SA to abide by majority view on Zimbabwe
Pahad gives pledge as Harare expels observer

Business Day SA - Monday, 18 February, 2002 - www.bday.co.za

Parliamentary Editor

CAPE TOWN If the majority view of all election observer missions in Zimbabwe
does not find the March 9 presidential poll free and fair, then SA will not
be able to recognise the election result, says Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz
Pahad.
Pahad's words, at Friday's news briefing on the situation in Zimbabwe, came
the day before Zimbabwe's government deported the European Union's (EU's)
observer mission leader Pierre Schori.

The action also followed the declaration of Britain's Baroness Valerie Amos
as part of a G8 team in SA to discuss the New Partnership for African
Development that the turmoil in Zimbabwe was a cloud over the initiative but
not a litmus test for President Thabo Mbeki's plan for African renewal.
Pahad said government had no intention of "whitewashing" the election
process, and pointed to the multisectoral composition of the observer
mission as evidence of its overall credibility.

It also emerged on Friday that Bobby Godsell and André Lamprecht would join
the last deployment of the SA observers on March 3. The two were the only
volunteers from Mbeki's big business working group, which was asked to
supply volunteer monitors.

Those who did not take up the invitation included Nail's Saki Macozoma,
Murray & Roberts' David Brink, Anglo American's Julian Ogilvie-Thompson and
Michael Spicer, FirstRand's Laurie Dippenaar, Paul Kruger of Sasol, and
Standard Bank's Derek Cooper.

The second part of the SA observer mission, which includes Percy Sonn from
the directorate of public prosecutions and head of the Public Service
Commission Stan Sangweni, will leave on Wednesday. Others leaving this week
are representatives from AgriSA, the National African Farmers Union, the
Congress of SA Trade Unions and black business.

Pahad said there would be seven or eight observer missions in Zimbabwe,
including one from Parliament, the Southern African Development Community
and the multisectoral one.

He said he hoped when the poll was over, all missions would be able to
express a unanimous opinion on whether it was free and fair. If there were
differences of opinion, SA would abide by the majority view, he said. If
"things go badly in Zimbabwe", then it spelt serious problems for SA and the
rest of the region.

Meanwhile, Sapa reports that Schori, who arrived in London yesterday,
accused the Zimbabwean government of "unacceptable" behaviour in abruptly
expelling him. He dismissed as "fabrications" allegations of prejudice.
EU foreign ministers will meet today to consider imposing economic and
diplomatic sanctions against Zimbabwe. The EU put its threat of sanctions on
hold after the Zimbabwean government agreed to allow in a team of 150 EU
observers to cover presidential elections.
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