Since last I noted the disgrace of Thabo Mbeki continuing to shill for Robert Mugabe — and let’s face it, “quiet diplomacy” is a sham when your sole function is to take diplomatic pressure off your thuggish neighbor to the north — it seems the tide may have turned in South Africa. ANC officials are taking a different line from their embarrassment of a president. And now comes news that port workers from the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union have refused to move weapons from a ship docked in Durban and bound for Zimbabwe.
This is what labor solidarity looks like.
And guess where that weapons shipment is coming from? A hint: they’re hosting the Olympics this summer and having a bit of a p.r. problem over it.
[Update: More here. This story could blow up big. “One of the most important principles is not to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries,” says the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Got news for them: pouring weapons into a country in turmoil is interfering in its internal affairs.]
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