Will South Africa act over Zimbabwe?

Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe is as dependent on South Africa as Ian Smith’s Rhodesia, and The LA Times editorial board has a good example of how South Africa could force Mugabe to back down if it wanted to:

Mugabe is beyond hope, but it’s worth attempting an international pressure campaign against his chief enabler, South African President Thabo Mbeki.

“Zimbabwe is not a province of South Africa,” Mbeki famously answered those who have urged him to curb Mugabe’s excesses. That’s true. It’s more like a protectorate of South Africa. South Africa supplies food, fuel, money, remittances and electricity to its neighbor. The electricity runs Zimbabwe’s vital platinum mines, in which South African firms own a large interest. Platinum prices have hit record levels, and anxious manufacturers, including the Chinese, are desperate to prevent disruption of supplies. Could a threat to cut off the free electric power make Mugabe’s minions more amenable to a political settlement?

Decisive action from South Africa increasingly looks like the only thing that can avert a violent confrontation.