THE South African government has played down what is widely regarded as a growing crisis in Zimbabwe, saying that country’s government claims the situation is “under control”, says Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Maite Nkoana-Mashabane at a press conference in Pretoria on Tuesday.
In response to whether SA was concerned about the security situation in Zimbabwe and its social and economic implications she answered saying that she had watched Zimbabwe’s High Commissioner (ambassador) to South Africa being interviewed on a South African TV channel recently.
“He presented a picture which doesn’t talk to the crisis you are alluding to and [said]that all is under control,” Nkoana-Mashabane said, with apparent approval, adding that the South African government was in fact consulting the Zimbabwe government about the situation there, noting that there were “regular interactions among us about the working of countries in the region, including Zimbabwe”.
These interactions took place in meetings which journalists didn’t know about, she says, usually between heads of state. Meanwhile more protests have been lined up by the opposition and pro-democract groups against President Robert Mugabe’s administration despite a ban on demonstrations. – ANA edited by Patience Rusere
09/14/2016
