6. Quiet diplomacy: at odds with acknowledging political refugees? The ZANU PF justification that the violence in Zimbabwe should be understood as part of a land revolution has been accepted publicly by other Southern African Development Community (SADC) nations; while they may be uneasy about the accompanying torture and oppression, there has been a reluctance to condemn a process as important and necessary as land redistribution. The reality is that the vast majority of human rights violations have not occurred in the context of land redistribution, but in those urban and rural areas where support for the MDC is greatest. 117 The South African government has adopted a policy of “quiet diplomacy” towards Zimbabwe, refusing to publicly condemn actions by the Zimbabwe government. This is impacting on the official response to Zimbabweans in South Africa.118 The policy of the South Africans has been to portray the political reality in Zimbabwe as “normalising”, and their elections as “legitimate”.119 The sudden economic collapse in Zimbabwe and three years of food deficits are being acknowledged,120 but are not being openly linked by other countries in the SADC region to poor governance within Zimbabwe. Against this background, it would clearly be contradictory for the South African goverment to laud the correction of colonial imbalances in Zimbabwe, and at the same time to officially acknowledge that citizens of Zimbabwe have genuine reasons to run away in their thousands, and to fear persecution at the hands of the Zimbabwe government and its agents.121 Yet Zimbabweans have run away in their thousands, most of them to neighbouring countries, in particular South Africa. 7. Perceptions of Zimbabweans: “Makwerekwere” If the predominant perception of Zimbabweans is not that of torture victims and genuine refugees, then how are they perceived? There is a general pejorative term in South Africa for all black foreigners, namely “Makwerekwere”. The word has no literal translation, apparently being rather an onomatopoeic description of the sound of foreign African languages to a South African ear. It is not unusual for nationals in any country to see refugees in a negative light, as a financial and practical burden, as cheap labour undermining local employment opportunities, as criminals, 117 See ZHRNGO Forum monthly violence updates and major reports listed in appendix for day by day summaries of where violence has occurred in the last 5 years 118 Interviews with lawyers at LHR, Wits Law Clinic, Heal Zimbabwe Trust personnel; also comments from asylum seekers themselves. The South African government has consistently refused to speak out and condemn the behaviour of the Zimbabwean government in the last five years. Whether this is the right or wrong policy is not the issue here, but this policy is clearly at odds with simultaneously acknowledging that Zimbabweans are being politically victimised in their thousands. 119 The 2002 elections were found not free and fair, but “legitimate” by the official South African election observer team. Most other election observers, including the SADC Parliamentary Forum, the Commonwealth, and the Africa/Carribea/Pacific – European Union teams, all found the 2002 Zimbabwe election deeply flawed. 120 For example, President Mbeki’s comment quoted earlier in this report acknowledges a vicious cycle of poverty and social instability, but does not lay direct blame on governance issues. 121 South African officials have made some astounding comments in support of the insupportable. For example, South Africa’s foreign Minister Zuma, in May 2004 defended the hounding of journalists and the independent press in Zimbabwe, saying as long as these actions were in accordance with Zimbabwe’s own laws it was acceptable; IRIN, 4 May 2004. 52