Army should serve any elected government - SA

The South African presidency has condemned the public support Zimbabwe's military leadership expressed on Wednesday for President Robert Mugabe's re-election bid.

Defence force chief General Vitalis Zvinavashe told reporters in Harare on Wednesday that security force bosses would not accept a president who did not take part in the country's liberation war which culminated in independence from Britain in 1980. The statement led to fear among citizens of a coup in the event of an opposition victory in presidential elections in March.

On Friday, after taking two days to verify Zvinavashe's statement, South African presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said: "The army's role is to defend democracy, uphold the law and serve the government of the day, irrespective of whether whoever is governing has struggle credentials."

He told IRIN the South African government had been monitoring developments in the neighbouring state in the past week.

"We have been saying all along that we are quite concerned about what is happening. We would like there to be free and fair elections, and we are also saying that what the army said is unacceptable," he said. "An army cannot pre-empt the outcome of an election which is the express democratic wish of the people of Zimbabwe."

Khumalo said there had been no discussion yet regarding South African sanctions against Zimbabwe. Any action to rescue Zimbabwe from the brink, he said, would be done within the parameters of the Commonwealth and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) - especially since South Africa belonged to teams on both bodies charged with resolving Zimbabwe's crisis.

SADC heads of state are due to meet in Malawi on Monday to discuss Zimbabwe and other regional issues.