Party loyalists packed the grandiose inauguration ceremony for Robert Mugabe in Harare on 22 August, his second coronation this week.At the summit hosted by Malawi’s President Joyce Banda in Lilongwe on 18 August, the Southern African Development Community leaders chose Mugabe as deputy chairman. They also agreed that next year's summit would be held in Harare, when Mugabe would be appointed Chairman. Prior to that, SADC leaders had unequivocally endorsed Zimbabwe's 'free and peaceful' elections without waiting for their observer mission's final report.

The failure of SADC's reform efforts in Zimbabwe started slowly but has hurtled to its finale this month. After the 2008 elections, when some 200 opposition activists were killed by militias linked to the ruling Zimbabwe African National Congress-Patriotic Front, an agreement was hammered out that included a temporary governing coalition and a road map for political reform. South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma appointed the independent-minded Lindiwe Zulu as his international relations advisor. It was her clear-headed critique of the electoral preparations and lack of progress on media and security reform that prompted Mugabe to abuse her publicly.

The lack of political support for Zulu, not least from Zuma, signalled SADC's failure. A lack of imagination from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change, made it easier still. Some SADC officials say they had advised the MDC to stay out of the elections until the obvious flaws in the electoral register and election management had been resolved. A month ago, Mugabe had dismissed SADC as irrelevant and threatened to withdraw if it 'interfered' with Zimbabwe's elections. That, he now explains, along with an apology to Zulu, was all in the cause of campaigning.