SAfrica sees growing threat in Zimbabwe crisis

JOHANNESBURG, May 17 (Reuters) Increasing numbers of Zimbabweans are seeking to flee to South Africa, raising pressure for a solution to Zimbabwe's deepening political and economic crisis, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said today.

Pahad told a news briefing South Africa ''remained seized'' with the issue of Zimbabwe, where there is no sign of an ease in a bitter standoff between President Robert Mugabe and the opposition as the economy teeters on the brink of collapse.

''We have been concerned about the deteriorating economic situation (in Zimbabwe), where inflation has now reached 1,000 percent, and the predictions are it can get worse,'' the SAPA news agency quoted Pahad as saying.

''We remain concerned not only about the effects on the people of Zimbabwe, but the effect on the region as a whole, because Zimbabwe is an important player.'' Pahad said officials estimated that some 2 million Zimbabweans were in South Africa illegally, although independent analysts say the real number is more likely 3 million.

''By any standards this is high -- even if it's not as much as this, it is high. Our own missions in Zimbabwe are reporting that they are having increasing numbers of people seeking visas to come to South Africa,'' Pahad said.

He said South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni continued to discuss with Mugabe's government the possibility of a loan along with other measures to ease the crisis.

''The Minister of Finance and SA Reserve Bank governor are in constant touch with their counterparts (in Zimbabwe), going beyond the earlier request for 1.2 billion US dollars assistance, taking into context the whole problem economically and politically,'' he said.

Mugabe's government has publicly denied that it had asked for a loan, saying it was initiated by South Africa.

South Africa has been frequently criticised by Zimbabwe's opposition for going lightly on Mugabe, who critics accuse of a draconian political crackdown, vote rigging and appalling economic mismanagement.

President Thabo Mbeki has championed a policy of ''quiet diplomacy'' toward Harare in hopes of nudging Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF and the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) closer together, but the effort thus far has borne little visible fruit.

Amid galloping inflation and frequent shortages of fuel, food and foreign exchange, the MDC has threatened protest marches against Mugabe's political and economic policies despite government vows to crush the action, but has not yet set a date.

Pahad said South Africa was aware that hardships were growing for Zimbabwe's people and looked forward to a possible visit by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan as one means to jump-start the process.

But he added that South Africa alone could not solve Zimbabwe's problems.

''(We are) committed to our view that we can only contribute with other countries in the world to create a climate within which the Zimbabweans can solve their problems. There is nothing we can impose on them,'' he said.

REUTERS AD ND1832