“Mr Zuma has allowed Mugabe to get away with a farce of an election,” Democratic Alliance MP Ian Davidson said in a statement.
On Sunday, Zuma congratulated Mugabe on his re-election as Zimbabwe’s president.
“President Zuma has failed Zimbabwe, failed Zimbabweans and failed the Southern African Development Community by not providing the leadership that the region desperately required,” said Davidson.
He suggested Zuma’s congratulations were “extremely premature” given reports of “very serious irregularities” in the elections.
Zuma was sending a message that his administration would tolerate “significant irregularities”, Davidson said.
In a statement issued by the international relations department, Zuma described Wednesday’s elections as “harmonised” and called for peace in the neighbouring country.
“President Zuma urges all political parties in Zimbabwe to accept the outcome of the elections as election observers reported it to be an expression of the will of the people.”
