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This week's talks between President Jacob Zuma and Botswanan President Ian Khama have seen Zimbabwe placed at the top of the regional agenda
Key steps should still be taken to ensure that the upcoming Zimbabwean national elections are indeed free and fair
DA calls on Zuma administration to put pressure on the Zimbabwean unity government to comply with dictates of Global Political Agreement (GPA).





President Jacob Zuma's hosting this week of his Botswanan counterpart, President Ian Khama, has seen the issue of the Zimbabwean political situation placed firmly at the top of the regional agenda and discussions concerning next year's proposed Zimbabwean national election are gaining momentum. To ensure that these elections are indeed free and fair, the DA calls on the ANC government to pressurise the Mugabe administration to comply with the dictates of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The Zimbabwean government should be compelled to comply with a number of critical provisions before elections should be allowed to proceed. These include:

• Permitting international and regional monitors to oversee the periods prior to, during, and immediately after the election to ensure that it is carried out free from intimidation, harassment or vote rigging and that the results, if accepted by independent observers as legitimate, are accepted. Regional bodies, namely SADC and the AU, should play a central role in this regard
• Establishing key institutions, such as an independent electoral commission
• Securing guarantees from all political parties that they are committed to a free and fair electoral process
• Completion of the constitutional review process that is currently underway, which has been hampered by reports of intimidation of opposition MDC members

President Zuma, as SADC's appointed mediator in the Zimbabwean political negotiations and as the head of Zimbabwe's most critical regional ally, should work to ensure that President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF party desist from adopting their standard stance of stubborn non-compliance if the country is to clear this critical democratic hurdle.