JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said Monday that the crisis in Zimbabwe appears “much worse than anything we ever imagined” after the government there blocked his weekend humanitarian visit.
Carter, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and child advocate Graca Machel called for southern African leaders to halt the “deep suffering” in Zimbabwe, where the U.N. says more than 5 million people face imminent starvation.
The president of neighboring South Africa, meanwhile, warned that Zimbabwe “may implode and collapse,” as he announced a new round of talks to try to resolve the political impasse.
His comments, some of the strongest yet by South Africa, come as a cholera epidemic has killed hundreds of Zimbabweans and spilled across the border into South Africa. Officials say Zimbabwe’s political and economic collapse caused the outbreak.
South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and the leader of the country’s ruling party, Jacob Zuma, expressed grave concern at Zimbabwe’s deepening humanitarian crisis after meeting with Carter, Annan and Machel.
The three are part of a group called The Elders that was formed by former South African President Nelson Mandela to help foster peace.
Carter said the stories they heard about the collapse of education, health and agriculture “are all indications that the crisis in Zimbabwe is much worse than anything we ever imagined.” He said “the leadership in Harare don’t want to admit there is a crisis.”
Adding to the implied criticism of regional leaders, Carter said, “I get the feeling that even the leaders of SADC (the Southern African Development Community) do not know what is going on” in Zimbabwe.
He called for the southern Africans as well as the African Union and the United Nations to send assessment teams to Zimbabwe.
