Peter Kagwanja, research director and senior African fellow at South Africa's Human Science Research Council and president of the Africa Policy Institute argues that SADC's mediation of the crisis in Zimbabwe “must be given a chance to breathe.” But he also believes that Zimbabwe's salvation will only come through change:
[P]olitical theatre aside, the SADC mediation should focus on securing constitutional reforms, an economic recovery plan and electoral reforms ahead of the 2008 elections. But a bit of help from the likes of Sam Nujoma and Kenneth Kaunda, who have the necessary liberation credentials to urge Mugabe to step aside and oversee a peaceful transition, could also help ease the tension.
It is easy to grow frustrated over the slow, and seemingly static, state of change in Zimbabwe. At the same time, it has long been apparent that forcing change is not viable and for all of the hand-wringing, few of the harshest critics of SADC's (or Thabo Mbeki's) inaction have presented realistic alternatives to accelerate Zimbabwe's transformation. Nonetheless, SADC's breathing process cannot be open-ended. At some point, member nations, whether acting within SADC or individually, are going to have to take a stand.
