He said Angola, Cameroon and Guinea would not be bound by resolutions of the African Union (AU) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which has called for the peaceful disarmament of Iraq.
"Although the AU has a resolution and NAM has one, each country will decide in terms of their own understanding ... which way they will vote," Pahad told reporters in Pretoria.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin is currently on a whirlwind tour of the three African states on the United Nations Security Council's to get their vote against a war in Iraq.
De Villepin first stop was Angola, where he met President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos on Monday. Angola hinted after the meeting that it could abstain from voting.
Next in line for De Villepin were visits to Cameroon and Guinea to muster support for France's stance against a draft UN resolution authorising the use of force against Baghdad.
Pahad said: "The diplomatic initiatives are at a quite hectic pace. Everyone wants to see who can influence who in getting countries to vote in particular ways."
France and four other countries oppose the UN resolution, submitted by the United States, Britain and Spain, that would give Iraq until March 17 to disarm or face military action.
The US is also courting the three African states for their votes.
The US, Britain and Spain need nine of the 15 votes on the Security Council for their resolution to be accepted.
In addition. none of the permanent members of the Council, one of which is France, must veto the resolution.
The resolution is due to come up for a vote in the Security Council this week, possibly as early as Tuesday.
Pahad described the current consultations as "very intense".
"No one is giving in. Everyone is sticking to their position. We are concerned that the divisions are very deep."
Pahad said the government hoped to get full parliamentary support for its stance in favour of peaceful disarmament in a special debate on the topic scheduled for Thursday.
He reiterated that a war in Iraq would be major setback for all development programmes in Africa-Sapa
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