Mbeki's team confirms violence (Photo credit: bbc.co.uk)
THE head of a South African contingent of regional election observers charged by South African president Thabo Mbeki to investigate claims of violence in Zimbabwe has confirmed that there is violence in the country and said his team will present their findings soon.
"We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been tortured, you have seen pictures, you have seen pictures of houses that have been destroyed and so on," said Kingsley Mamabolo, the leader of an eight-person team currently in Zimbabwe.
Mamabolo did not divulge the details of the itinerary or agenda for the fact-finding team dispatched by President Mbeki in his role as chief mediator on Zimbabwe for the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (Sadc).
Asked why President Mbeki himself did not visit Zimbabwe to see the events first hand, Mamabolo said, "As mediator and facilitator, he could not just sit around hearing all these stories. So he has sent the team.”
He said investigations were still underway to find out who the perpetrators of the violence were.
Claims of violence have been levelled by both the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and the ruling Zanu PF party. He said, “We need to know what the scale of the violence is and who is doing it."
The team will report to the president and recommend ways of addressing the violence, he added.
Police arrests
Reports from inside the country say many people have been arrested who were perpetrating violence and police say they still have to verify from which party the arrested were.
In Mashonaland West province, police have arrested ruling party supporters who attacked MDC supporters in Karoi's Chikangwe high density suburb on Sunday.
Police reports say ruling party and MDC supporters in the suburbs were involved in violent clashes which saw at least one person dead.
Some MDC activists have been also been arrested, accused of violence in the same area.
Police say they cannot ascertain who the perpetrators of violence are, but confirmed that arrests were made in parts of Masvingo province, Mashonaland East, and parts of Manicaland province.
The opposition MDC blames ‘Zanu PF thugs’ for the violence—a claim declined by the ruling party.
Diplomatic visits to Zimbabwe
The team sent by President Mbeki is not the only team that has visited Zimbabwe to investigate violence claims.
On Tuesday, Angolan Foreign Affairs minister, Joao Bernardo de Miranda and head of the SADC observer mission jetted into the country to talk to President Mugabe.
Miranda was accompanied by Sadc Executive Secretary and Swaziland Foreign Minister. The three form the Sadc Troika on Defence and Security responsible for security matters in the region.
On Monday the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping arrived in the country and held private talks with President Mugabe and the chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC), George Chiweshe.
On the same day, Sydney Mufamadi, the South African Minister of Provincial and Local Government of South Africa and head of the Sadc mediation team on Zimbabwe arrived in the country to talk to President Mugabe on the need to have law and order in the country ahead of the presidential election run-off.
Incidents of violence
Incidents of post–election violence have increased and became more pronounced in rural areas in the last few weeks, especially in the provinces of Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West and Manicaland.
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READER OPINIONS
Omugabe • dziva@sanandresano.com Subject: Africa for Africans -- LOOK INWARD & 'LOOK EAST' ZIM PATRIOTS Thu, 08 May 2008 14:54:55 • The lost leaders of the MDC (Mentally Deluded by Colonialists) should be caught and confined for carrying through on their pre-election threat of Kenya-style violence in Zimbabwe.
To all those European servants, slaves and MDC anarchists who threatened Kenya-style violence after the election, they have no business complaining about violence if the Law Enforcement Authorities of Zimbabwe respond decisively to put them out of business, and restore Law & Order in the country.
Law Enforcement in Zimbabwe CANNOT be idle while MDC criminals engage in violence to destabilize the country.
LAW & ORDER MUST BE MAINTAINED AT ALL TIMES IN SOCIETY!
Bernard Dzumbunu • c.knowledge@sky.com Subject: NO TO VIOLENCE Thu, 08 May 2008 06:56:30 • What angers me most if the fact that the Zimbabwean Police and the Government have been in denial over allegations of violence. Give us the evidence, they both sang the chorus. What is being reported is just the tip of the iceberg. We talk to friends and reletives from different areas of Zimbabwe and the story is very much the same. Violence is being pepetrated against innocent civillians. As to who is doing it, well it is better for me to simply say, Please, do not inflict pain on each other for and on behalf of Politicians. Why kill or maim those members of your community? What will happen in future? What is going to be the relationship between your children if you murder one of their parents? NOBODY SHOULD CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF ZIMBABWE. War veterans alone would not have won any war of liberation without the support of the masses who actually bore the full and visible scars of the war. Civillians fought, they provided food, shelter and acted as couriers of important information. Voting for a Zimbabwean Registered Political party or candidate cannot and must never make one a hunted animal.
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