Zuma working on a 'roadmap to free and fair elections' for Zimbabwe

South African negotiators have told Zimbabwean parties that President Jacob Zuma is working on a roadmap for free and fair elections to solve the political impasse that has persisted despite the formation of a unity government by President Robert Mugabe and his opponents two years ago. The South African leader was in 2009 appointed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to mediate in the power sharing talks between Zimbabwe's three governing parties.

President Zuma  took over from his predecessor Mr Thabo Mbeki who was instrumental in negotiating the Zimbabwean deal meant to end a decade of political and economic crises the previous year.

On Monday, the South African negotiators started a new round of separate meetings with the Zimbabwean parties where President Zuma's road map was outlined

They have since met the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Welshman Ncube.

A meeting with negotiators from President Mugabe's Zanu PF was scheduled for today.

"President Zuma's team assured us that they were working on the roadmap and that problems in the inclusive government will be discussed at a SADC meeting, sometime after the AU summit at the end of the month," an unnamed official of the main MDC told the privately owned NewsDay newspaper.