Sadc summit called off

JOHANESBURG — The Sadc summit on Zimbabwe, which was due to be held on Sunday, has been cancelled,

JOHANESBURG — The Sadc summit on Zimbabwe, which was due to be held on Sunday, has been cancelled, Clayson Monyela, the spokesman for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Co-operation, said yesterday.

Report by BDLive/Nqobile Bhebhe

“The summit is off. We hope it will be moved to a new date,” he said. The main purpose of the summit had been for President Jacob Zuma, who is Sadc’s facilitator on the continuing crisis in Zimbabwe, to deliver his latest report.

Zuma’s international relations advisor Lindiwe Zulu said the summit will now be held next week, but was not in a position to give more details.

“All I can say is the summit has been moved forward to next week,” she said. “I can’t give more details now as I am in a meeting.”

The summit was originally scheduled to be held in Maputo, Mozambique, and then there were suggestions it would be switched to Pretoria. Zuma’s task is to help steer Zimbabwe back to peace and stability. The next objective is the holding of free and fair elections.

Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court ruled last week that the presidential and parliamentary polls must be held by July 31 2013.

The polls will pit 89-year-old President Robert Mugabe, who has been in power since independence from Britain in 1980, against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change.