A new constitution should be introduced and critical electoral reforms implemented before there could be talk of holding elections in Zimbabwe, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition said yesterday.

Briefing the media in Johannesburg, Dewa Mavhinga, the coalition's regional coordinator, said the conditions for holding elections would not be set by President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF but by civil society, the AU and the Southern African Development Community.

He called on Mugabe to introduce wide-ranging reforms as a precondition for elections.

Zanu-PF has in recent months been pushing for early elections to end what it terms "a stalemate government of national unity" with Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.

Tiseke Kasambala, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch Africa, who was present at the briefing, said: "It is easy for the international community to lose focus and look at other issues in the world and forget Zimbabwe."

She said sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe should be retained until there were sufficient human rights reforms.

Bishop Paul Verryn, of the Central Methodist Church, in the Johannesburg central business district, said the church was still accommodating between 500 and 800 Zimbabwean refugees.

At the peak of the Zimbabwean political crisis between 2007 and early 2009, Verryn said, the church gave sanctuary to more than 30000 Zimbabweans.

"They just sleep in the corridors and foyers of the church. Many of them have got jobs and moved on," he said.

"I find it inconceivable that an election is being planned. If we are looking at elections, we should strive for all opposition parties to voice their point of view. Otherwise, let's avoid elections and let dictatorship stay in place."

Ishamel Kauzani, a Zimbabwean refugee living at the church, said: "The day-to-day issues are hard; it's a challenge. There are no toilets here and no baths. We use the public baths in Albert Street and toilets at the Johannesburg High Court."

By The Times (SA)