Zumas facilitation team due in Harare for consultations

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said the facilitation team is expected in Harare either Monday or Tuesday. The team, comprising Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu, is to meet with Zimbabwe party negotiators as two of the principals to the unity government, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai are still on their annual leave.

Online news reports say Mugabe is in hospital in Malaysia after an operation on his prostate and might be off work for a couple of weeks.

President Zuma has in the last few months pressed the three principals to come up with and implement a roadmap ahead of elections likely to be held late this year or early next year.

The South African leader has expressed concern at the speed of the implementation of the GPA, impressing upon Mugabe, Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara the need for them to agree on the roadmap to solve the current political crisis.

SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that Zuma is likely to present leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with a roadmap, during a Troika summit which is likely to be held in February. The SADC troika is expected to play a central role in creating conditions for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe.

There is going to be an African Union summit in Ethiopia next week and on the sidelines of that, SADC leaders will most likely be briefed by Zuma on his latest mediation efforts. I think this is the reason why Zuma wants his team in Harare to gather as much information from the parties, a source told SW Radio Africa on Monday.

Zuma is however said to be pained at the slow pace of the implementation of the outstanding issues in GPA, something which his international relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu agreed with. Zulu told SW Radio Africa last year that Zuma wanted the issues to be implemented as soon as possible.

Zulu confirmed that the principals had agreed that the roadmap was important and that they would start consultations on the way forward as soon as everybody was back from their holidays. There are reports that when the principals meet for their first time this year, high on the agenda would be the electoral roadmap.