South African President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday he had no reason to expect fraud in Zimbabwe's March 31 general elections, which critics say are skewed in favour of President Robert Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF. "I have no reason to think that anybody in Zimbabwe will militate in a way so that the elections will not be free and fair," Mbeki told reporters in Cape Town. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) plans to send observers to ensure Zimbabwe meets new regional electoral guidelines agreed last year. Mbeki said Zimbabwe was the only country so far to have altered its electoral laws in response to the SADC protocols. "I don't know what ... has happened in Zimbabwe that is in violation of the SADC protocol, because as I know things like the independent electoral commission, things like access to the public media, things like the absence of violence and intimidation, those matters have been addressed," he said.
