11 October 2000
In response to media reports that Deputy President Zuma made comments supporting Zimbabwean President Mugabe, the Presidency wishes to state the following:
It is unfortunate that comments made by the Deputy President, in answer to a question whether the heads of state had boycotted the Trade & Investment Summit, in Windhoek, were misconstrued to mean support for President Robert Mugabe.
What the Deputy President had said was that there was no boycott, because those leaders who were not there had sent apologies.
Answering another question on his impression of President Mugabe's input at the beginning of the conference, the Deputy President had commented that President Mugabe gave a reasonable explanation of the situation in his country, and that the delegates were appreciative of the fact that he did not shy away from the issue.
In fact today, as the heads of delegation made closing remarks, the Deputy President responded to a question and gave an assurance that the situation in Zimbabwe would not happen in South Africa. His view is that there are constitutional guarantees and a strong adherence to the rule of law in South Africa to guard against this.
South Africa also has a land redistribution programme in place to deal with the land question in this country.
It is regrettable therefore that the Deputy President's remarks were misunderstood.
Issued by: Office of the Presidency
Contact Person: Lakela Kaunda (Spokesperson to the Deputy President) Contact Number: 082 782 2575