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Harare: Talks between Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition MDC aimed at resolving the country's political crisis will resume on Sunday, South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday.
Mbeki said after an hour-long meeting with Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe that the talks, which adjourned for a couple of days on Tuesday to allow negotiators to consult with their respective leader, were going well.
"It is work in progress. The negotiators are working hard and have committed themselves to the time-frame. They will resume on Sunday," Mbeki told reporters after meeting Mugabe, who said earlier that he wanted the negotiations to succeed.
In a sign of the economic collapse that has been worsened by the political turmoil, the central bank said it would redenominate the worthless currency to cut 10 zeroes from the Zimbabwe dollar, but analysts said that would do nothing to help the economy.
Mugabe's party began power-sharing talks with the opposition in South Africa last week, but doubts have surfaced over progress after they were adjourned.
Briefing
"We're still negotiating, we want to succeed. Negotiations are negotiations, they are not a card game ... You find room for compromise, sometimes compromise is difficult and you stand by your proposals as presented," Mugabe said in his first public comments on the talks since a framework for discussion was signed on July 21.
"You debate again and again and reach a compromise," Mugabe said.
Yesterday Mbeki said he had travelled to Harare to brief Mugabe on the talks, adding there were some matters on which the rival negotiators needed to consult their leaders.
Fighting inflation
In the thick of Zimbabwe's dire financial crisis, the reserve bank announced yesterday it was knocking ten zeros off the country's hyper-inflated currency - a move that turns 10 billion dollars into one.
Yesterday, central bank governor Gideon Gono announced he was dropping 10 zeros from the currency, effective Friday. That comes a week after he introduced a 100 billion-dollar note which was not enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Gono said the new money would be launched Friday with 500-dollar bills. He also said he was reintroducing coins, which have been obsolete for years. Gono said the high rate of inflation was hampering the country's computer systems. Inflation is officially running at 2.2 million per cent in Zimbabwe but independent economists say it is closer to 12.5 million per cent. Computers, electronic calculators and automated teller machines at Zimbabwe's banks cannot handle basic transactions in billions and trillions of dollars.
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