Under Gubbay's stewardship, the bishop was freed and allowed to leave the country. The South African government is one of the few that still has an influence on Robert Mugabe. President Thabo Mbeki has been slow to criticise one of his closest neighbours and fellow liberation fighters but has been hurt by the impact of continuing strife into South Africa. The South African High Commissioner last week said his country would support any United Nations motion to censure Mugabe. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed last week that the opposition was toning down its operations.
Rallies are out, protests are out.
We're not going to give him a reason to clamp down on us. The printing presses of the Daily News were fire-bombed in January but the independent paper is still on the streets. Editor Geoffrey Nyarota criticised the MDC's move to scale down. That's exactly what the government wants. The MDC should carry on with their programme, they have a responsibility to keep themselves alive.