Archbishop Desmond Tutu hits out at Mugabe Supporters by Tim Butcher Published by the Age 10:26am 17th Dec, 2003   Johannesburg. December 17, 2003    Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the moral leader of the fight against apartheid, has turned on the African leaders who still support President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe.    Although he did not cite Thabo Mbeki by name, it was clear the South African President was the subject of Archbishop Tutu's stinging criticism.    The clergyman hit out at those who have called for Zimbabwe to be re-admitted to the Commonwealth in the face of continuing human rights violations and abuse of the rule of law.    Archbishop Tutu, a Nobel peace prize winner, said the struggle against apartheid would not have been won if Mr Mbeki's logic had been applied in the 1970s and 1980s. "Had the international community invoked the rubric of non-interference then we would have been in dire straits in our anti-apartheid struggle," the clergyman said.    "We appealed for the world to intervene and interfere in South Africa's internal affairs. We could not have defeated apartheid on our own. What is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander, too." The former head of the Anglican Church in South Africa also said he was "baffled" by the behaviour of Mr Mbeki and other apologists for the Mugabe regime.    "I am sad that we South Africans declared that the last elections in Zimbabwe, though not free were yet legitimate," he said in a statement. "That is distressing semantic games.    "Human rights are human rights and they are of universal validity or they are nothing.    "There are no peculiarly African human rights. What has been reported as happening in Zimbabwe is totally unacceptable and reprehensible and we ought to say so, regretting that it should have been necessary to condemn erstwhile comrades. The credibility of our democracy demands this."    Mr Mbeki's supporters said his position on Zimbabwe was justified by the desire to encourage dialogue within the country. He argues that "Zimbabweans alone" must solve their problems. This has stopped him from criticising the Mugabe elite for plundering Zimbabwe's economy and condemning millions of black Zimbabweans to a life of oppression and poverty. Archbishop Tutu's comments threaten to open a divide within South Africa's ruling African National Congress. They came after former president Nelson Mandela implicitly criticised Mr Mbeki's policy on HIV and AIDS.    Human rights are human rights and they are of universal validity or they are nothing.    The disagreements raised the prospect of serious divide within the ANC between the old guard, known worldwide for their role in the fight against apartheid, and a younger group of Mr Mbeki's supporters.    Although the old guard are acutely loyal to the movement, they occasionally criticise the young bloods around Mr Mbeki who are now in power. Mr Mandela in 2001 criticised those in the ANC who had used political power to steal public money and his position on AIDS is now opposed to Mr Mbeki's position of playing down the disease.    Mr Mandela also moved recently to try to stem attempts by Mr Mbeki to change the constitution so he could remain in power beyond the present limit of two terms.    - Telegraph    United Nations News Service:- "Food prices spike beyond reach of average Zimbabwean family, UN says"    17 December – As drought, deaths from HIV/AIDS and a general decline decimate the Zimbabwean economy, the prices of basic foods have risen by nearly half again in the last month, putting them out of the average family's reach, the United Nations warned today.    This spike in the prices of maize, sugar and flour comes during a period between harvests, when UN agencies expect families to be most in need of food aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.    Agricultural production is hampered by an estimated 43 per cent HIV prevalence rate among farm workers that is killing the labour force or leaving people too sick to work. Areas under crops declined by 39 per cent in 2003, while yields dropped by almost 60 per cent.    With foreign currency to buy spare parts and purification chemicals in short supply, urban water and sewerage systems have been declining rapidly, OCHA said. This lack of safe water heightens the risk of disease.    In addition, rural water supplies are in critical condition. "There have already been serious cholera outbreaks in the Zambezi Valley, one of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe.
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