Zuma, Tsvangirai meet in Cape Town

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Pretoria - President Jacob Zuma met with Zimbabwean Prime Minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai at his official office at Tuynhuys in Cape Town on Wednesday.

According to the Presidency, Tsvangirai had requested the meeting to brief President Zuma on recent developments in Zimbabwe.

Tsvangirai announced last Friday that his party would partly withdraw from the unity government by no longer attending Cabinet meetings.

Zuma reiterated that South Africa was ready to assist in the full implementation of the Global Political Agreement in line with Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) processes.

He expressed concern at the situation in Zimbabwe. "Zimbabwe should not be allowed to slide back into instability," President Zuma said.

Tsvangirai has also held a meeting with Mozambique President Armando Guebuza, who chairs the Troika of the (SADC) Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation. The Troika is expected to meet in Zimbabwe next week.

The Prime Minister further indicated that he will be briefing other leaders in the region.