Jewish leaders in South Africa have expressed relief at the
fact that the recent elections in neighboring Zimbabwe took
place fairly peacefully and that the immediate danger to the
country's small Jewish community has receded for the time
being. About half of Zimbabwe's 800 Jews, mostly the younger
members, left the country during the elections, which were
narrowly won by Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF Party.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since it attained independence
in 1980 and who won 117 out of 120 seats at the last
election, this time gained only 62 seats to the 58 of the
combined opposition, despite an intense campaign of
intimidation in the period leading up to the election. In
addition, several ZANU-PF MPs have since defected to the
opposition benches. However, in terms of the constitution,
Mugabe is entitled to appoint an additional 30 Members of
Parliament himself, and it is expected that he will use this
to ensure that he retains a majority.
Despite fears of civil war as a result of the elections not
materializing, Jewish leaders in Zimbabwe itself have warned
that the real threat to the stability of the country will
come several months down the line when the expected food
shortages occur. As a result of Mugabe's seizure of farms
owned by whites very little wheat planting took place, and
the consequences of this are expected to be serious
shortages.
Mugabe has vowed to continue with the seizures of white
farms.
