the Commonwealth in a post-Mugabe era whilst simultaneously showing solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and preparing them, through support to civil society structures, for the crucial task of monitoring, protecting and promoting human rights, the rule of law, democratic practices and good governance in a ‘new’ Zimbabwe. In this regard, we perceive two distinct dimensions of engagement by the Commonwealth; one being of a political and diplomatic nature to promote Zimbabwe’s rehabilitation and return to the Commonwealth, and one being in the form of dialogue and capacity building for civic groups involved in civil and political rights. 6.1 Recommended Actions 6.1.1 Political & Diplomatic It is important that Britain should not appear isolated in its call for the Zimbabwean government to restore democratic norms. As the former colonial power and as a powerful western nation, such a call is easily presented by the Zimbabwean Government as a neocolonial intrusion. Conversely, the Commonwealth is ideally placed to play a key role in this regard due to it’s unique social, ethnic and North-South diversity of membership and the participation of its members in other international bodies, particularly the ACP grouping of states, the UN and most importantly SADC and the AU. Members of SADC and the AU who are also members of the Commonwealth cannot have one set of principle’s qua members of the Commonwealth (the Harare Declaration) and another set of principles qua members of SADC and the AU. Accordingly, the SADC and AU members of the Commonwealth offer an entry point for the Commonwealth to engage those SADC and AU members who are able to exert influence on the Mugabe government. The South African government is the most obviously placed in this regard: South Africa is a member of the Commonwealth, AU and SADC; it is the most powerful economic player on the continent; is geographically proximate and, like Zimbabwe, fought a protracted struggle against white minority rule. Accordingly, the Commonwealth, as a body should remind the SADC and AU members of the Commonwealth of that to which they committed themselves under the Harare Declaration and the Commonwealth Action Programme, a commitment which appears to be forgotten under the flurry of Mugabe’s “anti-imperialist” pseudo pan-Africanist rhetoric when these countries meet in the forums of SADC and the AU. SADC and the AU have repeatedly taken steps to shield the Zimbabwean government from measures which are clearly in accord with the Commonwealth Action Programme without any dissenting voice from the SADC and AU members of the Commonwealth who ought rather be duty bound to assist in the implementation of these measures. The Commonwealth, as a body, should thus encourage the South African government to lead SADC and AU members of the Commonwealth in 19