A destabilized Zimbabwe

While the governing crises in Zimbabwe continues, there are growing concerns about food availability. A senior team of South African officials is planning a trip to assess the food aid situation.

Right now Zimbabwe is suffering through a cholera epidemic that’s killed over 600 people and is spreading across the border. An unnamed South African official is quoted as saying President Robert Mugabe has lost control of Zimbabwe and the country could implode.

"The Takeaway" talks to Martin Plaut, the BBC’s Africa Editor, who says: It’s going to take an enormous effort if we are not going to see tens of thousands of people dying."

According to Plaut, politics is preventing serious aid from getting into Zimbabwe: "The individual efforts of the individual agencies is hugely important, but not enough. You can’t bring in food for five million people. Only something like the United Nations can ship that amount of food, and that really requires assistance from the international community, and the international community really is saying, ‘listen, when you have a fair … political system, we will really come to your aid, but until then, we’ll only provide token assistance’. So the people of Zimbabwe are in limbo."

"The Takeaway" is PRI’s new national morning news program, delivering the news and analysis you need to catch up, start your day, and prepare for what’s ahead. The show is a co-production of WNYC and PRI, in editorial collaboration with the BBC, The New York Times Radio, and WGBH.

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