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President Jacob Zuma

Herald Reporter
South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has joined President Mugabe in shunning the European Union-Africa Summit in Brussels, Belgium, over the contentious invitation list to the meeting.The African Union’s Peace and Security Council last Wednesday resolved that the continent should seriously consider putting the Summit on ice because of the EU’s disrespect for the continent.

SABC News yesterday quoted President Zuma saying: “I think that time must pass wherein we are looked as subjects, we are told who must come, who must not come, we have not attempted to decide when we meet Europe; who must come and who must not come. It is wrong and causes this unnecessary unpleasantness.

“I thought the AU and EU are equal organisations representing two continents but there is not a single one of them who must decide for others.”

The South African broadcaster quoted political analyst Steven Friedman interpreting the situation thus: “The position of the African Union is that it should be up to the African Union rather than the European Union to decide which African leaders are accepted or not.

“It seems SA is taking a stand to say you have no right to exclude particular African leaders.”

Zimbabwe had already signalled it would not be part of a discredited EU-Africa Summit.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Ambassador Joey Bimha said President Mugabe’s stand was consistent with his principled position on Africa being treated as an equal in the comity of nations.

“President Mugabe will not be travelling to the Summit and there will be no Zimbabwean delegation at the summit. This means our seat will be empty.”

The continent has agreed that it is not the duty of the EU bloc to choose the delegation of the member states. The 22nd Ordinary Session of the AU General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this year resolved that African leaders would not attend the Summit if President Mugabe – who was elected AU Deputy Chair at that meeting – was not invited.

The EU handpicked who could and couldn’t attend the meeting, putting the lie to the bloc’s claims that it viewed Africa as an equal partner in global affairs.

The EU, without giving an reason, did not invite Eritrea. It also did not send an invite to the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic but extended a welcome to it’s coloniser, Morocco.