South Africa expects Zimbabwe’s rival political parties to ink a deal on a constitutional amendment within days, paving the way for a unity government, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said on Thursday.
“We expect the amendment should be signed within a matter of days,” Maseko told reporters at a post-Cabinet meeting briefing.
“We will put pressure on the political principals to sign as soon as possible,” he added.
The proposed amendment will create the post of prime minister for Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, but his MDC insists that other issues still need to be resolved before it will rule with Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF.
Power-sharing talks were suspended in November after Tsvangirai accused former president Thabo Mbeki, the mediator in Zimbabwe’s political crisis talks, of failing to grasp the situation in the country.
But Maseko said the South African government continued to support Mbeki’s efforts.
“The government and the Southern African Development Community has expressed full confidence in former president Mbeki’s mediation work. The government still stands by this.”
Mugabe and Tsvangirai agreed to a power-sharing deal in September after disputed elections earlier in the year.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has declared a cholera outbreak that has claimed 565 lives a national emergency, and appealed for international aid to tackle the epidemic, the state-run Herald said on Thursday.
“The government yesterday [Wednesday] declared the cholera outbreak … and the malfunctioning of central hospitals as national emergencies and appealed to the donor community for assistance to alleviate the situation,” it said.
“The emergency appeal will help us reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with the current socio-economic environment,” Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told a meeting of aid groups, the newspaper reported.
“Our central hospitals are literally not functioning. Our staff is demotivated and we need your support to ensure that they start coming to work and our health system is revived,” he added.
Water was mostly restored in Harare on Wednesday after a crippling 48-hour water cut, Water Resources Deputy Minister Walter Mzembi said.
Taps in Harare ran dry on Saturday after the state-run water company ran short of aluminium sulphate, a chemical used to purify water, forcing people to dig shallow wells and sparking trade in water selling.
Charities have warned that the cholera outbreak had already spread to neighbouring South Africa.
Health authorities in South Africa said the Limpopo River, a major waterway and border with Zimbabwe, had tested positive for cholera this week.
Cholera is the latest challenge to hit poverty-racked Zimbabwe, which is already struggling with political instability and rampant hyperinflation — the world’s highest. — Sapa, AFP