The SADC finally woke up today about the conditions in Zimbabwe, but not before four more opposition leaders wound up in Robert Mugabe’s body count.  Another wife of an opposition leader got beaten to death by men in military uniforms, while the other MDC victims got killed by spears and shot.  This is apparently Mugabe’s idea of campaigning for the upcoming run-off election, which even the SADC sees now as a joke:

Zimbabwe’s run-off presidential election on June 27 is very unlikely to be free and fair, a group of southern African ministers said on Thursday, in the strongest regional condemnation yet of pre-poll violence.

“There is every sign that these elections will never be free nor fair,” Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe told a news conference. He was speaking on behalf of a peace and security troika of nations from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). …

Some of the observers saw two people shot dead in front of them on June 17, Membe said, without giving details.

Thabo Mbeki has also belatedly realized that Zimbabwe is indeed in a “crisis”, which he discounted two months ago when Mugabe refused to release the results of the March election.  He propped up Mugabe in the global community while Mugabe tried to steal that election.  Now South Africa’s president wants to mediate between the two sides.  He wants Morgan Tsvangirai to form a “unity government” with Mugabe, which would be a suicide mission under current conditions.  Mugabe refused to even meet with Tsvangirai.  Mugabe controls the military; what kind of power would he share with Tsvangirai?

At least Tsvangirai’s still breathing, for the moment:

The body of the mayor’s wife, 27-year-old Abigail Chiroto, was found in a mortuary close to the couple’s house north of Harare. She had been beaten so severely with rocks and iron bars that her face was almost unrecognizable, said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa. …

The other activists were also abducted Tuesday. They were were found in a township, about 30 km (18 miles) south of Harare. They had been stabbed with spears and shot, Chamisa said. …

Mugabe’s party denied any part in the deaths, saying MDC officials made such accusations frequently.  “They are claiming anyone who dies. They phone CNN,” Bright Matonga, a ZANU-PF spokesman, said. “Whenever someone dies in the hospital, they rush to claim them.”

How coincidental that the victims that the MDC claims in their “rush” all happen to be MDC activists or the wives and children of them!

Now that the SADC has figured out that Mugabe is a thug propped up by murderous goons, they need to start taking steps to pressure Mugabe to leave Zimbabwe.  The SADC should suspend Zimbabwe’s membership and demand diplomatic and economic isolation of Mugabe from all SADC members, including and especially South Africa, which has played a dishonorable and despicable role in supporting Mugabe.  Borders should be closed and air traffic turned back.  If Mugabe wants to starve and brutalize his people, then let him do it without any additional resources from outside Zimbabwe.