Well, there I was predicting that Mugabe wouldn’t give much of a t*ss about an international day of demonstrations, but not quite expecting him to admit he doesn’t. According to AFLCIOnow, Mad Bob told his official newspaper:

“The police were right in dealing sternly with the ZCTU leaders.…Some people are
crying foul that they were assaulted, yes you get a beating.”

So he’s now quite open about the fact that, under his regime, “yes you get a beating” for trying to organise a peaceful demo. Hopefully that’s going to make it just that little bit harder for Thabo Mbeki’s South Africa to stay friends with Zimbabwe and Zanu-PF. Mbeki could have a big influence on the situation, but doesn’t want to provoke instability on his doorstep. Given the ANC‘s ruling partnership with their own unions, COSATU, he might well now be feeling the instability a bit closer to home.