Tsvangarai's Despondency
It shows just how far Thabo Mbeki's penchant for quiet diplomacy has failed to produce results in Zimbabwe when even Morgan Tsvangarai has lost interest in South Africa's role. Tsvangarai stated yesterday that he sees South Africa "pursuing a policy of pursuing stability rather than democracy and in that case, they are very suspicious about any change of government".

Tsvangarai visibly showed his excitement late last year when Mbeki made intimations that he would drop his policy of quiet diplomacy, but little has come of this as yet. Mbeki has tried to work through the UN, but Mugabe has been dismissive.

Zimbabwe remains a critical blot on Mbeki's presidency, and it is of interest that even so late in his presidency, he has little focus on it's resolution. The ANC AGM next year will signal the onset of his 'lame-duck' period, and he has scant time to find solutions in Zimbabwe. This just leads to the conclusion that he simply is uninterested in removing Mugabe, which is a sad state of affairs. History will not be kind...