March 24 (Bloomberg) -- South African President Jacob Zuma urged Western nations to lift targeted sanctions against Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his allies, saying they were undermining the nation’s coalition government.

“We don’t need these sanctions now,” Zuma told lawmakers in Parliament in Cape Town today. “The targeted sanctions right now divide the unity government. Give this unity government a chance.”

Zuma is mediating a dispute between Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front party and the Movement for Democratic Change which formed a coalition in February last year. The MDC, led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, says Mugabe has repeatedly violated the power-sharing accord and made several key appointments without consultation.

The coalition was formed following a decade of recession and political turmoil in the southern African nation that slashed exports, pushed inflation to a record and drove millions into exile.

The U.S. and European Union say the unity government hasn’t made enough progress in restoring democracy and upholding human rights in Zimbabwe to warrant the lifting of travel bans and asset freezes imposed on Mugabe and members of his party.

“The government in Zimbabwe had changed,” Zuma said. “It’s no longer the Zanu-PF government. It’s now a joint government. Why do you apply the same instrument to a new entity?”

By Bloomberg