Ex-South African President Meets Zimbabwean Leaders Over Crisis

(Bloomberg) --

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki held talks with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa and opposition leader Nelson Chamisa to try and help end the nation’s political crisis.

Mbeki, in Zimbabwe at Mnangagwa’s invitation, met Chamisa and Mnangagwa separately on Monday and will meet other political leaders today, Tendai Biti, a deputy president of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said by phone from Harare, the capital.

The MDC has refused to recognize Mnangagwa as the nation’s legitimate ruler since he was elected president in July 2018 and has called for an outside mediator to help resolve its differences with the ruling party. The southern African nation is grappling with a drought, power and fuel shortages, and annual inflation estimated at 440%, the second-highest in the world.

“I think it’s very important that the region comes behind the president and the country because the challenges of Zimbabwe are our challenges,” Mbeki was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

Mbeki mediated in Zimbabwe’s post-election crisis in 2008 between former President Robert Mugabe and then-opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which resulted in the formation of a five-year power-sharing government.

While the opposition welcomes efforts to end the country’s political crisis, Mbeki doesn’t have a mandate to mediate in the talks, Biti said.

Calls to government spokesman Nick Mangwana weren’t answered when Bloomberg sought comment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ray Ndlovu in Johannesburg at rndlovu1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Paul Richardson, Michael Gunn

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