Protests won't topple Mugabe - former ally

Youth Advocacy for Reform and Democracy (YARD) Founder and Commander-in-Chief Temba Mliswa has warned that protests alone can never topple President Robert Mugabe.

He said the sporadic protests that rocked the country recently, should not end in streets but be taken to the ballot box.

"Yes we have the #tajamuka group and the #thisflag movement, those ones can only work if people speak out by voting.

"There is no way that we as ordinary people can just remove Mugabe through protest movements, we need to reach out to people and tell them to vote," he said.

Elections are due in 2018.

The country has witnessed a wave of protests aimed at Mugabe.

Government crushed the protests by unleashing heavily armed riot police on protesters.

Hundreds where arrested.