The media have taken out of context the words of Mrs Sisulu during her press briefing on Sunday. The S.A.D.C. are not proposing a government of national unity for the DRC.
In response to a question from the BBC on Mrs Sisulu`s earlier comment that a government of national unity worked in the case of South Africa, she was asked- is that the SADC `s position on the DRC?
Mrs Sisulu`s response was an emphatic NO. The following ( from 36:24 of the full briefing)is what she said:
“No, no, no, please I want to stop you right there. I was responding to a question about what do I think about a statement that came from President Geingob. This was a question from the SABC and I was responding to that. IT WAS NOT AN INITIATIVE FROM OURSELVES and I emphasise that we would like to see Fayulu going through the courts. What we`ve been calling for is that there must be a constructive way in which we resolve this, without resorting to anything outside of the Constitution. It would be in his ( Fayulu) best interests that he goes through the courts and gets an outcome out of that. However, from our own experiences in South Africa it might just solve a problem if that is the ultimate end and they buy into it. IT IS NOT OUR PROPOSAL. We are responding to a question and please I would not want you in any way to report out of context what we are saying. It is a very fluid situation we are dealing with. We have a very responsible job at the UN Security Council and therefore what has been asked has been responded to. President Geingob would have proposed this possibly as the only solution to ensure that we are able to move forward, all of us.”
Mrs Sisulu earlier clarified that President Geingob`s suggestion was only a suggestion for a solution should things come to that, as a last resort, should it be needed. He is not proposing that and nor is the S.A.D.C. President Geingob is a highly respected man of outstanding integrity. His suggestion should in no way be taken out of context.
The clip of film footage being used by the SABC to deliberately mis-quote Mrs Sisulu has been taken directly after the point where she warns the press that the situation is `very fluid` and they must not take her words out of context.