------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:15:09 -0400 From: moderator@xxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: South African Left on Elections in Zimbabwe To: PORTSIDE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx South African Left on Elections in Zimbabwe 1. COSATU Demands Democracy in Zimbabwe 2. South African Communist Party on Zimbabwe === COSATU Demands Democracy in Zimbabwe Congress of South African Trade Unions June 24, 2008 http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/2008/jun/press46.htm The Congress of South African Trade Unions fully sympathises with the decision of the Movement for Democratic Change to withdraw from what was clearly going to be a totally unfree and unfair election on 27 June 2008. The federation is appalled at the levels of violence and intimidation being inflicted on the people of Zimbabwe by the illegitimate Mugabe regime, and endorses the view of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), that: - Political violence in the country has reached alarming if not catastrophic proportions; - The 27 June Presidential election is not an election, but a declaration of war against the people of Zimbabwe by the ruling party; - Dozens of people have been murdered due to political motivated violence; - Thousands of people have been threatened with death, beaten, tortured and harassed for expressing or supporting the opposition political party; - People are being forced to attend political rallies, failing which they are being beaten up; - There has been deployment and sprouting of several bases led by the ruling party militia that are harassing and perpetrating violence; - The usual polling officers, i.e. teachers and civil servants, have been sidelined in the running of elections in favour of ruling party supporters; - Thousands of people have been displaced through political violence and are thereby unable to vote; - The State President has made it clear that he will not accept defeat even if he loses the elections. - Very few local observers have been accredited to oversee the conduct of the elections; - There has been continuous harassment of workers on their way to and from work by youths militia who have been deployed in suburbs; - Opposition party agents have been harassed, some killed and therefore unable to monitor what may happen in some wards on the day of the election; - The opposition has not been granted permission to campaign; - There is a complete black out of the opposition in the public media and in case where it is mentioned, has always been in negative light; - Potential voters are being threatened that their names would be recorded if they voted for the opposition. -COSATU therefore supported the decision of the ZCTU not to accept an outcome of any flawed election, and demands that the leaders of the SADC and AU governments, whose observers are now in the country, make a clear public statement that the elections cannot possibly be free and fair, and to withdraw their recognition of a `government' that has no mandate to rule following their defeat on 29 March 2008, but is clinging to power by brute force. Now that MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai has pulled out of the Presidential run off in protest over the conditions articulated by the ZCTU (above), the COSATU NOBs, in their normal Monday meeting, decided as follows: 1) To work with the COSATU Limpopo Province to start mobilising for a blockade to protest against the violence Mugabe has unleashed against his own people. This will also serve as a reminder to the now illegal and illegitimate government that Zimbabwe is not an island and that they do need the cooperation of neighbours like South Africa to survive. 2) To call on all COSATU's other Provinces, together with civil society organisations, including those armchair critics of COSATU's commitment to human rights, to organise rallies during June and July, and to call on the ANC and SACP to take similar action in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe 3) To call on the workers in South Africa, SADC, Africa and the world over, as well as all progressive citizens of the world, to work towards a total isolation of Mugabe and his government. We call on all our unions and those everywhere else in the world to make sure that they never ever serve Mugabe anywhere, including at airports, restaurants, shops, etc. Further we call on all workers and citizens of the world never to allow Mugabe to set foot in their countries. 4) To call on the South African government, SADC governments, African governments and all other governments not to recognise Mugabe's illegal government all over the world, and to refuse to have any dealings with Mugabe other than ensuring that he work towards a new elections strictly under the conditions of total observance of the SADC election protocols. 