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By Staff Reporter

FORMER American president Bill Clinton arrived in South Africa on Monday on the third leg of a six-nation African tour, saying people needed to speak out against a demolition blitz in Zimbabwe which has left hundreds of thousands homeless.

"When President Robert Mugabe ploughs up neighbourhoods that coincidentally voted against him, he should be criticised," Clinton told guests at the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg.

The former president is in South Africa to celebrate Mandela's 87th birthday.

"I understand non-interference and solidarity with someone who spoke out against the evils of apartheid. But you can only take that so far," said Clinton of the Zimbabwean government's clean-up drive which Mugabe said aimed to drive out crime and grime.

The United Nations estimates that 200 000 citizens in the embattled southern African country have been left homeless after the two-pronged operation which saw the government knock down hawkers' stalls and demolish backyard shacks in shantytowns over the last two months.

Zimbabwe's opposition puts the figure at 1,5-million displaced people.

"If you want credibility you have to fight for basic freedoms. You can't have credibility if no-one speaks out against ploughing up neighbourhoods," Clinton told guests at the function, which was not attended by Mandela who spent his birthday in south-eastern South Africa with his family.

"Democracy is more than just majority rule. It is also about minority rights and minority participation. I entertained Robert Mugabe at the White House and tried my best to impress this on him," said Clinton.

"If you want to build a modern and credible continent you have to speak out against the sort of thing Mugabe is doing," he added.

Clinton arrived in South Africa after earlier whistle-stops in Mozambique and Lesotho.

He will also travel to Tanzania, Kenya and Rwanda to seek to "reinvigorate political will" in those countries for scaling up Aids treatment programmes, a spokesperson has said.

The former president planned to evaluate progress made since 2003 by his foundation which has been concentrating in Africa on helping governments design and implement Aids treatment programmes. - Sapa-AFP
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