South Africa: Mbeki, No Crisis in Zimbabwe? · Global Voices
Muhammad Karim

South African Bloggers are up in arms regarding the recent events in Zimbabwe as well as President Thabo Mbeki's statement recently that “There is no crisis in Zimbabwe”.
This is a round-up of a few rants on the Zimbabwe situation and its affect on South Africans.
A Patch Work of Stories
writes:
‘Harare – South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Saturday there was “no crisis” in Zimbabwe after holding his first face-to-face talks with Robert Mugabe since the country’s disputed March 29 elections’.
Phew! Thank goodness for that, we can rest a little easier now!
My Digital Life
There is no post-election crisis in Zimbabwe. So says our president. He even met with Bob on his way to the summit.We must wait patiently for the results.
Two weeks after the election and no result for the presidential vote doesn't constitute a crisis. Rigging votes doesn't make this a crisis. ‘War veterans’ driving farmers and workers off their land is no cause for concern.
The fact that the rest of the world considers this a crisis is of no consequence. We must wait. We must allow Zanu-PF enough time to amend the votes.
Zimbabwe was good to the ANC in the 80's. It allowed the ANC to establish bases. It provided support. So that support must be repaid with loyalty. Even if the leader has become a tyrant. Even when the leader refuses to submit to the will of the people.
Thabo Mbeki is the only leader anywhere that sounds totally confident about the Zimbabwe situation. He is quite unique in this respect. He will be quite happy when the ZEC announce fully amended results and continue their rule by force.
Mugabe and Zanu-PF have long lost the support of the Zimbabwean people. Ask any one of the three million plus Zimbabweans in South Africa.
Zimbabwe's economy has been brought to rack and ruin. The country has lost the ability to sustain itself. 80 percent of the population are unemployed. But to Thabo everything is fine. He has no problem with Mugabe's continued rule by force. He has no problem with stolen elections, farm invasions or the supression of the people.
Whatever happened to the freedom-loving democrat?
The Daily Comedy and Humour plays on the South African Slang by transforming South Africa into “Fokolwe” – (‘fokol’ is basically an Afrikaans version of the English expression “f**k all”)
South Africa is being renamed – like the plentiful Rhodesia was transformed into bleak Zimbabwe
The new name will be FOKOLWE.
This is because WE have FOKOL:
Fokol power,
Fokol petrol,
Fokol safety,
Fokol diesel,
Fokol law and order,
Fokol doctors,
Fokol jobs,
Fokol place in jail
Just plain fokol.
…and finally, The Voice of Reason points out an irony in South Africa's political figures in response to the Zimbabwe situation.
When Jacob Zuma starts sounding like the voice of reason in the whole Zimbabwe election-stealing saga, you know you’re in trouble.