The South African Council of Churches (SACC) has asked the South African government to intervene with the shipment of food and essential aid to Zimbabwe after delays have prevented the goods from arriving at their destination for more than a month now.

The aid, destined for victims of the Zimbabwe government’s controversial urban clean-up campaign, was delayed after the Zimbabwe government insisted on certificates verifying that the food was GM-free.

The SACC last week obtained a certificate from South Africa’s Department of Agriculture confirming the food was not genetically modified.

SACC spokesman Ron Steele said on Monday that they were still waiting for approval from Harare for the shipment to be delivered. The call for intervention by the South African government came yesterday.

“The SACC has requested Rev Frank Chikane, director-general of the presidency, for help, and he assured us last night that the necessary documents will be processed soon,” said Rev Steele.

Two trucks carrying 37 tons of food aid, including white maize, sugar beans and cooking oil, have been sitting in a South African depot for the last two weeks. Another truck with blankets is currently waiting in a bonded warehouse in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital.

Critics of the Zimbabwean government under Robert Mugabe have accused the government of relocating those who voted overwhelmingly for the opposition in recent elections in an attempt to reassert control over the urban populations.

Catholic Archbishop of Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, told the BBC: “They want total political control – they want to peasantify people like [former Cambodian leader] Pol Pot – force them into the country so they can control them.

“In the countryside they have no newspaper or radio except Zanu-PF propaganda, and they are controlled by the chiefs, who support the government.”

A report by UN Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka said more than 700,000 people had been affected by the clean-up campaign, which involved the demolition of shanty settlements in and around urban centres.