President Thabo Mbeki's intervention in Zimbabwe is necessary and crucial.

President Thabo Mbeki's intervention in Zimbabwe is necessary and crucial.

Talking to a Zimbabwean Rhodes University student, Adrian Nel, who has long been advocating pressure on the Mugabe regime, I realised that only if all Zimbabweans unite will they change the situation in their country.

Mbeki's intervention is to advance Zimbabwe's political credibility and to advance the African Renaissance, but this is no solution to the Zimbabwe crisis. Zimbabweans inside and outside the country need to stand up and show that they are opposed to the Mugabe regime.

The student march at Rhodes and the University of Cape Town highlighting human rights violations was a step in the right direction. What was disappointing though is that there were more whites than blacks marching though most people suffering from poverty and gross human rights violations in Zimbabwe are black people.

It is time for all Zimbabweans to stand up and speak with one voice. The debates about Zimbabwe should continue until the regime breaks down. Just like ordinary South Africans destroyed apartheid, ordinary Zimbabweans must tackle Mugabe.

As a South African, I feel that I have a duty to call for the support in any effort by Zimbabweans to free themselves from the cruel Mugabe regime.

Loyiso Phantshwa

Johannesburg