MDC: Zim crisis critical

2008-11-25 17:11

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's humanitarian crisis has reached a "critical level" with cholera killing hundreds across the country, the opposition said on Tuesday ahead of political talks in South Africa.

Negotiators for President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are due to meet on Tuesday in South Africa in a bid to revive a stalled unity accord signed two months ago.

"The situation on the ground in the country has reached a critical level (meaning) that an agreement has to be reached," MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said.

But he warned: "It's difficult to be hopeful when you are dealing with an insincere, deceitful and dishonest party like Zanu-PF.

"There are also challenges around the issue of facilitation" by former South African president and formal mediator Thabo Mbeki, Chamisa said without giving details.

Mbeki brokered the accord signed on September 15, calling for Mugabe to remain as president while MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai takes the new post of prime minister.

Tsvangirai won a first-round presidential election in March, but pulled out of the run-off accusing Mugabe's party of orchestrating deadly attacks against his supporters.

The unity accord was meant to end the political crisis, but the deal has stalled over disputes about how to divide control of key cabinet posts and which powers to grant the new premier.

MDC's chief negotiator Tendai Biti said that he had arrived in South Africa for the talks, but was still waiting to find out where the negotiations would take place.

"I have no idea" where the venue will be, he said.

The political vacuum has exacerbated Zimbabwe's mounting humanitarian crisis, the cholera epidemic killing nearly 300 people across the country and spilling across the border into South Africa.

Nearly half the population is expected to need emergency food aid in January, while the economy has been shattered by the world's highest rate of inflation, last estimated at 231 million percent in July.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe warned on Monday that unless a political deal is reached, "the situation will get worse and will implode or collapse altogether".

Zimbabwe's powerful southern neighbour has taken a tougher line on the spiralling crisis, freezing $30m in farm aid until a unity government is installed.

Mugabe's regime has shown no sign of relenting, and on Tuesday accused former US president Jimmy Carter and ex-UN chief Kofi Annan of plotting to overthrow the government, after rejecting their humanitarian mission to the country.

- AFP