A grave digger at Granaville Cemetery in Harare, Zimbabwe. The New York TimesFrom New York Times:
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Cholera swept through the five youngest children in the Chigudu family with cruel and bewildering haste. On a recent Saturday, they chased each other through streets that flow with raw sewage, and chattered happily as they bedded down for the night.
The onslaught of diarrhea and vomiting began around midnight. Relatives frantically prepared solutions of water, sugar and salt for the youngsters, aged 20 months to 12 years, to drink. But by morning, they were limp and hollow-eyed. The disease was draining their bodies of fluid.
“Then they started to die,” said their brother Lovegot, 18. “Prisca was first, second Sammy, then Shantel, Clopas and Aisha, the littlest one, last.”
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My Comment: What is infuriating is South Africa's continued stance that only negotiations can resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe and his associates have no interest in giving up power .... thousands of opponents murdered .... thousands forced out of the country .... and even thousands more who have simple disappeared .... you will not accomplish anything through negotiations with these type of men.
The reason why the South African Government is quiet on this issue is that they are themselves complicit in the disaster that is unfolding. They have always supported Mugabe since the beginning of their own revolution, and condemning him would be interpreted as a condemnation of themselves. A position that they have no wish to entertain.