The General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC), the Rev. Dr. Molefe Tsele, was refused permission to enter Zimbabwe at the Beitbridge border post on the N1 at approximately 13h00 today.

The General Secretary was travelling to Zimbabwe at the invitation of the Zimbabwe Council of Churches to take part in an ecumenical delegation to observe Thursday¹s general election.

Dr. Tsele was accompanied by Mr. Abie Ditlhake, General Secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) NGO Council. Mr. Ditlhake was also turned away by Zimbabwean immigration officials.

The official reason given by officials for denying them entry was that they did not appear on the Zimbabwean government¹s list of accredited election observers.

The SACC applied to the Zimbabwean government for accreditation of its observers on 14 March.

For more information: Dr. Molefe Tsele, 082 458 2037