Addressing reporters in Cape Town on Thursday, he denied that the South African government had a policy to systematically sideline the MDC and said Pretoria continued to have "extensive discussions" with all parties across the spectrum.
South Africa was committed to helping to find a solution, "but I am not sure we are getting the same commitment by various sectors in Zimbabwe to really seek solutions, rather than continuing to just look at what is going wrong".
Zimbabweans themselves had to work together in a serious effort to find a solution to that country's problems, Pahad said.
Without this the international community would fail in its attempts to help resolve the crisis there.
"If there is a single message I can give to the opposition and civil society in Zimbabwe: Don't become a fight back type of opposition we've got in this country ...," he said.
Zimbabweans had to act as a nation and move away from simple party-politicking, and this was particularly true of the opposition.
On calls for Pretoria to move away from its silent diplomacy stance, he said the government and the African National Congress was not in the business of doing anything that would hasten the collapse of Zimbabwe which would have disastrous consequences for South Africa.
Pahad dodged a question about whether he shared his minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma's view that Zanu-PF was a progressive organisation like the ANC.
Pahad said he did not believe in labelling parties.
Zanu-PF was a "sister party" to the ANC and that is why it, and not the MDC, had been invited to the ANC's national congress in Stellenbosch last year - Sapa
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