Mandela condemns Mugabe 'failure'
Nelson Mandela has broken his silence and has condemned Robert Mugabe referring to his "tragic failure of leadership".
Speaking at a dinner in London to mark his 90th birthday, Mr Mandela said:
"We watch with sadness the continuing tragedy in Darfur. Nearer to home we have seen the outbreak of violence against fellow Africans in our own country and the tragic failure of leadership in our neighbouring Zimbabwe."
Until now Mandela has maintained a dignified silence so as not to undermine the policy of his successor, Thebo Mbeki, who has been operating what he referred to as "quiet diplomacy", but - with Mbeki's plan clearly getting nowhere and Mugabe's behaviour getting worse by the day - Mandela has clearly come to the conclusion that it is time to speak out. And, although it is barely one sentence of condemnation, the very fact that it is coming from the world's most famous and respected African, means his words will carry great weight.
Africans traditionally do not speak out against each other, and especially not when the condemnations have been coming from former colonial powers like Britain, but Mugabe's behaviour has been so appalling that nations like Swaziland, Tanzania and Angola have already condemned Mugabe's plan to claim legitimacy from tomorrow's elections.
The three countries from the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) are responsible for overseeing peace and security in the region.
The leaders said they were concerned and disappointed by Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal on Sunday from the vote.
But they said that holding the election under the present circumstances might undermine the credibility and legitimacy of its outcome.
They also said the people of Zimbabwe deserved a "cooling-off period".
This comes on top of the condemnation from other countries:
The crisis has drawn growing international condemnation of Mr Mugabe and his government.
Britain has said it will withdraw an honorary knighthood granted to President Robert Mugabe.
Mr Mugabe is the first foreigner to be stripped of the award since Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, the day before his execution.
US President George W Bush said Friday's vote appeared "to be a sham" because the opposition had not been able to campaign without fear of intimidation.
The US has said it will not recognise the results of the vote.
Mbeki has already allowed the UN to vote against Mugabe, something which he has previously blocked with the help of China, in a signal that even Mbeki is finding it hard to justify the lengths Mugabe is going to in order to cling to power.
But Mandela's voice is the most important and carries the greatest weight with all Africans. In Zimbabwe, state television will totally ignore what Mandela has said and ordinary Zimbabweans will likely never hear that he said what he said, but Mugabe knows he said it, and he knows that it is Africans themselves who are now condemning what he is doing.
Zimbabwe is utterly dependent on South Africa for economic assistance, now surely even Mbeki realises that it is time to make the final push and end the presidency of Robert Mugabe.
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