PRETORIA (AFP) — South African President Kgalema Motlanthe refused on Wednesday to join calls for Robert Mugabe to quit, expressing hope that Zimbabwe's stalled power-sharing agreement would be implemented this week.
Mugabe has come under increasing pressure from world powers to resign amid deadlock over a power-sharing deal, a growing cholera epidemic that has killed nearly 1,000 people, and deepening economic ruin.
Asked how bad things had to get before neighbouring South Africa joined the growing calls, Motlanthe told journalists in Pretoria: "It's really not for us.
"The issue of whether President Mugabe should go or not has never been raised by the (Zimbabwean) parties.
"I don't know if the British feel qualified to impose that on the people of Zimbabwe but we feel that we should really support and take our cue from what they want."
Motlanthe, who chairs the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) which is mediating Zimbabwe's political crisis, was speaking at the launch of an urgent regional campaign for humanitarian aid.
The campaign will be delivered through a body made up of government and non-state bodies, and would not deal with the political crisis, Motlanthe said.
"It's purely humanitarian. There are no strings attached and no conditions other than it must be done in a non-partisan manner," he said, adding however that 30.4 million dollars (21 million euros) in agricultural aid from South Africa would not be considered until a unity government was in place.
Australia on Wednesday joined Britain, the United States, France and Canada in urging Mugabe to relinquish his vice-like 28-year grip on power.
It added 75 Zimbabwean individuals and four companies to a list facing financial and visa restrictions, while providing 670,000 dollars (470,000 euros) in aid.
"The strengthened sanctions are a clear signal that the Australian government holds the brutal Mugabe regime and its closest supporters accountable for the tragedy occurring in Zimbabwe," Foreign Affairs Minister Stephen Smith said in a statement.
But Motlanthe said South Africa stood by the fragile power-sharing deal struck in September between Mugabe and opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai.
"We are hopeful that such an inclusive government will be put in place this week," Motlanthe said.
He said a draft constitutional amendment published in Zimbabwe on Sunday made it possible to form the "long overdue" unity government this week.
Tsvangirai won a first-round presidential vote in March but failed to win an outright majority and pulled out of the second round vote alleging violence against his supporters.
His opposition Movement for Democratic Change won the most votes in the simultaneous legislative elections, ousting Mugabe's ZANU-PF from control of parliament for the first time.
The MDC says key issues could still derail the power-sharing agreement while Mugabe has threatened fresh elections if it is not implemented.
While SADC has the power to put economic pressure on landlocked Zimbabwe it has failed to do so, holding faith in the mediation of former South African president Thabo Mbeki - despite several opposition calls for his removal.
Zimbabwe, once a model economy in Africa, is facing inflation of around 231 million percent, and desperate food shortages.
The United Nations estimated this week nearly 1,000 people had died in a cholera epidemic that has affected over 18,000 in Zimbabwe.
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