Bail out African Style

Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders on Monday approved a Zimbabwean reconstruction plan of up to US$8,5-billion (about R82-billion). (from IOL)

SA foreign minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma stressed though that SADC governments would not raise most of the money themselves. (Classic stuff!!! Put together a "bail-out" plan, but hope "someone else", the "international donor community" will pay)

SADC would try to mobilise it from international donors and international financial institutions. She said the summit had agreed that the SADC governments would each decide over the next weeks what they could afford to give. (And all of a sudden our government finds that it's not so keen to just waste money by pouring it into Zimbabwe with no hope of ever recouping it)

Zimbabwe's $5 billion (about R50 billion) short-term economic recovery plan unveiled this week appears certain to fail unless the rule of law is urgently restored, as demanded by international donors. (also from IOL)

A senior International Monetary Fund official told a meeting of civic organisations: "We can't just step in and shore up the budget. We want to see sound policy changes."

A little recap then. Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF head up an entirely racist policy of farm invasions aimed solely at the white farmers of that country. An entire nation has subsequently been disincentivesed to farm and turned it's back on the sun. The white farmers of Zimbabwe then sued the Zimbabwe government at a SADC Tribunal. The Zimbabwe goverment have indicated that they are ignoring the SADC ruling, but now SADC must come up with R82Billion in aid to rebuild Zimbabwe and to feed it's people. Now for Zimbabweans eighty two billion rand might not sound like a lot, but for South Africans that is a lot of money. South Africa will pretend to care, while effectively turning it's back on Zimbabwe like Sir George Grey did to the Xhosa's 150 years ago. The idea that South Africa owes Zimbabwe ANYTHING is far fetched. Of course the ruling party sought refuge there in the days of apartheid, but times have changed. Pumping money into Zimbabwe is going to cost the ANC support, so don't expect the billions to be flowing any time soon.