Speedy Zim resolution needed
2008-10-14 18:01
Special Report
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says he is thankful for South African efforts to rescue his coalition government.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says he doesn't expect the US sanctions on his country to be lifted soon.
Pretoria - Hopefully a speedy resolution to the deadlock in Zimbabwe's power-sharing agreement would soon be made so that the process of reconstruction could begin, Foreign Affairs director-general Ayanda Ntsaluba said on Tuesday.
"We believe that the current socio-economic humanitarian situation demands of the region, and primarily of the leadership of Zimbabwe, to move with a greater speed," Ntsaluba told a media briefing in Pretoria.
Considering the difficult negotiations leading up to the signing of the agreement last month, it was expected that the road ahead would not be easy.
"We did expect that there would be, every now and again, some hitches on the road."
He said agreements on the constitution of the government, and the fact that it had not been finalised yet, constituted one such hitch.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara gathered in Harare on Tuesday to begin further negotiations.
Former president Thabo Mbeki also flew to the country to continue as the Southern African Development Community facilitator.
Ntsabula did not give an indication of any deadline that the leaders of Zimbabwe had been given to resolve their impasse.
"Where that critical point will be [should a resolution not be made] I think the facilitator would be in a better position to make a judgement on that," he said.
- SAPA