HARARE – The African Union is calling for a peaceful handover of power in Zimbabwe following Robert Mugabe’s resignation.Head of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat says the situation in Zimbabwe was not a coup, but a military intervention.

The Zimbabwean army seized power last week, leading to Mugabe being expelled from the governing party, ZANU-PF.

Meanwhile, President Jacob Zuma has cancelled his planned trip to Zimbabwe.

Zuma and the Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, President Joao Lourenco of Angola, were to travel to Zimbabwe to assess the situation there on behalf of SADC.

“The visit has now been postponed until further notice,” the Presidency said in a statement.

ZimBusiness Forum SA Chairperson Marshall Sankara said SADC can’t be trusted to bring about change in Zimbabwe.

“We are saying we are expecting a new Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe where one cannot cling on to power for so long brutalising his people,” says Sankara.

He says it was now time for Zimbabwe to move out of SADC.

“This SADC has caused suffering to Zimbabweans for years. They were supporting this man for years until we took things into our own hands,” he says.

eNCA