Harare - South African President Thabo Mbeki says talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) are on course.

President Mbeki told the media this after meeting representatives of both parties in Harare, Thursday.

He had a meeting with President Robert Mugabe and later in the day held talks with the leaders of the two MDC factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, at the South African ambassador's residence.

"We listened to the views of leaders of both sides and we will go back and continue that process," he said.

Addressing journalists after a second meeting with President Mugabe, President Mbeki said he had come to give a report to the head of state and the opposition leaders on how far the negotiators had gone with the negotiations.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Labour Minister Nicholas Goche are representing the ruling party in the talks, while Professor Welshman Ncube and Tendai Biti are representing the two factions of the MDC.

Asked whether there was any "light at the end of the tunnel" in the face of MDC demands for a new constitution and postponement of the March elections to June, Mr Mbeki said: "There is a lot of light.

“You cannot doubt the commitment of the Zimbabwean leadership to ensure that all challenges facing the country are addressed."

Responding to a question on whether the parties would conclude the talks in time for the harmonised presidential, Parliamentary and local government elections, President Mbeki said: "Everybody is conscious of the elections in March and the tasks that have to be accomplished. We will just have to continue until we come to a conclusion."

President Mbeki was mandated by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Government extra-ordinary summit in Tanzania, in March 2007 to facilitate talks between the two parties ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections.


Last year, at the 27th SADC Summit in Lusaka, the Southern African heads of state mandated their countries' finance ministers to draft an economic recovery plan for Zimbabwe, in tandem with Zimbabwe’s government.

Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat, Tomaz Salomao had been compiling a report for some months on Zimbabwe's ailing economy, and presented this document, including a proposed turnaround plan, to the summit. – BuaNews-NNN