A constitution for Burundi would be soon be drafted and an independent electoral commission to oversee elections in that country could be established within ten days, President Thabo Mbeki said yesterday.

Speaking at a joint Burundi/SA Women in Dialogue (Sawid) conference in Kempton Park, Mbeki said Burundi had three months to draft and debate a constitution, call a referendum to vote on it, develop an IEC, and demilitarise the country -- in order to hold free and fair elections on October 31.

"I hope the women of Burundi are properly organised and motivated to ensure that the decisions taken over the next three months will positively affect Burundi for the foreseeable future," he told a delegation of Burundian women.

Over the last few days, 90 Burundian women and 200 South African women have been debating the situation in the central African country and how best to become involved.

Juliette Icoyitungiye Kavabuha, Burundian minister for social affairs and gender promotion, said Mbeki had sown a seed that was taking root.

"But it's a job that is arduous and tough...would you water it for us your excellency," she asked, prompting Mbeki to answer that South Africa would always be there to assist Burundi on its road towards peace and security.

"The process in Burundi is about peace. Too many people have died. What we do must guarantee peace and stability," Mbeki told the women.

Kavabuha pointed out that no Burundian women had been asked to participate in the Pretoria Peace Talks, said women were seen as lazy in her native country.

"She works and cultivates field that don't belong to her because they are her husband's," she said, but added that as a result of the talks initiated by Mbeki's wife, Zanele, all the women now felt empowered.

She said that had women been involved in the talks, decisions would have been made.

"This kind of dialogue I think, should also be used by the presidents of Africa," she commented.

Following the conference, the delegates drafted a declaration, including a demand for a 35% representation of women in the new Burundian government, and asked the leadership not to finalise the constitution without input from the women.

Gertrude Ibengwe Mongella, president of the Pan-African Parliament, said the three-day conference had "transformed all of us."

"When we go back to where we came from people will look at us differently," she said.

Mbeki, Deputy President Jacob Zuma and the Burundian delegates – including former rebel CNDD-FDD group led by Pierre Nkurunziza, the Tutsi-based Uprona group, the Hutu-based Frodebu group and the leader of the transitional government, Domitien Ndayizeye – on Wednesday concluded talks in Pretoria on the sensitive issues of power-sharing and the creation of a parliamentary constitution.

Although no fixed agreements were reached on parliamentary representation, the South African government labelled the discussions as "successful".

Leaders from Burundi's Tutsi minority, about 14% of the population, were seeking a 40% quota of elected posts in the country's future political dispensation, while the Hutus, about 85% of the population, were vying for a straightforward one-man-one-vote system.

A one-man-one-vote system would not mean that the Hutus would take over government and the Tutsis be left out, Mbeki said, but admitted that it was a "difficult question", one whose answers had to ensure a way forward to a united Burundi.

Mbeki said he was told by Ndayizeye that progress was slow in the important process of disarming combatants and training the new army and police.

"He told me it was slow not because of politics but logistics," Mbeki said.

Ndayizeye told Mbeki that Burundi did not have enough tents to house the soldiers coming out of the bush, enough trucks to transport them or enough pots to feed them.

Mbeki, however, told the conference that Burundi's peaceful transition could not be delayed because of a tents and pots.

"I am sure I can walk around Johannesburg and find 1000 pots," he said to much applause. The challenge was not only to solve the Burundian problem but for them to also become leaders of Africa, for the challenges facing the central African country were the same challenges that faced the whole of Africa.

"We've got to remove the guns from the decision-making process on our continent," he said. – Sapa.