Jacob Zuma expected in Zimbabwe on Wednesday

The South African President Jacob Zuma who is the facilitator to Zimbabwe's political crisis is expected in Harare on Wednesday to check on progress made in implementing the Global Political Agreement (GPA) ahead of a Sadc summit in Mozambique on Friday, the NewsDay reported.

The Maputo Sadc summit is due to focus on hot-spots - Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of Congo - but speculation that Zimbabwe, on Sadc's agenda for the past three years, will also be discussed were high as the country heads for another stalemate over the new constitution. The constitution is one of the requirements for the forthcoming elections.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed Zuma's visit last night.

"I can confirm that President Zuma will be in Harare on Wednesday. He has officially communicated with our office," Tamborinyoka said.

Tsvangirai and his close confidants last week embarked on a whirlwind tour of Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia to lobby regional leaders to press President Robert Mugabe to implement agreed reforms ahead of watershed polls, likely to take place next year.

There was also speculation that Tsvangirai briefed the regional leaders on the impending constitutional stalemate, although his office refused to shed light on the matter yesterday.

The two MDC parties have already endorsed the draft constitution, but marathon meetings that lasted 25 hours by Zanu PF failed to bring a common position by the party.

Instead, the party's politburo reportedly ended up rewriting the draft constitution last week.

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo last week warned of a return to the old Lancaster House Constitution if the parties in the inclusive government failed to find common ground.

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