Now is the time when true leaders step up

Robert Mugabe has officially won the Zimbabwe presidential elections. Pretty amazing how it only took 2 days to tally these votes, while it took weeks to tally the votes in the first round of election. But Mbeki doesn't worry about these details...

Mugabe is now going to do his victory lap around Africa. African leaders have already begun to step up and have condemned this sham of an election. Mbeki is once again being presented with a perfect opportunity to publicly condemn the election and the violence in Zimbabwe.

The South African government must act now to avoid a deepening in the crisis. Mbeki, you have consistently failed Zimbabwe and your own people. However, it is not too late for you to do something. It's time to step up and confront Mugabe.

Another chance for Mbeki to act

It appears that Mugabe will declare himself victor and legitimate president of Zimbabwe yesterday. Everybody knows that this is a farce. The rest of the world will be lining up in the coming days to discuss the crisis in Zimbabwe. South Africa will once again be provided an opportunity to shape the international community's reaction to Zimbabwe. Will South Africa join with leaders in the UN and AU to condemn the election? Or will South Africa once again do everything it can to shield Mugabe from the consequences of his crimes.

The world will be watching Thabo Mbeki's reaction to this crisis. His failure to act will have consequences on South Africa: increased refugees, increased ethnic tensions in South Africa, increased unemployment, increased starvation in Zimbabwe...and a boycott of the South Africa World Cup.

The Farce Begins

Today Mbeki gets his wishes. Mugabe will win a fundamentally flawed election. Mbeki will use these results to justify his calls for a reconcilliation government where Mugabe/Zanu-PF will be the senior partner and Morgan Tsvangirai/MDC a junior partner. Everybody in the world knows that this is not a reflection of the will of the people of Zimbabwe. But Mbeki has never cared about that, has he?

It's disturbing that Mbeki refuses to acknowledge the will of the people of Zimbabwe. Instead, he is imposing his own will by forcing Zimbabweans to continue on with a discredited, failed leader.

Zakaria: South Africa's president 'should hang his head in shame'

Yet another respected voice criticizes Mbeki's approach. Fareed Zakaria has joined in the international chorus of condemnation for Mbeki's "approach".

Thabo Mbeki is really doing his country a real disservice. Its citizens had so much to be proud of following the end of the apartheid regime. It's so sad that his obstinance with regard to Zimbabwe, Burma, and xenophobic crime will be his only true legacy. I hope that South Africans will be able to recreate a positive identity and future following Mbeki's departure from office. It's just unfortunate that Mbeki has had such a negative impact on the future of the region.

New Facebook Group

I am pleased to announce that a new Facebook group has been formed to help further this cause. I have decided to disband the initial Facebook account I set up and devote more of my energies to this website. I encourage everybody to join the following Facebook group: Boycott 2010 FIFA WC unless the SA governemnt makes a stand against Mugabe.

Express your concerns to the sponsors of the upcoming World Cup

FIFA WORLD CUP SPONSORS

The following sponsors have been lined up for sponsorship either for the World Cup in 2010 or for FIFA in general. These sponsors stand to earn millions of dollars through their support of the World Cup, and South Africa stands to gain millions of dollars through sponsorship deals.

I encourage everybody to start writing to these sponsors and tell them that they must put pressure on Thabo Mbeki to confront Mugabe. Tell them that they will be picketed during the World Cup unless they act today. I’ve included links to pages that you can use for your complaints.

Also, write to your local Football Federation to tell them that they must pressure FIFA and the Government of South Africa.

FIFA Sponsors:

Adidas - http://www.adidas-group.com/en/local/meta/contact/contactus.asp

Emirates - http://www.emirates.com/uk/english/help/contact_us/fare_quote_enquiry.aspx
Sony -
Coca-Cola - http://www.coca-cola.com/template1/index.jsp?locale=en_US (link at bottom of page)
Hyundai - http://worldwide.hyundai-motor.com/common/html/contact/contact.html
Visa - http://www.corporate.visa.com/ut/faq.jsp#6

FIFA World Cup Sponsors

Budweiser – http://contactus.anheuser-busch.com/

McDonalds - http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.custsat.custsat_form_social.html

Satyam - Chittaranjan_Jena@satyam.com

Continental Tyres
MTN - majola_p@mtn.co.za

FNB - https://www.fnb.co.za/contactus/index.html

Telkom - https://secure1.telkom.co.za/app/webmastermail

Tell these South African Branding Councils what you think of Mbeki's silence:

Brand South Africa International Marketing Council - info@brandsouthafrica.com

Proudly South African - dalene@psanet.co.za

Mugabe condemned in historic speech by Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela recently addressed an audience in London and stated that there was a "tragic failure of leadership" in Zimbabwe. Out of deference to Mugabe's role in the independence struggle, Mandela had kept silent on the crisis in Zimbabwe. However, the situation in Zimbabwe has become so critical that Mandela was forced to chastise his old friend. Mandela's words were carefully chosen, but this amounts to a very harsh criticism of Mugabe, given Mandela's deliberate silence in the past.

I only wonder if Thabo "no crisis" Mbeki will continue to bury his head in the sand.

