizen of a country that - now hypocritically - claims it is a champion of Human Rights.

Our neighbours are vocalising their opposition to the actions of Mugabe’s regime – incl. Botswana and Zambia. Even the strong allies of President Mugabe are speaking out against him – Malawi added “its voice to the calls for the immediate release of the results and added that Zimbabwe should resume talks with former coloniser Britain and white farmers…”

“The Government of Malawi believes that the people of Zimbabwe should not live in the past," President Bingu Wa Mutharika's government said in a statement. "They must move on”.

Mugabe is not a comrade. Mbeki more than likely has not done a day of menial labour in his life, so most definitely is not a “comrade”. Stop speaking of comrades and past glories. There is a tragedy taking place in the present.

I admire the Union Workers who see beyond their presidents, who are standing up for their principles and the true “comrades” (workers based in Zimbabwe) and are refusing to offload the ship’s cargo of weapons in the various harbours.

“The London-based International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said yesterday they were mobilising unions in China and Africa, including those in Angola, to take a firm stand and to stop the ship from offloading its cargo of weapons. The ITF, which consists of more than 650 unions, representing 4,5-million workers in 148 countries, is believed to have been instrumental in Mozambique's refusal allow the ship to dock in Maputo after ITF affiliate the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) asked it to intervene”.

And I wonder again whether in ten years time the world will say “Never Again Must We Let This Happen”.