insisted that the delivery be allowed. Only action by human rights NGOs in South Africa stopped the consignment from arriving in Zimbabwe. Throughout the 2000 to 2008 period, Mbeki has sought to deflect criticism from his policy. In October 2006, following what was believed to be an ANC directive, the South African Government-owned SABC banned critics of Mugabe and Mbeki’s Zimbabwe policy from SABC, including President Mbeki’s brother, Zimbabwean Archbishop Ncube, Mail & Guardian owner Trevor Ncube, and Eleanor Sisulu. Editorial policy, marked by a fawning interview with Mugabe by the SABC head Snuki Sikalala, gave support to Mugabe and Mbeki’s policies. In addition Mbeki deflected criticism by a refrain that negotiations “are in progress” between the MDC and ZANU PF and that he was engaged in dialogue with Mugabe. The manner in which these assurances were expressed to Mbeki’s ANC party did not inspire confidence. Addressing the ANC's 51st National Conference in 2002 he declared: “We are ready to engage both our ally and fellow liberation movement, ZANU-PF, and all others concerned, to help resolve the various issues in a constructive manner”. This partisanship in relation to Mugabe was recently repeated in October, 2008 in a letter to the new President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma, where Mbeki sought to justify his policies while in office. In that letter he refers to Robert Mugabe as one of several leaders with whom he has been “privileged to interact” and who is one of the “titans” who “were and are the true heroines and heroes of our struggle”. As mentioned above, the claim that negotiations were in progress played a key role in defeating a UN Security Council resolution for sanctions upon Mugabe and 11 of his close associates. Having initially suggested that they would vote with the other countries which held a veto power, Russia and China vetoed the resolution after lobbying by South Africa. This is but one of numerous instances where Mbeki used the excuse of negotiations to defer action on Zimbabwe, the ruse being deployed whenever pressure was increased on either himself or Mugabe in relation to the Zimbabwe crisis. To cite but a few of many examples - at the World Economic Forum in Durban in June, 2003 President Mbeki predicted that a solution to the crisis in Zimbabwe would be found within a year. And in July 2003, when George Bush visited South Africa and the press speculated that Bush would use the occasion to apply pressure on Mbeki to resolve the Zimbabwe issue, Mbeki claimed: “We have urged the government and the opposition to get together. They are indeed discussing all issues. That process is going on”. This was despite strong denials from the MDC that any such dialogue was in fact in progress. Undeterred and foreclosing debate on Zimbabwe, Mbeki reportedly gave Bush an assurance that Mugabe would leave office by December that year. This, then, is the backdrop to the events of 2008 when Mbeki’s role as a mediator became that much more significant. One of the few positive results that emerged from Mbeki’s interaction with Mugabe appears to have been to persuade Mugabe that a way out of the isolation of his regime was to hold elections which had a semblance of compliance with democratic norms. However, even this positive development is not untainted. In late 2007 Mbeki persuaded the MDC to accept a constitutional change, which was a key part of Mugabe’s strategy