19 July 2013
Pretoria: A top South African diplomat said on Thursday that preparations for an election in Zimbabwe at the end of the month were "not looking good", unusually strong criticism of President Robert Mugabe from his powerful neighbor. Lindiwe Zulu, President Jacob Zuma's special adviser on Zimbabwe, said Zuma had called Mugabe to tell him he was not pleased with the run-up to the poll on July 31, a date fixed by Mugabe after a Constitutional Court ruling but criticized by Mugabe's opponents and South Africa's government as too soon. "We are concerned because things on the ground are not looking good," Zulu told Reuters.