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West's obsession with Zimbabwe smacks of racism

WESTERN countries' obsession with Zimbabwe and its land reform programme smacks of racism, South African Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said yesterday.

Speaking at a media briefing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) port city of Dubai, Dr Dlamini-Zuma said Africa's economic upliftment should not be jeopardised by the perceived problems in Zimbabwe.

The South African minister, who is on an official visit to the Middle East state, said external backing for the continent's economic blueprint, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), should not be conditional on the situation in just one country.

"We resent the idea that if the rest of the world or the West does not like what one country does, then all of Africa must suffer.

"Why should Africa suffer collective punishment even if there were problems in Zimbabwe? Does all of the EU (European Union countries) suffer because of problems in Northern Ireland?"

Being divided only by the Limpopo River, South Africa was better placed to know about the actual situation in Zimbabwe, she said.

"Zimbabwe is correcting an historic injustice. We may not agree with the methods, but we agree with the correction of an injustice."

"This whole hullabaloo is about black people taking land from white people. There is an element of racism," Dr Dlamini-Zuma said.

She stressed that South Africa believed in a more orderly way of land redistribution.

"In South Africa, we are going through a process of buying back land. We believe these things must be done in this orderly fashion."

However, South Africa would not police Zimbabwe.

"This is not how we conduct our relations. When it rains, there is a border between us; when there is no rain, there is no border. So we know the problems of Zimbabwe better than anyone," the minister said.

She said if Zimbabwe were to collapse, Britain, the United States or the EU would not be affected.

"South Africa will be affected. If there is a crisis, even the white people will have to cross over to South Africa to get flights to Britain."

She said although Africa would accept the support of the West to see Nepad succeed, it would not bow down to pressure to "police Zimbabwe".

"Nepad should not be linked to one country," she said.

The minister also expressed South Africa's hope that the UAE would become involved in Nepad through infrastructure development.

Stung by Dr Dlamini-Zuma's unambiguous comments on Zimbabwe, South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), immediately issued a statement claiming the minister "has yet again slipped and misled the world about the crisis in Zimbabwe".

"Dlamini-Zuma inexplicably chose to argue that what is at stake in Zimbabwe is the question of race and land rather than the collapse of democracy," said DA spokesperson on Africa Mr Joe Seremane.

He also criticised his country's quiet diplomacy approach on Zimbabwe.

"Ultimately rants of the sort that the minister had yesterday will only serve to strengthen international scepticism about South Africa's role in the Zimbabwe crisis and reduce South Africa's credibility on the world stage, and even within Zimbabwe itself," he said.

The Zimbabwean Government has previously dismissed criticisms by DA as racist-based. — Sapa/Herald Reporter.

http://www.zimbabweherald.com/index.php?id=43417&pubdate=2005-05-13

Messages In This Thread

Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice *LINK*
Re: Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice - Pt 2 *LINK*
Re: Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice - Pt 2
Re: Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice - Pt 2
Re: Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice - Pts. 1 & 2
Re: Zimbabwe's Fight For Justice - Pts. 1 & 2
West's obsession with Zimbabwe smacks of racism


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