Chiwenga,  was  appointed  the  Vice  President  of  Zimbabwe.  In  accordance  with  the  Unity  Accord   signed  in  1987  a  Second  Vice  President  from  Zanu  PF’s  junior  partner  in  Government  the  other   liberation  party  ZAPU,  was  also  appointed,  namely  Kembo  Mohadi,  a  war  veteran.                       SADC,  the  AU  and  International  Players       In  the  first  stage  of  these  developments,  both  SADC  and  the  AU  reaffirmed  their  commitment  to   SADC’s  Democratic  Principles  as  they  relate  to  the  unconstitutional  removal  of  democratically   elected  governments  and  the  AU  Constitutive  Act.19  The  SADC  Organ  Troika  which  met  on  the  16th   November,  then  recommended  an  urgent  Extra  Ordinary  SADC  Summit  on  Zimbabwe,  which   summit  in  turn  delegated  the  Presidents  of  South  Africa  and  Angola  to  undertake  a  mission  to   Zimbabwe  on  the  22nd  November  to  assess  the  situation.20  This  intended  mission  never  took  place,   as  it  was  overtaken  by  the  processes  leading  to  the  resignation  of  Mugabe.  Soon  after  the  events,   SADC  responded  positively  to  Mugabe’s  resignation  hailing  the  ‘discipline  and  peacefulness  of  the   people  of  Zimbabwe’.21  Despite  the  SADC  official  commitment  to  constitutionality,  it  can  be  argued   the  South  African  government  in  particular,  since  the  time  of  Mbeki’s  mediation,  has  favoured  a   reformed  Zanu  PF  through  the  stabilising  force  of  the  military,  as  the  preferred  option  for  change  in   Zimbabwe.  It  was  clear  that  the  Zuma  administration  were  fully  briefed  on  Operation  Restore  the   Legacy  as  it  unfolded.  One  report  noted  that  Zuma  was  ‘thankful  that  throughout  the  operation  the   Zimbabwe  Defence  Forces  Command  kept  briefing  the  SADF  to  a  point  that  the  SA  Government,   through  its  defence  arm,  was  always  aware  of  what  was  happening.’22               It  is  also  likely  that  the  EU  and  the  UK  will  come  on  board  with  this  change.  Since  the  2013  election   which  once  again  kept  Zanu  PF  in  power,  the  EU  has  been  at  pains  to  find  a  workable  means  of   engagement  with  the  Mugabe  regime,  particularly  through  assistance  given  for  electoral  reform.  As   it  is  clear  that  there  is  unlikely  to  be  any  serious  electoral  reform  ahead  of  the  2018  elections,  the   continuation  of  Mugabe’s  Presidency  would  have  presented  a  real  challenge  for  the  EU.  Some  form   of  reform  process  without  Mugabe  will  provide  the  EU  with  a  new  opening  for  further  engagement,   as  it  will  for  the  British  Government.  Western  countries  as  well  as  China  and  Russia  all  ‘tempered   their  reaction  and  avoided  condemning  the  military  intervention’  because  of  an  international   consensus  that  Mugabe  needed  to  be  replaced.23  With  regard  to  the  US,  given  the  multiple  errors   that  the  Trump  administration  is  currently  making  on  the  global  stage,  and  the  minor  importance  of   Zimbabwe  in  the  geopolitical  calculations  of  America,  it  is  highly  likely  that  there  will  be  little   attention  given  to  developing  a  new  policy  on  the  country.  The  sanctions  imposed  on  Zimbabwe   through  the  Zimbabwe  Democracy  and  Economic  Reconstruction  Act  in  2001  are  likely  to  remain  in   place.                                                                                                                     19  Press  Statement:  SADC  Organ  Troika  plus  Council  Chairperson  Ministerial  Meeting  on  the  Political   Situation  in  the  Republic  of  Zimbabwe,  Gaborone,  16  November  2017;  ‘The  World  reacts  to  ZDF   intervention’,  Herald  17/11/17.     20  Communique  of  the  Summit  of  the  Organ  Troika  plus  SADC  Chair  on  the  political  situation  in  the  Republic   of  Zimbabwe,  Luanda,  21st  November  2017.       21  ‘SADC  hails  smooth  transition’.  Herald  23/11/17.   22  ‘SADC  Chair  Gives  ZDF  Thumbs  Up’.  Herald,  23/12/17.       23  International  Crisis  Group,  Zimbabwe’s  ‘Military-­‐assisted  Transition’  and  Prospects  for  Recovery.  Crisis   Group  Africa  Briefing  No.  134,  Johannesburg/Brussels,  20  December  2017,  p11.       7