5) To endorse the statement by the SADC chairman Benjamin Mwanawasa that there were no prospects for a free and fair lection in Zimbabwe 6) To call on all the governments and employers to support the application that has been submitted by labour under Article 26 of the ILO Constitution against the Zimbabwe government for non-observance of the ILO's Convention 87 (Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise) and Convention 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining) respectively. Patrick Craven (National Spokesperson) Congress of South African Trade Unions === South African Communist Party Statement on the Latest Developments in Zimbabwe SACP June 24, 2008 http://groups.google.com/group/SACP-Media/browse_thread/thread/abbc1f975b9eb9c7 The SACP is extremely concerned at, and disturbed by, the latest developments in Zimbabwe, including the increase in violence directed at opposition members and supporters, the arbitrary arrest of opposition leaders, the trade union movement, and other sections of civil society, now culminating in the withdrawal of the MDC from the Presidential run-off. The SACP strongly condemns the decision by the Zimbabwean government to proceed with the elections this coming Friday under these conditions. Such a decision can only create further chaos and instability and it is not in the interests of the Zimbabwean people. The SACP therefore calls upon SADC to make an urgent intervention to create conditions for a free and fair election, including urgent measures to speedily adopt a new constitution, putting an end to politically orcherstrated and all other forms of violence, and end the use of state security organs to serve the electoral and political interests of the ruling party. It is for these reasons that the SACP pledges its continued solidarity with the struggles of ordinary Zimbabwean workers and the poor for democracy and the reconstruction of the economy of that country. It is not for us to choose which party must rule Zimbabwe, but we are in solidarity with the struggle for conditions to be created for the people of Zimbabwe to freely exercise their choice. The SACP has over the recent years consistently pointed out and warned at the deteriorating situation in the country, and called for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to intervene and insist on the strict observance of its own protocols on free, fair and democratic elections. At the heart of the crisis in Zimbabwe has been, a degenerating ZANU-PF, characterised by use of the state as a means to accumulation by elites located in the state, the consequent abuse of state resources, gross mismanagement of the economy, thus leading to a growing gulf between the government and the people. This has led to the alienation of key former constituencies of ZANU-PF from this once heroic liberation movement, culminating in the loss of elections by ZANU-PF on 29 March 2008. Consequently, the very arms that were used to fight a heroic and justified struggle against British colonialism have now been turned against the people. This is the tragedy of a once promising revolution led by ZANU-PF. Much as imperialism will always try to undermine all progressive revolutions in order to establish neo- colonial regimes in its former colonies, it is disingenuous for ZANU-PF to blame all of its problems on imperialism. How come that in the 1960s and 1970s imperialism failed to win the majority of the Zimbabwean people onto its side, but now, according to ZANU-PF, the people are being successfully 'manipulated' by these imperialist forces? Any revolution that begins to turn its guns on the people is surely a revolution in deep trouble, and requires serious self-reflection by the liberation movement itself. It is also a fact that during the mid-1990s the ZANU-PF government itself colluded with the imperialist structural adjustment programmes imposed on the people, with sections of the elite benefitting handsomely in the privatisation and outsourcing of state services. This was the beginning of the seeds of the destruction of the Zimbabwean revolution. It is clear to us that with the latest developments Zimbabwe will never be the same again. But of serious concern to us is a danger of Zimbabwe getting into a self-destructive and violent cul-de-sac. The SACP strongly believes that it is Zimbabwean people themselves who must take the lead in resolving the problems of that country. They have tried to do so through their vote in the last elections, but this is being deliberately undermined and frustrated by the government. We also call for the immediate release of all opposition leaders that are detained and for an end to the harassment of all other activists who are targeted because they hold different views to that of government. The SACP will throw its weight behind the mass activities that COSATU will be engaged in and we will intesify our solidarity work, in collaboration with all progressive forces, in our quest to find lasting solutions for the crisis of Zimbabwe. _____________________________________________ Portside aims to provide material of interest to people on the left that will help them to interpret the world and to change it. Submit via email: moderator@xxxxxxxxxxxx Submit via the Web: portside.org/submit Frequently asked questions: portside.org/faq Subscribe: portside.org/subscribe Unsubscribe: portside.org/unsubscribe Account assistance: portside.org/contact Search the archives: portside.org/archive ------- End of forwarded message ------- ========================================== *** [==> If you're not part of the solution... you're part of the problem <==] ***