President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and his Zimbabwean counterpart, Robert Mugabe, are engaged in a diplomatic battle following the Zanu-PF leader’s pledge to “resist renewed pressure by neighboring states for reforms.

The Times of South Africa reports that, “an angry Mugabe on Friday accused Zuma and other Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders of trying to interfere in Zimbabwe’s internal affairs. But he stopped short of calling for Zuma’s sacking as the SADC-appointed facilitator of the talks between Zanu-PF and Zimbabwe’s opposition parties.”

Mugabe told a Zanu-PF central committee meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe Friday that, “the facilitator is the facilitator and must facilitate dialogue. (Zuma) cannot prescribe anything. We prescribe what we should do in accordance with our own laws and our agreement.”

Mugabe added, “the (opposition) MDC thinks SADC or the African Union can prescribe to us how run our things.”

According to the Times, “the 87-year-old’s address came after SADC leaders issued the strongest statement to date on Mugabe’s 31-year rule, calling for an end to ‘violence, arrests and intimidation.’ During the SADC summit in Livingston, Zambia, this week, Zuma and other leaders cornered Mugabe over his refusal to implement sections of his political agreement with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai.”

The summit was held a few days after Zuma took part in a private meeting with Tsvangirai at his Nkandia,KwaZuluNatal home.

To read the entire article from the Times of South Africa, link here:

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