South African President Jacob Zuma is visiting Harare in an attempt to reduce tensions within the Zimbabwean government. A year ago former rival parties Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change agreed to share power, with Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe as president and MDC chief Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.

In spite of the agreement, the two parties regularly clash. The MDC accuses Mugabe of appointing people to high positions without consultation. Legal proceedings against MDC politician Roy Bennett on account of his alleged involvement with terrorism are a further cause of contention. In turn, Mr Mugabe blames Mr Tsvangirai for doing too little to lift Western sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Mr Zuma is eager to solve the crisis; Zimbabwe is labouring under a severe economic crisis, plagued by HIV/AIDS and drought and has one of the lowest life expectancies in the world. An estimated three million Zimbabweans have sought refuge in South Africa in the last few years.