S. Africa to push Zimbabwe to name Cabinet

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the South African government says his country will push Zimbabwe to complete appointments to its Cabinet.

Government spokesman Themba Maseko said Thursday that South Africa will use an upcoming Southern African Development Community summit to call on Zimbabwean leaders to end the controversial Cabinet selection process, SW Radio Africa said.

Maseko said the political battle in Zimbabwe "is becoming a matter of extreme concern to us and we will be taking quite a hard stance."

The aggressive stance from South Africa is similar to opinions voiced by African National Congress President Jacob Zuma regarding the summit, starting Sunday, in Johannesburg.

Zuma has told Zimbabwean officials, "You can't leave South Africa without resolving this matter. That is what I am expecting."

Officials with the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front and the Movement for Democratic Change have been deadlocked in the naming of a new Cabinet under a government power-sharing deal.