I have long found some of the simplistic commentary about South Africa's inaction with regard to Zimbabwe to be frustrating, even if the motivation behind the frustrations with Thabo Mbeki's seeming inaction in particular is understandable. I do however find the criticisms of the failures of African leadership as a whole to be compelling. Where South Africa may be unable to act alone, bodies such as the African Union (AU), Southern African Development Community (SADC), or even an organization outside of Southern Africa, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) could play a significant role in using carrots, sticks, and coercion to force Robert Mugabe's hands. That they have not done so represents far more of a failing than anything Thabo Mbeki did or did not do acting alone. (It is perhaps telling that while Jacob Zuma is supposedly harder on Mugabe than Mbeki, the current incarnation of ANC leadership has done little more than Mbeki and perhaps significantly less to impose its will north of the Limpopo.)
