Rights groups hailed the move as a major victory, a triumph of public opinion over political cynicism. It seems civil society is taking the lead, well ahead of national leaders, on the question of Zimbabwe.

In a rare show of force, African public opinion and civil organisations mobilised on a single issue to force action that politicians seemed reluctant to take.

Peter Alexander, the director for Sociological Studies at the University of Johannesburg, says the ship’s departure was a triumph for civil society: “I am amazed,” he said. “It is very impressive that such a concerted action could have such a concrete result.”

Nicole Fritz, of the Southern African Litigation Centre, which took the case to court, agrees: “The South African authorities have been driven by embarrassment in the face of what civil society has done.”

The An Yue Jiang affair is probably the clearest example of African civil society leading the agenda on Zimbabwe.

And for that, everyone involved can be proud.

Of course, things are still going on that people can be less proud of. The MDC’s Harare offices were raided again this morning, leading to the arrests of over 300 people including people from rural areas who were using the offices as a refuge – more details at New Zimbabwe, who are also reporting that the election recount in Zvimba North conveniently turned up a number of ballot boxes that hadn’t been included the first time around – apparently one polling station was overlooked. The additional votes weren’t enough to overturn the result though, and both the House of Assembly and Senate were retained by Zanu-PF (over the original results, the HoA vote was Zanu-PF +155, MDC/T +13, MDC/M -28; for the Senate, Zanu-PF +261, MDC/T +295)

First of all, the shipment was expected and approved of by the government’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC), whose scrutiny committee met earlier in the week and approved the shipment. That scrutiny committee is chaired by Defence Secretary January Masilela:

“This is a normal transaction between two sovereign states. We are doing our legal part and we don’t have to interfere.”

The UK has an arms embargo against Zimbabwe, but China’s not party to it. SA Government spokesman Themba Maseko, who had earlier been stating that South Africa’s position on Zimbabwe had not been made as clear as it should have, had this gem for us:

“South Africa is not at all involved in the arrangement, it’s a matter between the two countries. It would be possible, but very difficult for SA to start intervening and saying that we will not allow the shipment through.”

That’s in the name of maintaining South Africa’s role as a neutral mediator, if you believe the PR – except that allowing one of those sides to arm itself, the side that is already engaged in a campaign of mass violent intimidation, is hardly a neutral act. It’s very far indeed from a neutral act.

As you’d expect, sources outside the SA Government have been quick to condemn any possibility that arms for Zimbabwe could transit through SA. Democratic Alliance’s (the SA opposition party) Rafeek Shah said that this was…

“…the surest sign yet that government has completely lost the plot on the Zimbabwe issue. The world’s astonishment at President Mbeki’s political defence of Robert Mugabe will likely turn into outright anger as we are now not only denying the existence of a crisis in Zimbabwe, but also actively facilitating the arming of an increasingly despotic and desperate regime.”

Frans Cronje of the SA Institute of Race Relations:

“it would be unconscionable for South Africa to allow an arms consignment through its borders en route to Zimbabwe. [If the shipment went ahead, then] South Africa’s culpability in the Zimbabwe crisis would then be without question”.

Kallie Kriel, of AfriForum, stated that his organisation was organising..

“…an extensive campaign of peaceful demonstrations in an effort to prevent [this] consignment of Chinese arms from being transported from Durban across South African territory to Zimbabwe”.

But best of all is the response of the SA Transport and Allied Workers Union, who have stated that they will not unload the cargo should it dock, and have issued the following statement:

“Satawu does not agree with the position of the South African government not to intervene with this shipment of weapons. Our members employed at Durban Container Terminal will not unload this cargo neither will any of our members in the truck driving sector move this cargo by road.

South Africa cannot be seen to be facilitating the flow of weapons into Zimbabwe at a time where there is a political dispute and a volatile situation between the Zanu-PF and the MDC.”

The United Transport and Allied Trades Union also has serious concerns, but has not yet decided on the matter of unloading the ship.

