South Africa, Angola presidents to visit Zimbabwe Wednesday

Angolan President Joao Lourenco said he and South African President Jacob Zuma would fly to Zimbabwe on Wednesday following talks between regional leaders on the crisis engulfing the country.

“(South African) President Jacob Zuma and I have agreed to visit Harare tomorrow,” Angolan President Joao Lourenco told journalists Tuesday after a meeting of the southern African regional bloc in Luanda.

The two leaders will represent the 15-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc of which their countries are the leading members.

SADC has sought to broker an end to the instability triggered when Zimbabwe’s army took over the country after President Robert Mugabe sacked his vice president and cleared the way for his wife Grace to succeed him.

The crisis summit “noted with great concern the unfolding political situation in… Zimbabwe”, SADC said in a statement.

The announcement that the two presidents would take direct control of efforts to negotiate a settlement came after Zimbabwe’s parliament began debating a motion that could eventually lead to Mugabe’s impeachment.

Ousted vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa also said on Tuesday that he would return to Zimbabwe if his safety was guaranteed.