SA says Zimbabwe situation 'not conducive' for run-off

SA says Zimbabwe situation 'not conducive' for run-off

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• SENATE ELECTION RESULTS

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ZIMBABWE'S run-off election cannot take place in the current atmosphere of violence, SA ambassador Kingsley Mamabolo - head of the country's delegation to the SADC election observer team - said on Wednesday.

Mamabolo, briefing reporters in Pretoria, said the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had noted that there were incidents of violence in Zimbabwe, saying both Zanu-PF and the MDC parties were blaming each other for it.

"The fact that both of them say 'so and so is responsible' means there is an acknowledgement that violence is taking place on all sides.

"We have seen it, there are people in hospital who said they have been tortured, you have seen pictures, you have seen pictures of houses that have been destroyed and so on," he said.

Zimbabwean laws state that a run-off between President Robert Mugabe and opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai should be held within 21 days of the publication of results of the first round, which happened last Friday.

But, Mamabolo said the violence could make this very difficult.

"Indeed, you cannot have the next round taking place in this atmosphere; it will not be helpful, it will create a whole lot of problems," he said.

President Thabo Mbeki, who is the SADC appointed mediator between Zanu-PF and the MDC, has sent a South African delegation to Zimbabwe to investigate the violence, Mamabolo said.

"As mediator, as facilitator, our president could not just sit around hearing all these stories and (so he) said he is sending a team," Mamabolo said.

He said the team, who left on Sunday, was evidence that something was being done about the reports of violence.

"We need to know what they are saying about that violence, what is the scale of the violence, how big it is, who is doing it," he said.

He said the team would report back to Mbeki and make recommendations on what could be done to address the violence. - Sapa
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