President Jacob Zuma’s International Relations Advisor, Lindiwe Zulu said she was surprised to hear they were expected in Harare yesterday because there were no such plans.
Zulu said President Zuma was still to go through a report submitted to him at the weekend by the principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
After that, Zulu said, the South African leader would then decide on what course of action to take.
“As you may be aware, the principals met and had lengthy deliberations,” Zulu said by phone from South Africa.
“We have received the report and we are going through it. “President Zuma will have to go through the report first and then he will decide what step to take next.”
Zulu said she was concerned about the level of the misinformation surrounding their purported visit to Harare and previous other missions.
“It has always been the case,” Zulu said. “We get calls from journalists asking us about our visits when there would be no such visits.”
This contradicts what President Mugabe said on Saturday.
Speaking to journalists at Harare International Airport after arriving from South Africa where he attended the official opening of the Fifa World Cup, President Mugabe said the principals had finalised a report on their position and the South African facilitation team was expected in the country on Monday to deliberate on their report.
“We, the principals, have now summarised our report — in other words, what our negotiators went through and was submitted to us and we have looked at,” Mugabe said.
“We went through it with yeses and nos, yeses and nos; and we have come up with what we agree to be the position.”
But it has now turned out the South African mediation team has no imminent plans of coming to Harare. Indications are that development can only be expected after the World Cup.
The mediation team has to update the Sadc summit scheduled for August on progress made.
The three-member team is trying to break the deadlock between Mugabe’s Zanu PF party and the two MDC political parties led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.
The team comprises former South African cabinet ministers Charles Nqakula and Mac Maharaj as well as Zulu.
Contentious issues the principals have failed to address on their own include the swearing in of Roy Bennett as deputy Minister of Agriculture; the appointment of provincial governors; appointment of Attorney General Johannes Tomana and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono; the role of George Charamba; the chairing of Cabinet, ministerial mandates and transport arrangements for principals.
* Newsday
