Mbeki and Miles Tendi- Zanu PF apologists

The MDC dismisses the alleged assertion attributed to former South Africa President Thabo Mbeki that President Tsvangirai consulted former US ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee during the negotiations ahead of the formation of the inclusive government.

President Tsvangirai was widely consulting his team of negotiators and the party leadership that was always stationed with him at the venue of the talks. It is clear from what Mbeki selectively told Blessing Miles Tendi, a Zanu PF apologist,  that Mbeki exposed his true colours, his soft spot for Zanu PF, and his unexplained and historical lack of respect for President Tsvangirai.

It is a matter of public record that former President Mbeki, who scored a first when he was recalled as President of South Africa by his party, the ANC, has always had a low opinion of the MDC and its President. Assuming that Mr Mbeki relied on sources in Zimbabwe, those sources are discredited and unauthentic.

Naturally, it may well be that his conclusions were based on faulty, fabricated and doctored material. He has always regarded the people’s Party of Excellence, the MDC and its President as unoriginal, unpatriotic and unreliable. We cannot change Mr Mbeki’s borrowed negative views on our party which are well documented.

However, we derive comfort from the fact that the people of Zimbabwe do not hold the same unproductive, corrosive and dangerous views as those held by Mr Mbeki. That is why Zimbabweans overwhelmingly voted for President Tsvangirai in March 2008.

Mr Mbeki has always deployed effort to discredit, rubbish and weaken the MDC. We are also well aware of his disposition and role in the destabilisation of the MDC in 2005. Mr Mbeki cannot be allowed to cover up for his shortcomings on the Zimbabwean issue by engaging in mendacity and untruths. His record as an honest broker is perforated.

For the record, in Zimbabwe’s democratic struggle, President Tsvangirai continues to keep the people’s determination for freedom and democracy intact by involving Zimbabweans, at all levels, in decision-making processes through constant consultation. Consultative and deliberate democracy is the hallmark and character of our politics as the MDC.

Issued by the MDC Information and Publicity Department