Cape Town -- Zimbabwe authorities have been delaying the entry of church relief aid into their country as South African church leaders say the government in Pretoria has pledged it will not enter a loan agreement with its troubled neighbour in an irresponsible manner. Trucks with relief supplies for tens of thousands of people displaced in a Zimbabwe government demolition campaign of housing in very poor areas encountered delays from officials at the border with South Africa.
"We have intervention from the highest authority but there's a Zimbabwean official who is delaying the process. Otherwise, the trucks are sealed and ready to leave," South African Council of Churches (SACC) deputy secretary general Eddie Makue told the South African Press Association on 13 August.
The Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town Njongonkulu Ndungane said that South Africans had expressed concern about the conditions of a possible bail-out loan, estimated to be about 3.5 billion rands (US544 million), to Zimbabwe after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called in a loan agreement with President Robert Mugabe's government.
In a 10 August statement Ndungane said: "Those present at our meeting yesterday [9 August] were given assurances that this government has a good record of fiscal discipline and are not going to enter into any loan agreement in an irresponsible way and that all proper processes will be followed including engaging with parliament [in Cape Town].
"We believe those assurances and hope that they help to allay any fears on that score," said Ndungane noting that if it was the IMF imposing the conditions in order for Zimbabwe to restore itself, it "may well result in its citizens being far worse off than they are now".
The archbishop said further: "We South Africans need to lend our support to finding a solution in this quagmire. This is not the time to be arguing amongst ourselves about details. We must press for all stakeholders in Zimbabwe to come together and work what is best for their country. Along with help in supplying short-term humanitarian aid, that is our appeal."
Present at the meeting in Pretoria were South Africa President Thabo Mbeki, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and other officials. The religious leaders included the SACC president, Russel Bothman, the council's secretary general Molefe Tsele, Cardinal Wilfred Napier of the Roman Catholic Church, and Nederduitse Gereformeede Kerk moderator Coenie Burger. Their meeting followed a fact-finding visit to Zimbabwe last month led by Ndungane to assess the plight of hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans evicted under what the government called a clean up campaign, but that has been condemned internationally.
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