Two South African special envoys have arrived in Zimbabwe on a mediation mission, SA Communications Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi said on Thursday. Kubayi said the envoys, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and State Security Minister Bongani Bongoand, were allowed into the country. He said that they would meet Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and leaders of the Zimbabwean Defence Force soon, Kubayi said at a press briefing in Parliament after a fortnightly cabinet meeting. Thereafter, he added, the two envoys will proceed to brief Angolan President Joao Lourenco, who is also the Chairperson of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, according to Kubayi. Kubayi said the South African cabinet supports the intervention by President Jacob Zuma, in his capacity as Chair of the SADC, in response to the Zimbabwean situation.
Further updates on this matter will be communicated by Zuma’s office, Kubayi said. On Wednesday, Zuma said he was sending special envoys to Zimbabwe in light of the unfolding situation in the neighboring country. Zuma has called an urgent SADC Organ Troika meeting to discuss the unfolding political and security situation in Zimbabwe. On behalf of the SADC, Zuma issued a statement expressing the organization’s grave concern over the political situation and urged both the Zimbabwean government and the military to resolve the political crisis amicably. Mugabe reportedly has been under house arrest since early Wednesday after the army, led by Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, took over the government in what is believed to be a coup. The political opposition in Zimbabwe called for the intermediate installation of an interim government.
“At the moment the transitional government is the best way to go,” said Douglas Mwonzora, Secretary-General of Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party. “We back the military move but the country should quickly go back a constitutional government.”
Source: News agencies
