Star - Computer check would have revealed 'ghosts' in Zimbabwe elections

Star - Computer check would have revealed 'ghosts': "Computer check would have revealed 'ghosts'

South African observers blew their chance in Zimbabwe
April 8, 2005

By Peter Fabricius

Isn't it time labour minister Membathisi Mdladlana was taken off the Zimbabwe beat? Maybe his manner is useful as an ice-breaker in negotiations with local workers. But it is disastrous when dealing with the sensitivities of foreign relations. This man is not a diplomat. To put him into that minefield of foreign relations which is Zimbabwe just asks for trouble.

Mdladlana has long been President Thabo Mbeki's unofficial envoy to Zimbabwe. Why, it is hard to say, when one looks at his performance as head of the South Africa government election observer mission to last Thursday's elections"