Zuma postpones trip to Zimbabwe

President Jacob Zuma has postponed his visit to Zimbabwe until “further notice”.

“President Jacob Zuma will no longer travel to Harare in the Republic of Zimbabwe on Wednesday 22 November 2017‚” the presidency said in a statement.

“The SADC Organ Troika Plus SADC Chairperson Summit that met in Angola [on Tuesday] had taken a decision that the SADC Chairperson‚ President Zuma and the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics‚ Defence and Security Cooperation‚ President Joao Lourenco of Angola should travel to Zimbabwe to assess the situation on behalf of SADC.”

On Tuesday‚ Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe resigned as head of state.

Mugabe’s tenure ended in an announcement at a special joint session of parliament where MPs had convened to impeach the 93-year-old who dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life for decades.

The likely next president is Emmerson Mnangagwa, who Mugabe sacked as his deputy earlier this month in a move that pushed infuriated army chiefs to seize power and force Mugabe’s exit.

Mnangagwa was once a key Mugabe ally, but he was also chief rival of the president’s wife Grace in a bitter succession battle that erupted publicly in recent months.

“I, Robert Gabriel Mugabe... hereby formally tender my resignation... with immediate effect,” said the letter which was read out by parliamentary speaker Jacob Mudenda.

“My decision to resign is voluntary,” he said, speaking of his “concern for the welfare of the people of Zimbabwe and my desire to ensure a smooth, peaceful and non-violent transfer of power“.

The resignation capped a week in which the military seized control and tens of thousands of ordinary Zimbabweans took to the streets in an unprecedented show of dissent against Mugabe.

Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe almost unopposed since independence in 1980 — but efforts to position Grace Mugabe, 52, as his successor prompted intervention from the military that underpinned his regime.

- additional reporting by AFP