The trouble with quiet diplomacy
We have often heard the phrase "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Most FAnews Online readers will have seen a sculpture or cartoon depicting three monkeys one covering its eyes, one covering its ears and the other covering its mouth. Such works
There are many interpretations of the phrase or artwork. Our preference is for the definition which suggests that the three monkeys represent a person or group of people who simply dont want to be involved in a situation. The three monkeys represent those who wilfully turn a blind eye to the immorality of an act.
We suggest that the three monkey's maxim is wholly appropriate for government's current "quiet diplomacy" stance on Zimbabwe. The phrase "quiet diplomacy" is befitting of two of the monkeys already. With mouths and ears firmly shut, government neither speaks about nor hears about the evils in Zimbabwe... And as Zimbabwe hastens to total economic and social meltdown, it appears that the third monkey is ready to make an appearance too.
Turning a blind eye
Because government now appears to have shut its eyes, refusing to see the evil occurring a mere stones throw from Parliament.
Recent comments by Deputy Foreign Minister, Aziz Pahad, leaves one cold. He told reporters on Thursday: "clearly, we must do more to see what we can do to deal with this large influx of refugees." He continued with: "If we don't begin to assist the Zimbabweans to solve their own problems the flow into South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia and other neighbours will increase."
Unfortunately Deputy Minister Pahad is a bit behind the times. The flow of Zimbabwean refugees into South Africa has already increased. But playing to the third monkey, government simply refuses to see the thousands of Zimbabwean refugees streaming across our northern border. There is certainly little intention of taking steps to intervene to assist these individuals. Not surprisingly, despite government having had years to prepare a response to the steadily worsening situation in Zimbabwe, no contingency plan exists.
It is time government acknowledges that they have failed to assist Zimbabwe in solving their problems and must now take strong moral action to assist the throngs of broken spirited individuals who are streaming over South Africa's borders.
Only a few short steps to absolute chaos
It is also impossible to quantify the damage being done to South Africa's international image when international camera crews conduct border patrols with South African farmers, and proceed to round up and arrest refugees. There is little doubt that the Zimbabwean crisis is already upon us and not something that could soon happen as Deputy Minister Pahad believes.
Government would do well to remember the burden these additional citizens will place on the resources they have at their disposal. Each refugee places demands on a social services infrastructure which can barely meet the needs of genuine South African citizens. Mass demonstrations against poor service delivery are commonplace and will further escalate as thousands more begin to make demands.
When will government acknowledge that there is a crisis in Zimbabwe? How many thousand Zimbabweans have to stroll over our border before the ruling party acknowledges the problem? Given the current lack of response, once can only imagine that government wishes to merge a large portion of the Zimbabwean population with our own. After all, once these 'refugees' arrive on South African soil, it does not take too much skill to transition from 'refugee' to fully fledged South African citizen.
Editor's thoughts:
Media reports suggest that Zimbabwean refugees are streaming across the border into South Africa. International television broadcasters flight scenes in which South African farmers round up dozens of 'refugees' and drop them off at local police stations. Thousands of Zimbabweans flock daily to a swamped 'asylum' centre in Marabastad, Pretoria. Yet the Limpopo police claim there is no serious increase in the number of illegal immigrants crossing our border. Can South Africa afford to turn a blind eye to this mass human migration? Send your comments to [email protected]
