The DA says Mugabe must go in order for Zimbabwe to become a true democracy. The deterioating country is facing a second cholera outbreak and with the revelation of Zimbabwe blood diamonds this week and other issues facing Zimbabwe there is almost no hope left in the country.

Statement by the DA:

It is clear from this week's events that the situation in
Zimbabwe is deteriorating at a rapid pace and that the country is
once again facing a political and further humanitarian meltdown.
The Global Political Agreement (GPA) has failed to provide a
solution to the political crisis.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) believes that the only way a fully
functioning and legitimate democracy can be established in Zimbabwe
is for fresh elections to be held from which Robert Mugabe is
excluded.

We recently presented a roadmap to this effect.
President Jacob Zuma should use his position as a member of the
South African Development Community Troika to put this roadmap at
the top of the Zimbabwean agenda.

Most recently, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe described MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai as "dishonest" and "a god given family
idiot", following the MDC's decision to disengage from the unity
government after the re-arrest of Roy Bennet.

It is quite clear that neither party in this arrangement trusts
each other or is capable of putting aside its political animosity
in favour of establishing a democratic constitution on which a new
Zimbabwe can be built.

Intrinsic to this problem is Robert Mugabe and those aligned to
him. His interests, both in retaining power and protecting the
small and unquestioning Zanu-PF elite around which he has shaped
executive power, mean, unless he is convinced to willingly step
down without fear of repercussion or retribution, he will continue
to hold Zimbabwean democracy hostage to his own political whims.
For this reason the DA's roadmap argues, essential to
establishing a legitimate solution to Zimbabwe's problems, is that
Robert Mugabe must play no part in any negotiation or
reconstitution of the basic mechanisms around which a new democracy
is to be built.

He needs to be offered and accept an exit package; and South
Africa in particular and SADC in general need to play a central
role in making that a reality.
President Zuma's lack of drive or initiative on this issue
suggests he doesn't have a plan or a vision for Zimbabwe and is
hoping that, by disengaging the GPA will miraculously sort
everything out.
Certainly his current manner differs fundamentally from his
outspokenness prior to his election.
As long as Robert Mugabe is part of the GPA, that isn't going to
happen.

That is a reality the ANC government needs to start coming to
grips with and amend their policy towards Zimbabwe appropriately.
Democracy relies on a set of basic principles, usually contained
in a constitution, in which all citizens can invest their faith and
on which every person can rely for their rights to be protected and
upheld.
Those first principles cannot be tainted or warped to best suit
the interests of those in power; they must be shaped around the
interests of the citizens they are designed to protect.

This isn't happening in Zimbabwe. It needs a fresh start and a
process that is representative and able to generate a legitimate
and properly functioning democracy.

The sooner all parties with a vested interest in solving the
Zimbabwean problem come to realise this, the better.
On Thursday, 12 November President Jacob Zuma will answer the
following DA oral questions in the National Assembly:

1. Whether the South African government under his
leadership has a different policy towards the political and
economic instability in Zimbabwe than that of the previous
government's policy of 'quiet diplomacy'; if not, why not; if so,
what are the relevant details;

2. Whether the President has read the Democratic
Alliance's 'Roadmap to Democracy in Zimbabwe' proposal which was
submitted to him on 23 October 2009; if not, why not; if so,
whether the South African government will consider adopting our
roadmap as a means of establishing a properly functioning and
legitimate democracy in Zimbabwe; if not, why not; if so, what are
the relevant details?