The South African government needs to take a “tough love” approach to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s outrageous and unprecedented appeal for a R6,5-billion loan, says South African opposition Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon.

The South African government needs to take a “tough love” approach to
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and his outrageous and unprecedented
appeal for a R6,5-billion loan, South African opposition Democratic
Alliance leader Tony Leon said, the South African Press Association
(SAPA) reports.

Leon said he believes the majority of South African taxpayers do not
want their hard-earned rands to be used to bail out Mugabe’s oppressive
regime and the failed state that his defective policies have created.
“It is time for the South African government to take a ‘tough love’
approach to Zimbabwe. If Mugabe is seeking humanitarian aid, he
certainly does not need a R6,5-billion line of credit. Far less would
suffice for emergency relief,” Leon said, adding that
Mugabe was asking for a line of credit 500 times the entire budget of
R13 million allocated by South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs
for humanitarian aid.
“If South Africa steps in with loans,” warned Leon, “such loans could
be regarded as odious debt under international law, meaning a future
post-Mugabe government would not be obliged to pay us back.”

the South African Press Association (SAPA), Mail & Guardian Online
July 21, 2005

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