THE continued stonewalling of the Zimbabwean Election Commission to delay a truly transparent accounting of both the parliamentary and presidential elections is now claiming victims beyond the borders of Zimbabwe. Specifically, South African President, Thabo Mbeki, a leading light in the anti-colonial movements that freed both South Africa and Zimbabwe from minority white rule, has squandered his international stature and created divisions in his own ANC party by needlessly supporting Zimbawean President Robert Mugabe through a crisis that has seen not only a refusal to release election results but physical intimidation of opposition voters. That intimidation has now reportedly progressed to arrests and outright beatings in rural areas of Zimbabwe. Through it all, Mbeki has failed to criticize Mugabe, at one point going so far as to state that there was “no crisis” in the neighboring nation. It has been, in all respects, an abdication of his role as a statesman as he has shirked the responsibility of maturing from an opposition “guerrilla” fighter into an astute statesman. Rather than stand on principle, Mbeki has refused to stand up to a fellow liberation movement leader in the form of Mugabe. Mbeki was involved in the drafting of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, a revival plan that committed the continent to democracy and human rights. His unquestioning support for Mugabe and his silence in the face of post-election violence on the part of militias and Mugabe loyalists in the military seriously calls into question his commitment to that blueprint. That Mbeki has drawn the enmity of those who formerly regarded him as a light of freedom and equality is undeniable. Not only the ANC but its ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions have contradicted his analysis of the Zimbabwean situation. The US's main envoy for Africa, and Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer did not meet with Mbeki on a recent trip. The Washington Post in a commentary described Mbeki as a bankrupt democrat and accused him of complicity in “stealing” the Zimbabwean election. And the Economist magazine called his actions “unconscionable.” Although always important, especially in Africa, ravaged by long colonial rules, to champion issues of independence and sovereignty, it is disastrous to do it at the expense of legitimacy. In the end, Mbeki may find that Mugabe's failings may turn out to be his own undoing, as well. __
