Zuma, who has distanced himself from the "quiet diplomacy" of South African President Thabo Mbeki, has called on African leaders to take action to unlock the stalemate in Zimbabwe, whose economic collapse has driven millions of Zimbabweans abroad and put a strain on the region.
"STARING INTO THE ABYSS"
Nobel Peace Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu said he supported all efforts to stop arms flowing into Zimbabwe. He also called on African leaders to convince Mugabe to step down.
"I want to call on African leaders to show that they really care by speaking quietly to Mr. Mugabe and say: 'Step down, you've been there for 20 years, man'," Tutu told reporters in the South African university town of Stellenbosch.
In a separate statement, Tutu said he joined other South African church leaders in a call for a U.N. arms embargo.
"Zimbabwe is staring into the abyss. Violence is growing and the people are suffering greatly as a result. It is now vital that we all do what we can to calm the situation".
Senior officials from Zuma's ANC and the MDC discussed Zimbabwe's political stalemate on Thursday and MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti briefed ANC officials on escalating violence, a spokesman for the Zimbabwean opposition party said.
The MDC, human rights groups and Western powers accuse Mugabe's ZANU-PF of a campaign of post-election violence. Tsvangirai says 10-15 MDC supporters have already been killed. Officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) said ZANU-PF and the MDC had each retained one constituency in the recount of some parliamentary seats which started last Saturday, the state-run Herald newspaper reported in its online version.
It quoted ZEC deputy chief elections officer Utoile Silaigwana as saying the recount would end by the weekend.
ZANU-PF lost 16 of those 23 constituencies in the original count, and needs to win nine more seats to overturn the opposition's parliament victory, the first in Mugabe's rule.
The government has indicated it expects a presidential runoff - necessary if no candidate wins an absolute majority.
The United States has led international calls for Africa to do more to end the Zimbabwe crisis. Washington's chief Africa diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, is in South Africa as part of a previously-arranged regional tour.
