By Ntando Ncube

JOHANNESBURG – A Zimbabwean pressure group on Thursday urged the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) to apply pressure on President Robert Mugabe to comply with the Global Political Agreement (GPA) to avoid a relapse to Zimbabwe’s June 2008 situation. The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) describing President Mugabe’s regime as “apartheid in a black skin”, during the launch of its report titled: “Can Apples be reaped from a thorn Tree?” in Johannesburg expressed fear that fresh violence might erupt in Zimbabwe if SADC remains “invisible”.

This week the SADC that brokered the power-sharing agreement between the Zimbabwean political leaders tasked its security organ to monitor Zimbabwe’s global political agreement (GPA) that set up the February 2009 unity government.

“We have an apartheid regime in Zimbabwe that masquerades as pan-African- apartheid in a black skin”, Pedzisai Ruhanya CZC Researcher and Report Team Leader told journalists. “There is a possibility that Zimbabwe can fall in an anarchy state again. SADC must ask what is the role of the army, what is the role of the police, it must know that the role of the military is not to act as political commissar. It must know that the means and structures and mechanism of violence are still intact.”

A SADC mission on Thursday began work to review progress of Zimbabwe’s troubled power-sharing government between President Robert Mugabe and former opposition leaders, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is SADC’s official mediator in the Zimbabwean crisis.

Ruhanya said: “In our view the unity government’s role is to take Zimbabweans from a situation of lawlessness and disorder. Zimbabwe has not yet been delivered from this because of Zanu-PF’s attitude in the coalition. There is no change from violence of 2008 June elections”.

This week people described as a gang of militias tried to break into the house of Gorden Moyo, who is Minister of State in Tsvangirai’s office, police arrested two top civic society leaders after a non-governmental organisations (NGO) meeting that called on African leaders to ensure full implementation of a power-sharing agreement that set up the country’s coalition government

CZC is a coalition of human and civil rights groups, churches, women’s groups, labour and student movements that are campaigning for a peaceful and democratic settlement of Zimbabwe’s eight-year political crisis.

“Our worry as the coalition is that SADC has not performed to our expectations, it is not visible, and the situation is now going back to the June election situation.

Zanu-PF has suspended the national healing process, has suspended the constitution-making process.” CZC chairperson Jonah Gokova said. “The coalition urges the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU) as the guarantors of the GPA to impress upon Zanu-PF to make sure that the GPA is totally complied with.”

The MDC and human rights groups say political violence and rights abuses have continued despite the fact that Zanu-PF and the two MDC parties are now working together in coalition government.

“SADC has the capacity to help us and to prevent us going back to the June 2008 violence. It must rebuild the confidence of Zimbabwe that is our strong call”, Gokova said.

Asked about the implications of MDC’s prolonged partial disengagement Ruhanya became evasive and said: “The MDC must take an audit of the disengagement and take a decision on what to do.

Zimbabwean feuding politicians formed an inclusive government last February to try to end Zimbabwe’s multifaceted crisis.

Additional reporting: The Zimbabwe Times