Does Mugabe have any more friends?

The SADC troika comprised of Angola, Tanzania, and Swaziland have made it clear that they feel that the current climate of violence will not produce a legitimate election. This has got to be a blow for Mugabe, as both Tanzania and Angola have generally been supportive of him in the past. In fact, Angola's president Jose Eduardo dos Santos has been seen as Mugabe's closest ally in the region.

Meanwhile, Nelson Mandela has been expressing his disappointment in the violence in Zimbabwe during his current visit in London. And as I reported earlier, Tendai Biti is currently being pressured to tell Mugabe which senior ZANU-PF leaders have been disloyal to him. Clearly, Mugabe doesn't have any more friends.

Oh wait, he does still have President Mbeki as a close friend.

Free Tendai Biti

In an eerie parallel to Nelson Mandela's suffering at the hands of the old South African government, Tendai Biti is a political prisoner of an oppressive, undemocratic regime. Mr. Biti is the Secretary General of the MDC, and his only crime has been his ability to run an effective political campaign. Like the apartheid regime in South Africa, Mugabe correctly understood that tyranny can only survive if competent democratic voices are stifled. So Mr. Biti was arrested, and he now faces the possibility of the death penalty should he be convicted of a trumped up charge of treason.

Of course, there is no substance whatsoever behind these charges. They have been fabricated by a desperate man who will do anything to hold onto power. If Thabo Mbeki were an honest broker, he would have demanded for Biti's release by now. Biti worked closely with Mbeki's people on the "quiet diplomacy" program, and Mbeki knows that the treason charges are patently false. But Mbeki isn't an honest broker.

We hold Mbeki liable for any harm that befalls Tendai Biti. Mbeki must tell Mugabe's regime to drop the false charges against Mr. Biti and to immediately release him. Mbeki's inaction will only cause us to step up our efforts to boycott the World Cup in South Africa in 2010.

Email Aziz Pahad, South Africa's Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Tell him that South Africa must publicly denounce Tendai Biti's illegal detention. Tell him that the world will hold South Africa liable for any harm that falls on Tendai Biti while in custody. Tell him that the world will boycott the World Cup should South Africa fail to act. Mr. Pahad's email address is: Dmpahad@foreign.gov.za

Why we must act

The New York Times describes why Mbeki must share the blame for the crisis in Zimbabwe. Sharing the editorial page today is a great opinion piece that advocates the boycott of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This movement will only gain more momentum. Clearly, it is in the best interest of South African citizens, FIFA, and the World Cup sponsors to put more pressure on Mbeki to end the brutality in Zimbabwe. Mbeki, there is a crisis in Zimbabwe, and if you don't act, there will be a crisis in South Africa!

Sign this petition!

This petition is being circulated to help join people together to boycott the World Cup. Sign it and make your voices heard!

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/974640253

We're on Facebook!

Join us on Facebook at pass the word around. The game of the group is Boycott the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Nice Work, Mbeki

Good job, Thabo. You once again halted any meaningful progress in Zimbabwe. Other countries wanted a stronger condemnation of Mugabe, but you were able to force the UN to water down the resolution condemning the violence in Zimbabwe. This sounds familiar...oh yes, you did the same when the Burmese junta was under consideration. Instead of condemning the human rights abuses in that country, you were able to use your "moral authority" to halt the measure. I think you said that Burma was merely a matter of domestic policy. Isn't that what you're saying about Zimbabwe now? Never mind that thousands of people are now starving and homeless. Never mind that the police and militia loyal to Mugabe have killed and tortured hundreds of people for merely having the guts to vote against him. It's only a domestic matter.

I'm so glad that other people weren't as gutless as you during the apartheid era. People from around the world organized to protest the apartheid movement, which, on its face, was less violent and oppressive than the regime we now see in South Africa. In that era, people organized an effective boycott of South Africa. It's time that the world once again boycotts South Africa to fight Mbeki's inaction.

Call to Action!

I’ve finally had enough of this nonsense. Thabo Mbeki continues to prop up a corrupt, murderous regime in Zimbabwe. His support of Robert Mugabe has cost thousands of lives, and has ruined a once prosperous nation. It is time for the rest of the world to hit Mbeki where it hurts most: the World Cup. Mbeki has tied his legacy to the World Cup. Undermining the World Cup will certainly cause him to squirm, and may finally lead to South Africa offering a meaningful solution to this crisis.

This blog is a call for people from around the world to boycott the 2010 World Cup. I urge all football fans to begin a campaign against the World Cup in a similar way to the protests that have been seen against the Olympics in China. We need to begin to organize people to protest outside South African embassies. We need to make our voices heard to World Cup sponsors. We need to stay at home and not support our local sides at the World Cup. Instead of taking our tourist dollars to South Africa, we need to travel to other countries that have bravely confronted Mugabe.

Please feel free to comment on this blog and pass it around. I hope that this will inspire other people from around the world to boycott the 2010 World Cup in South Afica! Let’s hit Mbeki where it hurts most! Let’s organize and fight injustice in Zimbabwe. Let’s help Zimbabweans live up to the promise of freedom!