The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe will worsen unless a legitimate government is formed, President Kgalema Motlanthe said on Monday.

Following a meeting with the elders delegation, which was refused entry into Zimbabwe, Motlanthe said he agreed that the political and humanitarian situation was "very urgent".

This, especially in light of the recent cholera outbreak.
"Unless the root cause of the political absence of a legitimate government is not solved, the situation [humanitarian] will get worse and will implode or collapse altogether."

Motlanthe said the humanitarian and political situations were two sides of one coin and needed to be addressed simultaneously.

He said attempts had been made to contact President Robert Mugabe after the elders, who include human rights advocate Graca Machel, former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, and former United States president Jimmy Carter, were denied entry into the country.

"We did make attempts to speak to President Robert Mugabe about the request of the elders... he didn't come back to us."

He said the elders had expressed a rather depressing picture.
"We agree that the situation is really very desperate."

Earlier, ANC president Jacob Zuma said the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe had gone beyond a wait-and-see approach.

He was speaking after meeting with the elders delegation.
"The situation has just gone beyond a situation where we can say 'let us wait and see'. We have got to act and act now."

Zuma said the elders delegation believed the situation in Zimbabwe was "very bad".
"They believe that things could collapse."

He said they had planned to go to Zimbabwe for humanitarian reasons. The refusal to allow them entry was an "unfortunate act".
"It does give an unfortunate picture."