A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

South Africa's year-old role as chief mediator in the Zimbabwe crisis was thrown into doubt last night after the Zimbabwean opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, called on President Mbeki to step down.

In a sign of the increasing divisions in the region over South Africa's policy of "quiet diplomacy" towards Zimbabwe's autocratic president, Robert Mugabe, Mr Tsvangirai said he had called on the Southern African Development Community, the regional grouping, to lead a new initiative led by the Zambian government.

His call threatens to draw a line under not just a year of formal mediation by South Africa but also nearly eight years in which Mr Mbeki has led international efforts to tackle Zimbabwe's escalating crisis.

"We want to thank President Mbeki for all of his efforts but President Mbeki needs to be relieved of his duties," the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change said in Johannesburg.

He had called on Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia's president, who last year described the situation in Zimbabwe as akin to a "sinking Titanic" to head a new effort to resolve the crisis which has intensified since last month's elections. "I have made a specific request to President Mwanawasa to say that he needs to lead a new initiative... that will expand beyond President Mbeki," Mr Tsvangirai said.

This should surprise no one. Given Mbeki's relative cluelessness--remember, this is the guy who fatuously claimed that Zimbabwe was not in a crisis situation--it is clear that he can no longer do the job. Any mediator would likely be a step up after him.