Turning Tides? South Africa finally steps up to the plate ....

Finally we can be proud in SA that we've done something right by Zimbabwe ....

Yesterday the An Yue Jiang, a Chinese ship carrying weaponry destined for Zimbabwe left Durban harbour with its cargo intact. SATAWU (a local trade union) refused to unload the arms ..... and then the SA courts ruled that the weapons, including mortars, rocket propelled grenades and ammunition for AK-47s, could not be transported across South Africa.

Typically of President Mbeki's smokescreen "soft" diplomacy which has just facilitated the continuation of Mugabe's barbaric regime .... the SA government's response was that since there was no AU or UN embargo on weapons sales to Zimbabwe - SA had no role in interfering in a deal between China and Zim ....

In contrast Helen Zille (head of the opposition party - the Democratic Alliance) was excoriating in blasting the ANC's apathy on the issue and the potential consequences of allowing the cargo to be transported to a country already on the verge of implosion with a real risk of mass violence over election reruns .... accusing Mbeki of being complicit in state-sponsored terror of genocidal proportions .... and reminding people that it was a consignment of Chinese machetes that prefaced the killing of 800 000 people in Rwanda in 1994 ....

The ship is now on its way to Mozambique and the port of Beira .... one of the 15 poorest countries in the world and recipient of much Chinese "strings-free aid" to Africa (essentially building infrastructure - albeit with only Chinese contractors - in return for the countries signing over great swathes of mineral and natural resource rich land whilst turning a blind eye to graft and to whose pocket the money slips into .... )

Lets hope the next wave of Olympic torch protests are not just about Tibet .... but also about Darfur and Burma and Zimbabwe ..... and the list goes on ....