By Lance Guma
Efforts by police in South Africa to have a human rights activist charged for putting up ‘Mugabe Go Home’ posters at the venue of Jacob Zuma’s inauguration, fell through this week. Kallie Kriel, who leads the civil rights initiative Afri-Forum, told Newsreel he put the posters on lampposts at the government Union Buildings last month, to protest the presence of Robert Mugabe in the country. He argued that Mugabe’s regime continued to commit human rights abuses, despite the formation of a coalition government.
Police in Pretoria sought to have Kriel charged for putting up the posters but a week ago he submitted to the State Prosecutor that the charges were politically motivated and violated his constitutional right to freedom of expression. He further argued that Afri-Forum had followed all the legal avenues available to stop Mugabe from visiting South Africa. State prosecutors eventually ruled in his favour and withdrew all the charges unconditionally.
Meanwhile Kriel contrasted Mugabe being allowed to visit South Africa with a denial of a visa for Tibet’s spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, by the same government. ‘The fact that the red carpet was rolled out for Mugabe in South Africa, immediately after 18 activists had been arrested in Zimbabwe, sends a negative message to the world regarding the South African government’s stance regarding human rights,’ Kriel stated.
Newsreel obtained a copy of Kriel’s presentation to state prosecutors and in it he details how he wrote several letters to Zuma’s office and the Department of Foreign Affairs, regarding Mugabe’s invitation. He said although the President’s Office acknowledged receiving them they did not respond to the contents. Kriel also listed Mugabe’s abuses, from Operation Murambatsvina to the crackdown on opposition activists and the arrest of journalists. He said the ignoring of a SADC tribunal ruling on the land issue showed that the coalition would do nothing to restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe.- SW Radio Africa
