Zimbabwe opposition urges Black Caps not to tour

Robert Mugabe's main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change, has urged New Zealand's cricketers to make a moral decision not to tour Zimbabwe in September.

The movement's general secretary, Professor Welshman Ncube, said the Mugabe regime's crackdown on urban dwellers, which had left 200,000 people homeless, was a catastrophe.

He said people had been killed or tortured and arrested repeatedly. Others had frozen to death in the harsh winter since their homes were razed.

"The only way to show that they do not support the chaos and the wickedness that is going on in Zimbabwe is for them to stay away," Professor Ncube said from Zimbabwe this week.

The Black Caps have yet to decide if the tour will go ahead, but can only avoid severe financial penalties, including a $2.8 million fine, if it is cancelled because of security fears.

Although the Government has not intervened, Prime Minister Helen Clark has said she personally would not be seen dead in Zimbabwe.

Professor Ncube, once tried for treason by Mugabe, said sportsmen could not simply ignore what was happening in his country.

"It is a moral choice. The grave suffering is managed by a group of individuals who are running a criminal state to enrich themselves and to continue to oppress others.

"They should make that moral choice that they will not do anything which might be remotely conceived as supporting the regime."

He said Mugabe was a good friend of Zimbabwe Cricket, which was why he had been made its patron.

"Since all this political stuff started, with players threatening not to acknowledge him or shake his hand, he doesn't go to games.

"But he used to be a loyal fan and go to every game."

The Movement for Democratic change will not specifically lobby New Zealand Cricket because it believes the cricketers can easily find out just how harsh Zimbabwe's regime is.

"Everything they need to know is on television."

The bulldozing and burning of urban settlements and markets in cities across the country is said to be Mugabe's revenge for those areas supporting the opposition movement in March elections.

Zimbabwe at a glance

* Robert Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since its independence, in 1980.

* Half its 12 million people are starving.

* Seven out of 10 Zimbabweans have no job.

* Life expectancy for men is just 34 years, and for women 33.