The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that President Zuma is undermining his own administration’s attempts to mediate peace in Zimbabwe by accepting the credentials of Zimbabwe’s new high commissioner to Pretoria. If the Global Political Agreement (GPA), brokered by South Africa, is going to work, then its terms must be respected by all political parties involved, especially the broker.

President Zuma is due to accept the credentials of Zimbabwe’s High Commissioner, Phelekezela Mphoko, today. Commissioner Mphoko was appointed by President Mugabe without due consultation of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The terms of the GPA require agreement between ZANU PF and the MDC on all major appointments.

At the next sitting of the parliamentary committee on international relations and development, I shall request that the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation be summoned to appear before the committee. I shall ask the minister to explain why the Zuma administration deliberately chooses to undermine its own agreements and why it appears to display political bias in affairs in which our country is supposed to remain neutral.

The GPA was a ‘political solution’ brokered between President Mugabe’s ZANU PF and the opposition MDC by South Africa after ZANU PF was reluctant to engage in and respect fair and democratic elections. It was designed as a holdover until the next round of elections in Zimbabwe. Its success is contingent on all sides respecting its provisions.

The Zuma administration has thus undercut its own efforts at brokering peace in Zimbabwe. We urge the president not to upset a delicate balance and consign the GPA to the same dust-heap as his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki’s, ‘quiet diplomacy.’