Mbeki Says Zim Regime Change Conspirators Organised 2008 SA Xenophobia For Votes Against Mugabe
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has accused unnamed conspirators of organising the 2008 xenophobia in South Africa. He said the xenophobia was systematically organised to drive Zimbabweans back home to vote Mugabe out of power.
Speaking during a QnA session at a UNISA event, Mbeki said South Africans living in Alexandria (where the xenophobic attacks started) have a long history of co-existing peacefully with other Africans and could not have started it.
Mbeki said his government, when he was president, had the evidence of meetings by the conspirators but that he had not declassified it when he had the chance.
Alexander Township in Johannesburg that township has always always had people from all over the continent with no friction, historically. The African community here has never been xenophobic about other Africans. In 2008, all manner of trouble breaks out in Alexander Township in Johannesburg. Attacks on these foreigners particularly Zimbabweans then it spread elsewhere… xenophobia, xenophobia, afrophobia, afrophobia.
So me I say when I saw that thing I am in government I was president. I said ‘but this is not Alexander Township. Alex, for decades has had Zimbabweans and Mozambicans and this and that and never ever this conflict. Why?
There’s a mistake we made as government and not to declassify an intelligence document about what happened in Alexander 2008. That thing was organised to drive the Zimbabweans out of the country back to Zimbabwe because there were elections in Zimbabwe. It was people who were being driven out. They were going to vote against Bob Mugabe there. An intelligence report which has got the names and the dates and venues where people met and planned this and so on….
It’s presented as an xenophobic attack by the people of Alex against [Zimbabweans]… It was wrong. It was organised, systematic for the political purpose.
Robert Mugabe narrowly lost the election to Morgan Tsvangirayi even as the results were announced very late causing speculation that the margin of loss was wider. Emmerson Mnangagwa admitted recently that Mugabe was ready to handover power to the opposition after the loss.
A presidential run-off election announced as Tsvangirayi was said to have failed to get a decisive win. In the run-up to the run-off election Zanu PF unleashed a wave of violence that resulted in the deaths of several hundred MDC supporters, and ultimately Tsvangirayi pulling out of the election.
The stalemate was mediated by Mbeki himself, who ushered in a negotiated GNU, with Mugabe as the ultimate leader.