No surprise, then, that Morgan Tsvangirai has called for Mbeki to be replaced as SADC’s mediator, suggesting Zambia’s Levy Mwanawasa should take over the job. MDC are also back in court, this time with a legal challenge to the recounts due to begin on Saturday – the hearing has been set for tomorrow (April 18th). Didn’t think the court would sit on Independence Day – perhaps someone (in this case Justice Antonia Guvava) has realised that there is actually some urgency about all this…

Sources: Zim-bound arms cargo was approved | SA won’t interfere in Zimbabwe-China arms deal | Union refuses to unload arms ship

First up, armed Chinese soldiers have been seen on the streets of Mutare:

However … there was a surprise presence of Chinese soldiers armed with revolvers in the city. The Chinese, together with about 70 Zimbabwean senior army officers are staying at the Holiday Inn, in the city’s central business district. There are about 10 Chinese soldiers.

“We were shocked to see Chinese soldiers in their full military regalia and armed with pistols checking at the hotel,” said one worker. “When they signed checking-in forms they did not indicate the nature of the business that they are doing and even their addresses.”

No official comment could be obtained from the authorities here on this issue.

Source. No, I don’t think there will be – after all, accepting help from foreign donors is just another way of seeing the great nation of Zimbabwe become recolonised, or so we’re told when it’s the MDC we’re talking about. But as if that weren’t bad enough, strange things are afoot down in Durban, where a Chinese cargo ship has docked, apparently carrying weapons destined for Zimbabwe:

The SA Police Explosives Unit confirmed on Wednesday that an uncleared Chinese vessel docked at the outer anchorage of the Port of Durban is carrying arms. Customs revealed that the shipment was destined for Zimbabwe. Inspector Nicholas Gunther of the SA Explosives Unit in Durban told Sapa the vessel – called ‘An Yue Jiang’ – was carrying a shipment of arms.

“We went there just now and they are not being allowed in,” he said. “There was a problem with the documents they submitted and we have directed the matter to the Chief Inspector of Explosives in Pretoria, Senior Superintendent van Sittert and it may take days for them to get clearance,” said Gunther.

Source. And so we see just how desperate Bob – or those now pulling his strings – seems to be to keep hold of power in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, but Morgan Tsvangirai and, importantly, the ANC itself have criticised Thabo Mbeki for his assertion that “there is no crisis” in Zimbabwe. First up, the President-in-waiting, speaking in an interview with South Africa’s e.tv:

“I’m sure Zimbabweans and the international community were shocked at the conclusion of that statement. I’m sure that such a misrepresentation creates the perception of quiet approval, which I think is quite shocking.

I can’t explain what informs his position; because that kind of position runs contradictory to my interaction with him.”

And then there’s the ANC, South Africa’s ruling party, whose National Working Committee met on Monday night in Cape Town – the group’s spokesperson Jesse Duarte made the following comments afterwards:

“The ANC regards Zanu-PF as an ally. However, it is concerned with the state of crisis that Zimbabwe is in and perceives this as negative for the entire Southern African Development Community region.”

Duarte said the ANC accepted that Mbeki, who had been re-appointed to mediate between Zanu-PF and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) factions by the SADC, “has cause to remain neutral”.

The ANC again called on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to announce the election results without delay. A run-off suggested a lack of respect for the will of the people of Zimbabwe and would be “undemocratic”.

“The ANC will contact Zanu-PF and the MDC separately with a view to hold party-to-party dialogue on the situation in Zimbabwe,” she said.

That’s not the only criticism from within the ANC. Party chairman, and Speaker of South Africa’s National Assembly, Baleka Mbete has called the Zimbabwean situation “democracy gone wrong”; ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe has been critical of Zanu-PF clearly preparing the ground for a run-off when the results haven’t even been announced yet, saying that…

“By asking for that kind of election you’re sending out the message that you know what the results are but don’t want to publicise them. What it comes down to is that the voters’ wishes are being disregarded. What’s happening there is unacceptable.”

…while ANC Treasurer General Mathews Phosa has said that…

“We can’t ignore what is happening on our borders. The numerous respected leaders of our country, region and continent must urgently play a constructive role in the mediation process to ensure that we respect the choices of the voters. If the election results are available, as some parties and observers claim, then they must be made public. We as a region cannot afford that the short-term damage becomes a long-term problem.”

Mbeki’s position is that a hard line approach could be counter-productive, but surely there comes a time when it’s clear that that softly-softly approach isn’t working? Surely, with growing reports of politically-motivated violence and now apparent foreign support for the party sponsoring that violence, that time is now?