By Rumbidzai Maweni??

Much has been made in the past week of the ongoing talks in South Africa by delegates of Zimbabwe?s feuding parties, Zanu-PF and MDC, to negotiate an end to the country's current political crisis. Talks are coming on the heels of what has been a turbulent three months following the controversial March 29^th general elections. Although it has been widely reported that Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party decisively beat incumbent, President Robert Mugabe, a run-off election took place June 27 from which Tsvangirai was forced to withdraw and seek sanctuary at the Dutch Embassy in Harare after his supporters were beaten and killed in a wave of state-sponsored violence. More than 150 opposition supporters,?since,?have been killed at the hands of government-backed police.??

On July 21, Tsvangirai and Mugabe finally signed an accord that would begin talks in hopes of coming to an official resolution; the subsequent meeting in South Africa soon after was the first between the two rivals in ten years. Although the talks are being conducted in complete secrecy, according to The Independent, sources say that the delegates have committed themselves to trying a power-sharing government.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating the talks at a secret location near Pretoria, has recently said that talks are going well defying earlier reports that the talks were deadlocked due to failure to agree upon key posts in the future government. Mbeki denied this report on Tuesday and Business Day reported earlier today that talks are set to resume August 3^rd. The two-week deadline for completing the talks runs out on August 4th, but could be extended if need be.

Mugabe has been holding on to power with a death grip for the last few decades. Why he only now has agreed to talks may be best attributed to intense international pressure rather than a newfound willingness to be cooperative as his government starts to feel the effects of ever-widening sanctions by Western countries; the expansion of US sanctions signed by President Bush?last Friday targets specific entities including government-owned and state-controlled businesses. Despite the South African government?s criticism that new sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by America and the EU may impede talks, right now, the sanctions are the strongest force putting pressure on Mugabe?s government to concede ground as economic conditions in the country worsen.?

Mugabe currently resides over a country with a near-depleted economy, inflation officially soaring at 2.2 million percent (though several independent economists estimate that it is closer to 12.5 million percent), the world?s highest. Once the ?bread basket of Africa?, the Zimbabwean dollar was worth more than the American dollar at the start of the country?s independence in 1980. But, over the course of Mugabe?s rule, it has since dropped to the point at which one pound is worth $200 billion Zimbabwean dollars. Zimbabwe?s economic collapse has resulted in food and foreign currency shortages as well as mass starvation.?

"This is just to overcome the absurd difficulty of having to deal with all those zeros but it does not address the root cause of the problem," John Robertson, an economic consultant said on Tuesday. "The problem is of scarcity of foreign earnings and investment inflows." Mugabe?s government ordered a similar exercise to?take place in 2006 (dubbed ?Operation Sunrise?) which removed three zeros from the currency. Prices only spiked after the change.

Nonetheless, Mugabe has taken this opportunity to create the appearance that the government is somehow doing something to abate the economic crisis, perhaps in an attempt to buy back some of the popularity amongst Zimbabwe?s poorest that the March election proved he has clearly lost.?The beleagured president?even went as far as to appear on live television soon after the announcement to accuse Western ?imperialist? sanctions as well as businesses profiteering for the worsening economic climate and threatened to call a ?state of emergency? if conditions continue to decline hereafter.

Although the talks should certainly be applauded for even taking place, it is difficult to see what possible resolution can be derived from them. Both parties claim that they won the March election. MDC is adamant that Tsvangirai lead the new government, having won the majority vote in March; Zanu-PF is unlikely to accept any agreement that ousts Mugabe from the presidency. Mugabe and his party are?notorious for staving off?opposition and could easily be buying time before?their next maneuver.??