Zimbabwe Arms Not Shipped!!!

Ship Ladened With 70 Tonnes Of Arms For Zimbabwe Sails Out Of South African Waters
7:09PM, Sunday, 20 Apr, 2008
IN 1994, the ANC came forward with a demand for the National Party. They wanted South African permanent residents to be given the right to vote in the country's first democratic election. President de Klerk (who is normally a very decent and humane man and a friend of mine) declined this request. The ANC organized protests. Some turn into violent confrontations. Finally the government relented and allowed permanent residents to vote. It was the proudest moment in my life when I went to vote in April, 1994 in South Africa's first all-race election. On my death bed, I will treasure the memory of that sunny fall day in Port Elizabeth as the proudest moment of my life. Now a few determined South African people have made me proud again. A ship loaded with 70 tonnes or arms destined for Zimbabwe landed at the Port of Durban. President Mbeki and the South African cabinet approved the shipment of the arms to Zimbabwe. They described the transaction as a normal shipment between sovereign states. A few people imagined how many innocent people could be killed and maimed with all of those AK-47's and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. (Such weapons were used against me in Vietnam. I understand their killing power.) The longshoremen at the Port of Durban refused to off load the arms. The Durban legal profession mounted a High Court challenge to the arms shipment. (I suspect they did this without receiving any compensation.) Their application was turned down. But the protest lead to the ship with all the arms leaving South African waters. The ship tried to land in Mocambique. They were refused entry. They are now attempting to get landing rights in Angola. I suspect that the Angola government will turn them away also. Dear readers this is democracy in action. It is proof that a few determined people can stand up and stop an injustice from happening.

Tags: Zimbabwe Arms Shipment