The DA is South Africa's main opposition party, originating in as a "whites only party" in the apartheid era, but reformed into a non-racial, conservative party during the last decade. It has been a strong-worded critic of South Africa's ruling ANC party and the ANC's friendly relations with the dictatorship of Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

Two of the DA' major politicians headed the party's fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe today, Chairman Joe Seremane and Chief Whip Douglas Gibson. They were met by immigration officials at Harare International Airport, saying they had been "declared prohibited immigrants." They were obliged to return on the first flight to South Africa.

We came to this country in a sincere endeavour to see for ourselves the conditions on the ground, said DA Chief Whip Gibson in a statement issued this afternoon. "We wanted to establish whether a free and fair election can possibly take place at this stage. The fact that the government of Zimbabwe has refused us entry indicates that they must have something to hide," he added.

The DA holds it has the right to know "what happens in Zimbabwe," being the official opposition in the most important neighbour country. "If things go well here, it will be to the benefit of South Africa, of SADC and of Africa generally. If things go badly reflects on our whole region," said Mr Gibson. He added that there are friendly ties between Zimbabwe and South Africa and "millions from both countries have worked and holidayed in the other country."

Yesterday, before departure, DA Chairmain Serame said that his party's mission was to establish "whether the conditions exist for a free and fair election in Zimbabwe." Mr Serame, a veteran in the fight against apartheid, said that he has asked for an appointment with President Mugabe and Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge but "as of yet we have had no response."

The refusal to let the DA mission enter in Zimbabwe comes shortly after a mission by South Africa's leading trade union movement, COSATU, was rejected at the Harare airport for the same reason. The COSATU mission, headed by its Secretary-General Zwelinzima Vavi, also planned to map the situation in Zimbabwe before the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Contrary to the DA, COSATU is a firm ally of the ruling ANC. The trade union however strongly conflicts with the ruling party over South Africa's Zimbabwe policies, saying it will not give up fighting for human rights and democracy for its Zimbabwean brothers.

COSATU this week confirmed it is planning to block the Zimbabwean border to highlight human rights abuses there. The South African trade union had announced it would stage a protest action against the Mugabe regime when its leader, Mr Vavi, was denied entry to the country.

Yesterday, South Africa's Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma warned COSATU that government would take legal action against the unionists if they went through with their action. Mr Vavi however refused to listen to the Minister, saying she must have forgotten the time, not so long ago, when she too was involved in border pickets and blockades against the apartheid government of South Africa.

While the ANC so far has reacted calmly to its COSATU partner's Zimbabwe policies, it takes out its steam on the DA opposition. The ANC's radical Youth League today said that the DA fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe was "nothing else but an activity of mercenaries." The "mercenary mission" only wanted "the democratic elected government of Zimbabwe" to be replaced. "DA represents nothing else, but a shop steward of the West, particularly Britain," the ANC youth said.

We call upon democratic governments, legimately elected by their people's including the government of Zimbabwe, to arrest these mercenaries and send them to jail where they belong, whenever they see them languishing in their territories, the ANC Youth League said about the representatives of South Africa's official opposition. This message was today distributed to the international press by the ANC ruling party.

President Thabo Mbeki has yet to comment on the expulsion of COSATU and DA missions to Zimbabwe. A formal protest is not expected. The South African President was cautious not to mention the Zimbabwe issue in his recent state-of the nation address.

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