Press Statement

Towards a New Zimbabwe Discussion Forum

 MDCSA TODAY

 Thursday 14^th June 2012

The inaugural Towards a New Zimbabwe Discussion Forum series will be held in Phahameng Location in Bloemfontein on Saturday the 16^th of June 2012.

Gabriel Shumba of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF) will be discussing the draft constitution as it relates to dual citizenship and the rights of Zimbabweans in the diaspora to vote.

Mr Shumba who is a distinguished lawyer will answer the critical questions of whether the draft constitution provides for dual citizenship and also if it allows Zimbabweans outside the country to vote. He will also briefly touch on the provisions in the document as they relates to the devolution of power and a general analysis of how and why the draft document is a much better constitution that the existing much abused Lancaster document.      

Read more: Towards a New Zimbabwe Discussion Forum

SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COURT TO HEAR ZIMBABWE TORTURE CASE

 SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COURT TO HEAR ZIMBABWE TORTURE CASE

On Monday 26^th March, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria will begin hearing a landmark case brought by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Zimbabwean Exiles Forum (ZEF) to compel South Africa to abide by its legal obligations to investigate and prosecute high level Zimbabwean officials accused of crimes against humanity.

SALC and ZEF are asking the High Court to review and set aside the decision of the National Prosecuting Authority and the South African Police Services not to investigate Zimbabwean officials linked to acts of state-sanctioned torture following a police raid on the headquarters of the Movement for Democratic Change in 2007.

This case will present the High Court with an opportunity to set an important precedent, which will ensure that South Africa lives up to its international and domestic legal responsibilities to prosecute perpetrators of international crimes wherever they are committed.

Read more: SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COURT TO HEAR ZIMBABWE TORTURE CASE

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's speech at the launch of the MDC's minimum conditions for document for a sustainable election in Zimbabwe (CoSEZ)

 Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s speech at the launch of the MDC’s minimum conditions for document for a sustainable election in Zimbabwe (CoSEZ)

Harare, 8 March  2012

Vice President Hon. Thokozani Khupe

Members of the Standing Committee, the National Executive and the National Council

Hon. MPs and Senators here present

Members of the Diplomatic Corps

Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen

I feel greatly honoured to be part of this great event today.

Today is an important day for the people of Zimbabwe who are facing the sternest test yet as they brace for what is definitely a watershed period in this transition.

I am not going to deliver a speech, but I am merely going to restate the national wish for the conditions we all want before a credible election is held in this country.

The document we launch here today, the Conditions for a Sustainable Election in Zimbabwe (CoSEZ)  captures our own expectations as the MDC on those conditions that should prevail in the country for a free and fair poll.

In fact, it is a misnomer to call it an MDC document because the conditions captured here are those things that all the parties to the coalition have agreed to in the GPA.

We are not seeking to reinvent the wheel, but to restate those conditions that we all have agreed to as political parties but which have fallen short at the implementation stage mainly because our coalition partners have decided to renege and to betray their own signatures.

The GPA is clear on what should happen before the next election if we are to have a free and fair election that should produce a credible and legitimate government.

Paramount among the things we have agreed are a new Constitution, political, electoral, media and other key reforms that are necessary to vaccinate the next election against the virus of 2008.

Read more: Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's speech at the launch of the MDC's minimum conditions for document for a sustainable election in Zimbabwe (CoSEZ)

South Africa Must Investigate and Prosecute Zimbabwean Officials Accused of Crimes Against Humanity, Says SALC