Zim will stand by Zuma, no matter what South Africans say about him, says Mugabe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has reportedly said that his country will stand by President Jacob Zuma "as his political opponents plot to oust him before his term expires".

According to the state-owned Sunday Mail newspaper, Mugabe said during a campaign rally in Gwanda over the weekend.

"…ANC and President Zuma; whatever the South Africans or some from Zimbabwe might say about him, we will just relate to him in a proper way as he is the current President of the ANC," Mugabe was quoted as saying.

"It is with the ANC that we have, for a long time, had a partnership. It is that which we continue to relate to; with those either in Zambia, Angola, South Africa. (They) remain our comrades because we were in the same trenches with them."

Zuma last week survived a motion of no confidence in his presidency, held via secret ballot in Parliament.

Zuma has survived several previous motions of no confidence in his presidency over the last eight years, all held via open ballot.